One of the few exceptions to the old saying “everybody is afraid of something” is a 44-year-old woman known to psychologists as patient SM. She suffers from a rare case of brain damage to an almond-shaped region of her brain called the amygdala that, according to a paper published online December 16 in Current Biology, makes her incapable of experiencing fear.
For three months researchers did everything they could to scare SM. “We tried to use stimuli common in Western society,” says Justin Feinstein, a University of Iowa graduate student who worked on the study. They showed her horror movies, walked her through haunted houses and exposed her to all kinds of other situations that the average person would consider frightening. They dug through her past, questioning her about times when she had been held up at knifepoint and gunpoint and nearly killed in a domestic dispute. Not once in any of these situations did they find evidence that SM felt afraid, by her report or via observation.
They found instead that situations that would terrify most people evoked in SM an intense feeling of fascination. At one point they took SM to a pet store to see how she would behave around snakes, an animal she had earlier told them she hated. When she saw the snakes, she was immediately drawn to them. She even picked one up and began playing with its tongue. When asked to explain her behavior, she said that she was overwhelmed with curiosity.
These findings suggest that our emotional response to danger involves elements of both fear and fascination. When we find ourselves in potentially threatening situations, Feinstein explains, “the amygdala helps us navigate the fine boundary between approach and avoidance.” If the amygdala is functioning properly, these emotions work together to get us out of trouble—and enable us to enjoy the occasional gruesome movie. When it is damaged, however, our response can actually work against our survival, attracting us to the very things we should be avoiding. As the researchers concluded, “the evolutionary value of fear is lost.”
This article was originally published with the title Fascinated by Fear.
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Add CommentI wanted to comment but I'm afraid.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo that's why girls are attracted to criminals and miscreants! They ARE afraid but just can't stem their curiosity. And btw girls, i'm a baaaad man!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe Amygdala is also implicated in anger and rage. I wonder what her temperment is like? So if she is at a construction site and she looks up and sees a 4 ton girder of steel falling toward her...will she move out of the way,or stare at it in fascination?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNot being afraid is not the same as stupid. Seeing danger doesn't mean you can't avoid it without fear. So she still is able to reason and make a decision. The only thing she has is calm assertiveness. Hero's in the movies are always without fear when they act. Only people have fears, because they consider the bad things that can happen. Although she is curious I find it hard to believe that curiosity is the same as weighing risks. There must be more to it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEvery football coach in America is probably wondering how they can replicate this brain damage in their players.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn our modern world, a lack of fear is probably less of an evolutionary disadvantage than it was when we were hiding from predators, but it could still be fatal. If you're crossing the street and out of the corner of your eye see a car speeding towards you, your fear reaction would kick in, sending adrenaline through your system and allowing you to react immediately by jumping out of the way. This is an unconscious (or at least subconscious) reaction. This woman would not have that reaction, and would have to consciously process the danger before reacting, taking a few precious extra seconds that could be the difference between life and death.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAmygdala are involved in not just fear but also anger (according to DoctorRichard's comment), and "Aha moments" (sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110309125145.htm). It seems that all these emotions are related to survival, and are foreground emotions, rather than background.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe know very little about Amygdala how it function.Amygdala is so sensitive very small accident of PTSD effect also so much tremendous on life of man no one can cure him. He to carry on this burden like long.Dostoevsky was victim of PTSD.His gambling mania remain with him life long.Another difficulty is find out genuine meaning of this suffering is very difficult.Freud did his best to find out reason behind gambling mania of Dostoevsky but failed.Recent research in neuroscience "Mirror neutrons and empathy"hint some clue on this question. Recently I wrote one essay with the help of above the new research on Hitler with interpreting his autobiography why he hate so extremely to Jews. but Iam not satisfied.Iam also victim of PTSD and searching from last 50 yer true meaning of this suffering but not satisfied 100 p.c.
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