preview

The Fear And Anxiety Of The Brain

Decent Essays
According to Kalat (2013), an individual’s genetics plays a key role in determining not only their facial features, but also their expressions. A comparison of relatives one sighted and the other blind revealed that there were similarities in their facial expressions. For individuals with sight, the ability to not only recognize faces but infer the mood of the individual is a skill that is learned early. This evolutionary adaptation has the ability to reveal an individual’s intentions, either friend or foe. Character judgments are a large part of human nature; so is the fear and anxiety that accompanies meeting an individual who appears threatening. Unfortunately for many, encounters with individuals who appear threatening or unfriendly is a normal part of life. However, the potential exists that the reason why an individual appears threating could be an issue with information processing or even an irrational learned fear. The amygdala is one of the key components of processing fears; additionally it serves as the portion of the brain, which regulate anxiety. Since both fear and anxiety is contained within the amygdala, the potential exists that if an individual suffers from anxiety they may have abnormal fears about the intentions of another individual. The purpose of this summary is to expand upon the connection of anxiety on an individual’s perceptions about a stranger’s trustworthiness and friendliness.
A study conducted by Willis, Dodd and Palermo (2013),
Get Access