An afferent white matter pathway from the pulvinar to the amygdala facilitates fear recognition.

ABSTRACT: Our ability to rapidly detect threats is thought to be subserved by a subcortical pathway that quickly conveys visual information to the amygdala. This neural shortcut has been demonstrated in animals but has rarely been shown in the human brain. Importantly, it remains unclear whether such a pathway might influence neural activity and behavior. We conducted a multimodal neuroimaging study of 622 participants from the Human Connectome Project. We applied probabilistic tractography to diffusion-weighted images, reconstructing a subcortical pathway to the amygdala from the superior colliculus via the pulvinar. We then computationally modeled the flow of haemodynamic activity during a face-viewing task and found evidence for a functionally afferent pulvinar-amygdala pathway. Critically, indiv

SUBMITTER: McFadyen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6335057 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature