The Innate Alarm System and Subliminal Threat Presentation in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Neuroimaging of the Midbrain and Cerebellum

BACKGROUND: The innate alarm system, a network of interconnected midbrain, other brainstem, and thalamic structures, serves to rapidly detect stimuli in the environment prior to the onset of conscious awareness. This system is sensitive to threatening stimuli and has evolved to process these stimuli subliminally for hastened responding. Despite the conscious unawareness, the presentation of subliminal threat stimuli generates increased …