The Fast and Slow Pathways of Fear A ccording to Joseph LeDoux (2000), information about a stimulus takes two routes simultaneously: the “fast pathway” (shown in pink), which goes from the thalamus directly to the amygdala, and the “slow pathway” (shown in green), which goes from the thalamus to the cortex and then to the amygdala. Because the amygdala receives information from the thalamus before it receives information from the cortex, people can be afraid of something before they know what it is.
JIM ZUCKERMAN/CORBIS
PARAMOUNT PICTURES/THE KOBAL COLLECTION
PARAMOUNT PICTURES/THE KOBAL COLLECTION