Practice question · Multiple choice
A person who knows perfectly well that a spider is harmless still cannot pick it up. Why does correct knowledge fail to switch the fear off?
Hints
- Recall which route reaches the amygdala in about twelve milliseconds, and which takes several times longer.
- Ask whether the flinch waits for the identification.
Show the answer
D. Because the fast pathway to the amygdala never consults the cortex
Why
Knowing is cortical and the alarm is not, the subcortical route reacts before the cortex has identified anything, so belief arrives after the body has committed. That is why phobia treatment is exposure rather than argument: the system that needs convincing does not read.
Practise Biological Basis of Emotion
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