Thalamo-Cortico-Amygdala Pathway

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Fear is a complex human emotion that represents the brain’s response to sensory stimulus indicating danger. To become afraid, the brain must receive a stimulus indicating a danger. This stimulus is routed to through two different parallel pathways: The thalamo-cortico-amygdala pathway (the long route) or the thalamo-amygdala pathway (the short route). The short route, or the thalamo-amygdala pathway, skips the cortex, and information about the stimulus is sent directly from the thalamus to the amygdala. This gives only a cursory perception of the situation, because no cognition is done. The amygdala is activated, and emotional responses are generated based off of the information that is available. The long route, or the thalamo-cortico-amygdala

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