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Lateral nucleus
A fear-inducing stimulus reaches the thalamus and is relayed to the cortex and hippocampus. All three regions project to the lateral nucleus of the amygdala.
Low road
A direct projection from the thalamus to the amygdala, nicknamed the “low road” for fear responses, bypasses conscious processing and allows for immediate reactions to fearful stimuli.
Amygdala
The amygdala is a group of nuclei in the medial anterior part of the temporal lobe. Considerable evidence suggests that the amygdala is important for both the experience and the recognition of emotions, especially fear.
Hippocampus
A fear-inducing stimulus reaches the thalamus and is relayed to the cortex and hippocampus. All three regions project to the lateral nucleus of the amygdala. The hippocampus is especially important in learning and memory.
Sensory cortex
Processing in the sensory cortex allows for processing that, while slower, is conscious, fine-grained, and integrated with higher-level cognitive processes, such as memory.
High road
A “high road” pathway routes the incoming information through sensory cortex, allowing for processing that, while slower, is conscious, fine-grained, and integrated with higher-level cognitive processes, such as memory.
Thalamus
A fear-inducing stimulus reaches the thalamus and is relayed to the cortex and hippocampus. All three regions project to the amygdala.
Central nucleus
The central nucleus transmits information to various brain stem centers to evoke emotional responses. Lesions of the central nucleus prevent blood pressure increases and constrain freezing behavior in response to the conditioned fear stimulus.