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Science Of Fear Case Study

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Science of Fear
Fear effects everyone, regardless of if you want it to or not. Whether it’s fueling the strength to protect yourself and run from a dangerous situation or making you react unnecessarily to something as safe as a balloon popping, the brain fires hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol to make sure you are ready to face a situation.
Reacting to a Stimulus
In coming across something stressful, the brain sends the information from the senses to reach the thalamus where it is connected to both the reptilian brain (which still relies on animal-like instinct) and the advanced conscious brain (a far more developed section of the brain). The sensory information is processed in the cortex and labelled accordingly.
The more analytical side of the brain (the advanced conscious brain) determines the …show more content…

Within seconds, she reached for the mask and cried for help. After the researchers removed the mask, her entire body went rigid, her toes and fingers flexed taut towards the ceiling and her skin was flushed. Later, she recorded the experience as the ‘number one, worst feeling ever’. To test these findings, Justin Feinstein at the University of Iowa and his colleagues tested a pair of identical twins who had similar amygdala damage. The result was the same; both twins felt fear when they inhaled the carbon dioxide. Scientists were very puzzled with this unexpected outcome. Multiple theories were created to try to explain the result including: if the subject was living a fear-free life, how can they be sure that what they feel is the same feeling of fear as the rest of us? These new findings suggest that the amygdala might not actually be the ‘fear central’ as scientists first

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