diff --git a/src/agent/context.rs b/src/agent/context.rs
index 49b9998..cbb667b 100644
--- a/src/agent/context.rs
+++ b/src/agent/context.rs
@@ -682,7 +682,12 @@ impl ResponseParser {
             let mut full_text = String::new();
             while let Some(event) = stream.recv().await {
                 match event {
-                    super::api::StreamToken::Token { id, readout: _ } => {
+                    super::api::StreamToken::Token { id, readout } => {
+                        if let Some(r) = readout {
+                            if let Ok(mut buf) = agent.readout.lock() {
+                                buf.push(id, r);
+                            }
+                        }
                         let text = super::tokenizer::decode(&[id]);
                         full_text.push_str(&text);
                         let mut ctx = agent.context.lock().await;
diff --git a/src/agent/mod.rs b/src/agent/mod.rs
index 703c65c..a3ebf68 100644
--- a/src/agent/mod.rs
+++ b/src/agent/mod.rs
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 pub mod api;
 pub mod context;
 pub mod oneshot;
+pub mod readout;
 pub mod tokenizer;
 pub mod tools;
 
@@ -142,6 +143,11 @@ pub struct Agent {
     pub session_id: String,
     pub context: crate::Mutex<ContextState>,
     pub state: crate::Mutex<AgentState>,
+    /// Shared landing pad for per-token concept-readout projections
+    /// streamed from the vLLM server. Populated by the streaming
+    /// token handler, read by UI screens (amygdala). Manifest is
+    /// `None` when the server has readout disabled.
+    pub readout: readout::SharedReadoutBuffer,
 }
 
 /// Mutable agent state — behind its own mutex.
@@ -214,11 +220,13 @@ impl Agent {
         }
 
         let session_id = format!("consciousness-{}", chrono::Utc::now().format("%Y%m%d-%H%M%S"));
+        let readout = readout::new_shared();
         let agent = Arc::new(Self {
             client,
             app_config,
             session_id,
             context: crate::Mutex::new(context),
+            readout,
             state: crate::Mutex::new(AgentState {
                 tools: agent_tools,
                 mcp_tools: McpToolAccess::All,
@@ -244,6 +252,32 @@ impl Agent {
         });
 
         agent.load_startup_journal().await;
+
+        // Probe the vLLM server for its readout manifest. Non-fatal:
+        // if readout isn't enabled the server returns 404 and we
+        // leave the manifest as None, which disables the amygdala
+        // screen gracefully.
+        match agent.client.fetch_readout_manifest().await {
+            Ok(Some(m)) => {
+                dbglog!(
+                    "readout manifest: {} concepts, layers={:?}",
+                    m.concepts.len(),
+                    m.layers,
+                );
+                if let Ok(mut buf) = agent.readout.lock() {
+                    buf.set_manifest(Some(m));
+                }
+            }
+            Ok(None) => {
+                dbglog!(
+                    "readout manifest: server has readout disabled (404)"
+                );
+            }
+            Err(e) => {
+                dbglog!("readout manifest fetch failed: {}", e);
+            }
+        }
+
         agent
     }
 
@@ -256,6 +290,10 @@ impl Agent {
             app_config: self.app_config.clone(),
             session_id: self.session_id.clone(),
             context: crate::Mutex::new(ctx),
+            // Forks share the parent's readout buffer — it's a
+            // single-stream phenomenon; the fork is driven by the
+            // same vLLM server's responses.
+            readout: self.readout.clone(),
             state: crate::Mutex::new(AgentState {
                 tools,
                 mcp_tools: McpToolAccess::None,
diff --git a/src/agent/readout.rs b/src/agent/readout.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da843b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/agent/readout.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+// agent/readout.rs — live buffer of concept-readout projections.
+//
+// The vLLM server projects residual-stream activations onto a fixed
+// matrix of concept directions during each decode step and ships the
+// result back on every streamed chunk (see
+// vllm/docs/features/readout.md). This module owns the client-side
+// landing pad: a ring of the last N token projections plus the
+// concept/layer mapping fetched from `/v1/readout/manifest` at
+// startup.
+//
+// Readers (UI screens) lock briefly, read a snapshot, release. Writers
+// (the streaming token handler) push one entry per token. Intentionally
+// a simple Mutex<VecDeque> rather than lock-free — the UI ticks at
+// ~15 Hz and the stream at token-rate, contention is nil.
+
+use std::collections::VecDeque;
+use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
+
+use super::api::{ReadoutManifest, TokenReadout};
+
+/// Default ring length — at ~30 tok/s this is ~6 seconds of history,
+/// enough for the amygdala screen's scrolling display.
+const DEFAULT_RING_LEN: usize = 200;
+
+/// One entry in the readout ring: the sampled token and its per-layer
+/// concept projection vector.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub struct ReadoutEntry {
+    pub token_id: u32,
+    /// Shape `[n_layers][n_concepts]`.
+    pub readout: TokenReadout,
+}
+
+/// Shared buffer of recent per-token concept projections plus the
+/// manifest that names the layer/concept indices. `manifest` is `None`
+/// when the server has readout disabled or the fetch failed — callers
+/// should treat that as "readout unavailable" and skip rendering.
+#[derive(Default)]
+pub struct ReadoutBuffer {
+    pub manifest: Option<ReadoutManifest>,
+    pub recent: VecDeque<ReadoutEntry>,
+    pub max_len: usize,
+}
+
+impl ReadoutBuffer {
+    pub fn new() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            manifest: None,
+            recent: VecDeque::with_capacity(DEFAULT_RING_LEN),
+            max_len: DEFAULT_RING_LEN,
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn set_manifest(&mut self, manifest: Option<ReadoutManifest>) {
+        self.manifest = manifest;
+    }
+
+    pub fn push(&mut self, token_id: u32, readout: TokenReadout) {
+        if self.recent.len() >= self.max_len {
+            self.recent.pop_front();
+        }
+        self.recent.push_back(ReadoutEntry { token_id, readout });
+    }
+
+    pub fn is_enabled(&self) -> bool {
+        self.manifest.is_some()
+    }
+}
+
+/// A thread-safe handle.
+pub type SharedReadoutBuffer = Arc<Mutex<ReadoutBuffer>>;
+
+pub fn new_shared() -> SharedReadoutBuffer {
+    Arc::new(Mutex::new(ReadoutBuffer::new()))
+}
diff --git a/src/user/amygdala.rs b/src/user/amygdala.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..380d2bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/user/amygdala.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,288 @@
+// amygdala.rs — F8 amygdala screen: live per-token concept-readout
+// projections from the vLLM server's readout.safetensors.
+//
+// Left panel: top-K concepts by magnitude at the currently-selected
+// layer, as horizontal bars. The concept names come from the manifest
+// fetched at agent startup; the values come from the per-token readout
+// pushed onto agent.readout by the streaming token handler.
+//
+// Bottom: scrolling history of the last few tokens' top concept.
+//
+// Keys:
+//   1..9   select layer index (1 = first layer in the manifest)
+//   t      toggle between "current" (last token) and "mean over recent"
+
+use ratatui::{
+    layout::{Constraint, Direction, Layout, Rect},
+    style::{Color, Modifier, Style},
+    text::{Line, Span},
+    widgets::{Block, Borders, Gauge, Paragraph, Wrap},
+    Frame,
+};
+use ratatui::crossterm::event::{Event, KeyCode};
+
+use super::{App, ScreenView};
+use crate::agent::api::ReadoutManifest;
+use crate::agent::readout::ReadoutEntry;
+
+const TOP_K: usize = 20;
+
+pub(crate) struct AmygdalaScreen {
+    selected_layer: usize,
+    mode: DisplayMode,
+}
+
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, PartialEq)]
+enum DisplayMode {
+    /// Values from the single most recent token.
+    Current,
+    /// Mean over all tokens currently in the ring buffer.
+    MeanRecent,
+}
+
+impl AmygdalaScreen {
+    pub fn new() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            selected_layer: 0,
+            mode: DisplayMode::Current,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl ScreenView for AmygdalaScreen {
+    fn label(&self) -> &'static str { "amygdala" }
+
+    fn tick(&mut self, frame: &mut Frame, area: Rect,
+            events: &[Event], app: &mut App) {
+        for event in events {
+            if let Event::Key(key) = event {
+                match key.code {
+                    KeyCode::Char(c) if c.is_ascii_digit() && c != '0' => {
+                        let idx = (c as u8 - b'1') as usize;
+                        self.selected_layer = idx;
+                    }
+                    KeyCode::Char('t') => {
+                        self.mode = match self.mode {
+                            DisplayMode::Current => DisplayMode::MeanRecent,
+                            DisplayMode::MeanRecent => DisplayMode::Current,
+                        };
+                    }
+                    _ => {}
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Snapshot the shared buffer with a short lock.
+        let snapshot = match app.agent.readout.lock() {
+            Ok(buf) => {
+                if !buf.is_enabled() {
+                    render_disabled(frame, area);
+                    return;
+                }
+                let manifest = buf.manifest.clone().unwrap();
+                let entries: Vec<ReadoutEntry> =
+                    buf.recent.iter().cloned().collect();
+                (manifest, entries)
+            }
+            Err(_) => {
+                render_disabled(frame, area);
+                return;
+            }
+        };
+        let (manifest, entries) = snapshot;
+
+        // Bound the selected layer to what the manifest actually has.
+        let n_layers = manifest.layers.len();
+        if self.selected_layer >= n_layers {
+            self.selected_layer = 0;
+        }
+
+        // Compute the values to display: either the latest token's row
+        // for the selected layer, or the mean across recent tokens.
+        let values: Option<Vec<f32>> = match self.mode {
+            DisplayMode::Current => entries
+                .last()
+                .and_then(|e| e.readout.get(self.selected_layer).cloned()),
+            DisplayMode::MeanRecent => mean_layer(&entries, self.selected_layer),
+        };
+
+        let layout = Layout::default()
+            .direction(Direction::Vertical)
+            .constraints([
+                Constraint::Length(3),  // header
+                Constraint::Min(10),    // bars
+                Constraint::Length(6),  // recent tokens
+            ])
+            .split(area);
+
+        render_header(frame, layout[0], &manifest, self.selected_layer,
+                      self.mode, entries.len());
+        match values {
+            Some(v) => render_bars(frame, layout[1], &manifest.concepts, &v),
+            None => render_empty_bars(frame, layout[1]),
+        }
+        render_recent(frame, layout[2], &entries, self.selected_layer,
+                      &manifest.concepts);
+    }
+}
+
+fn render_disabled(frame: &mut Frame, area: Rect) {
+    let text = Paragraph::new(Line::from(vec![
+        Span::raw("readout disabled — server did not return a manifest. "),
+        Span::styled("Start vLLM with ", Style::default().fg(Color::DarkGray)),
+        Span::styled("VLLM_READOUT_MANIFEST", Style::default().fg(Color::Yellow)),
+        Span::styled(" + ", Style::default().fg(Color::DarkGray)),
+        Span::styled("VLLM_READOUT_VECTORS", Style::default().fg(Color::Yellow)),
+        Span::styled(".", Style::default().fg(Color::DarkGray)),
+    ]))
+    .wrap(Wrap { trim: true })
+    .block(Block::default().borders(Borders::ALL).title("amygdala"));
+    frame.render_widget(text, area);
+}
+
+fn render_header(frame: &mut Frame, area: Rect, manifest: &ReadoutManifest,
+                 selected: usize, mode: DisplayMode, n_tokens: usize) {
+    let mode_str = match mode {
+        DisplayMode::Current => "current",
+        DisplayMode::MeanRecent => "mean(recent)",
+    };
+    let layer = manifest.layers.get(selected).copied().unwrap_or(0);
+    let mut spans = vec![
+        Span::styled("layer ", Style::default().fg(Color::DarkGray)),
+        Span::styled(
+            format!("{}/{}  ", selected + 1, manifest.layers.len()),
+            Style::default().add_modifier(Modifier::BOLD),
+        ),
+        Span::styled("(index ", Style::default().fg(Color::DarkGray)),
+        Span::styled(format!("{}", layer), Style::default().fg(Color::Cyan)),
+        Span::styled(")   ", Style::default().fg(Color::DarkGray)),
+        Span::styled("mode ", Style::default().fg(Color::DarkGray)),
+        Span::styled(mode_str, Style::default().fg(Color::Yellow)),
+        Span::styled("   ", Style::default()),
+        Span::styled(
+            format!("{} toks in ring", n_tokens),
+            Style::default().fg(Color::DarkGray),
+        ),
+    ];
+    spans.push(Span::raw("       "));
+    spans.push(Span::styled(
+        format!("[1-{}] layer   [t] toggle mode", manifest.layers.len().min(9)),
+        Style::default().fg(Color::DarkGray),
+    ));
+    let para = Paragraph::new(Line::from(spans))
+        .block(Block::default().borders(Borders::ALL).title("amygdala"));
+    frame.render_widget(para, area);
+}
+
+fn render_bars(frame: &mut Frame, area: Rect,
+               concepts: &[String], values: &[f32]) {
+    // Sort indices by |value| descending, take top K.
+    let mut indexed: Vec<(usize, f32)> = values.iter()
+        .enumerate().map(|(i, v)| (i, *v)).collect();
+    indexed.sort_by(|a, b| b.1.abs().partial_cmp(&a.1.abs())
+        .unwrap_or(std::cmp::Ordering::Equal));
+    indexed.truncate(TOP_K.min(concepts.len()));
+
+    let inner = Block::default().borders(Borders::ALL)
+        .title("top concepts");
+    let inner_area = inner.inner(area);
+    frame.render_widget(inner, area);
+
+    if inner_area.height == 0 || indexed.is_empty() {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    // Find the max absolute value so bars are comparable.
+    let max_abs = indexed.iter().map(|(_, v)| v.abs())
+        .fold(0.0_f32, f32::max)
+        .max(1e-6);
+
+    let rows = (inner_area.height as usize).min(indexed.len());
+    let row_constraints: Vec<Constraint> =
+        std::iter::repeat(Constraint::Length(1)).take(rows).collect();
+    let chunks = Layout::default()
+        .direction(Direction::Vertical)
+        .constraints(row_constraints)
+        .split(inner_area);
+
+    for (i, (c_idx, v)) in indexed.iter().take(rows).enumerate() {
+        let label = concepts.get(*c_idx).cloned()
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| format!("c{}", c_idx));
+        let ratio = (v.abs() / max_abs).clamp(0.0, 1.0);
+        let color = if *v >= 0.0 { Color::Green } else { Color::Red };
+        let gauge = Gauge::default()
+            .ratio(ratio as f64)
+            .gauge_style(Style::default().fg(color).bg(Color::Reset))
+            .label(format!("{:<26} {:+.3}", truncate_name(&label, 26), v));
+        frame.render_widget(gauge, chunks[i]);
+    }
+}
+
+fn render_empty_bars(frame: &mut Frame, area: Rect) {
+    let para = Paragraph::new(Line::from(Span::styled(
+        "waiting for tokens…",
+        Style::default().fg(Color::DarkGray),
+    )))
+    .block(Block::default().borders(Borders::ALL).title("top concepts"));
+    frame.render_widget(para, area);
+}
+
+fn render_recent(frame: &mut Frame, area: Rect, entries: &[ReadoutEntry],
+                 layer: usize, concepts: &[String]) {
+    let mut lines: Vec<Line> = Vec::new();
+    for entry in entries.iter().rev().take(4) {
+        let row = match entry.readout.get(layer) {
+            Some(r) => r,
+            None => continue,
+        };
+        // top concept at this layer for this token
+        let (best_idx, best_val) = row.iter().enumerate()
+            .fold((0, 0.0_f32), |acc, (i, v)| {
+                if v.abs() > acc.1.abs() { (i, *v) } else { acc }
+            });
+        let name = concepts.get(best_idx).cloned()
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| format!("c{}", best_idx));
+        let tok_str = format!("t{:>5}", entry.token_id);
+        lines.push(Line::from(vec![
+            Span::styled(tok_str, Style::default().fg(Color::DarkGray)),
+            Span::raw("  "),
+            Span::styled(
+                format!("{:<24}", truncate_name(&name, 24)),
+                Style::default().fg(
+                    if best_val >= 0.0 { Color::Green } else { Color::Red },
+                ),
+            ),
+            Span::styled(
+                format!(" {:+.3}", best_val),
+                Style::default().add_modifier(Modifier::BOLD),
+            ),
+        ]));
+    }
+    let para = Paragraph::new(lines)
+        .block(Block::default().borders(Borders::ALL).title("recent tokens — top concept"));
+    frame.render_widget(para, area);
+}
+
+fn mean_layer(entries: &[ReadoutEntry], layer: usize) -> Option<Vec<f32>> {
+    let rows: Vec<&Vec<f32>> = entries.iter()
+        .filter_map(|e| e.readout.get(layer))
+        .collect();
+    if rows.is_empty() {
+        return None;
+    }
+    let n_concepts = rows[0].len();
+    let mut acc = vec![0.0_f32; n_concepts];
+    for r in &rows {
+        for (i, v) in r.iter().enumerate() {
+            acc[i] += *v;
+        }
+    }
+    let n = rows.len() as f32;
+    for v in &mut acc { *v /= n; }
+    Some(acc)
+}
+
+fn truncate_name(s: &str, max: usize) -> String {
+    if s.len() <= max { s.to_string() }
+    else { format!("{}…", &s[..max.saturating_sub(1)]) }
+}
diff --git a/src/user/mod.rs b/src/user/mod.rs
index 33008b7..fc3a4ac 100644
--- a/src/user/mod.rs
+++ b/src/user/mod.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 // TUI, UI channel, parsing. The cognitive layer (session state
 // machine, DMN, identity) lives in mind/.
 
+pub(crate) mod amygdala;
 pub(crate) mod chat;
 pub(crate) mod compare;
 mod context;
@@ -383,7 +384,7 @@ async fn run(
     }
     let notify_rx = crate::thalamus::channels::subscribe_all();
 
-    // F1=chat, F2=conscious, F3=subconscious, F4=unconscious, F5=thalamus, F6=learn, F7=compare
+    // F1=chat, F2=conscious, F3=subconscious, F4=unconscious, F5=thalamus, F6=learn, F7=compare, F8=amygdala
     let mut screens: Vec<Box<dyn tui::ScreenView>> = vec![
         Box::new(crate::user::chat::InteractScreen::new(
             mind.agent.clone(), mind.shared.clone(), mind_tx.clone(),
@@ -394,6 +395,7 @@ async fn run(
         Box::new(crate::user::thalamus::ThalamusScreen::new()),
         Box::new(crate::user::learn::LearnScreen::new(mind_tx.clone())),
         Box::new(crate::user::compare::CompareScreen::new(mind_tx.clone())),
+        Box::new(crate::user::amygdala::AmygdalaScreen::new()),
     ];
     let mut active_screen: usize = 1; // F-key number
     tui::set_screen_legend(tui::screen_legend_from(&*screens));