diff --git a/src/user/amygdala.rs b/src/user/amygdala.rs
index b803e26..ff6de16 100644
--- a/src/user/amygdala.rs
+++ b/src/user/amygdala.rs
@@ -54,12 +54,13 @@ enum DisplayMode {
 impl AmygdalaScreen {
     pub fn new() -> Self {
         Self {
-            // Default to the deepest hooked layer — emotion/concept
-            // circuits concentrate in the last ~20% of the network,
-            // and our clustering validation showed layer 58 was the
-            // only one with strong within-family cohesion.  Bounded
-            // down to the actual layer count at render time.
-            selected_layer: 3,
+            // Default to layer 62 — validation across all 64 layers
+            // showed 58 has high cohesion but also high cross-cluster
+            // contamination (fear-state bleeds into sadness, etc.),
+            // while 60-62 are cleaner discriminators. With the deep
+            // manifest (layers 58, 60, 62, 63), index 2 = layer 62.
+            // Bounded down to the actual layer count at render time.
+            selected_layer: 2,
             mode: DisplayMode::MeanRecent,
             display_indices: Vec::new(),
             normalize: true,