Mapping Subcortical Fear Pathways In the Human Brain: Thalamo-Amygdala Connections Revealed By High-Resolution Tractography

Barcelona, Spain · May 2026

Posters · Brains, Bodies & Behavior

Emmanouela Kosteletou-Kassotaki
Institute of Neurosciences, University of Barcelona
Emmanouela Kosteletou-Kassotaki
Brainlab – Grup de Recerca en Neurociència Cognitiva
Liu Mengxing
Department of Neuroscience, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
Martina Cinca-Tomás
Brainlab – Grup de Recerca en Neurociència Cognitiva
Martina Cinca-Tomás
University of Barcelona
Pedro M. Paz-Alonso
Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao
Pedro M. Paz-Alonso
BCBL. Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Donostia-San Sebastián
Judith Domínguez-Borràs
Brainlab – Grup de Recerca en Neurociència Cognitiva
Judith Domínguez-Borràs
Institute of Neurosciences

Abstract

We reconstructed previously reported animal “low road” pathways from the thalamus to the amygdala in humans, using diffusion MRI, and assessed their reliability. The most robust tracts link the medial geniculate nucleus, medial and inferior pulvinar, and basolateral amygdala.These findings reveal conserved thalamo-amygdala pathways supporting rapid affective processing.

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Mapping Subcortical Fear Pathways In the Human Brain: Thalamo-Amygdala Connections Revealed By High-Resolution Tractography

Abstract

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