There are two main pathways in the brain that can generate anxiety: the cortex pathway and the amygdala pathway. Both pathways can cause the amygdala to create an anxiety response, but they operate differently and can be targeted with different techniques.
- The Cortex Pathway: This pathway involves the thinking part of the brain and is associated with perceptions, thoughts, logic, imagination, intuition, conscious memory, and planning.
- The cortex pathway often involves the frontal lobes, which anticipate and interpret situations. This anticipation and interpretation can lead to anxiety.
- The left hemisphere of the cortex is associated with distressing thoughts, worry, and verbal rumination, which can create anxiety.
- The right hemisphere of the cortex is associated with visual images, imagination, and daydreams and can contribute to anxiety through visualisation.
- The cortex can also contribute to anxiety by interpreting otherwise neutral sensory information as threatening.
- The cortex pathway is more conscious, meaning that individuals are more aware of what’s happening in this pathway and can have more access to the thoughts and memories involved.
- When the cortex initiates anxiety, the amygdala still plays a role in the anxiety response.
- The Amygdala Pathway: This pathway is more direct and involves the amygdala, which is responsible for triggering the ancient fight-or-flight response.
- The amygdala pathway is faster than the cortex pathway and can create the physical effects that anxiety has on the body.
- This pathway is associated with more immediate, unexplained anxiety that doesn’t make logical sense, and involves strong physiological reactions.
- The amygdala has two key sections: the lateral nucleus that receives incoming sensory information, and the central nucleus which directs the biological activation required to respond to a threat.
- The amygdala creates emotional memories based on experiences, often outside of conscious awareness. These memories can lead to a feeling of discomfort, fear, or dread. Triggers are an important part of the amygdala’s language.
- The amygdala can override the thinking processes of the cortex.
- When anxiety is primarily driven by the amygdala pathway, strategies that target the cortex are unlikely to be effective.
Both pathways are involved in the experience of anxiety, but some types of anxiety may be more associated with one pathway over the other. The cortex pathway can involve thoughts, worries, and interpretations, whereas the amygdala pathway is more directly involved in initiating the physical experience of anxiety.