Anxiety is a complex emotion that involves multiple parts of the brain. While scientists used to believe that the amygdala, a small almond-shaped structure deep inside the brain, was the hub of fear and anxiety, they now appreciate that anxiety is the result of constant chatter between a number of different brain regions, known as the fear network. The amygdala is still considered to be a key player in anxiety, as it is responsible for emotional processing, especially fear and anxiety. It also connects emotions to memory. The amygdala can alert the rest of the brain that a threat is present and trigger a fear or anxiety response.

However, anxiety is not solely controlled by the amygdala. The brains limbic system, which includes the hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, and thalamus, is responsible for the majority of emotional processing. The hippocampus, another limbic system structure, has tonic inhibitory control over the hypothalamic stress-response system and plays a role in negative emotions. Additionally, interactions among many brain areas are all important for how we experience anxiety.

One potential explanation for how anxiety works splits the brain into two parts: a cognitive brain and an emotional brain. The frontal lobe, where all of our sensations and thoughts come together as one unified experience, is the cognitive brain. The amygdala, located deep inside the brain, is part of the emotional brain. According to this theory, we only feel anxiety when signals from the emotional brain overpower the cognitive brain and enter our consciousness.

In summary, anxiety is a complex emotion that involves multiple parts of the brain, including the amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, thalamus, and frontal lobe. While the amygdala is a key player in anxiety, it is not the sole controller of this emotion.