Fear!

Why do we love horror movies?Body responds in way we would if we were in situation

Reading of novels especially elicits same response

His right arm swung limply at his side shooting pain up his arm, through his neck and into his head…

Fear as emotion

Emotions affect our hormones

Hormones affect physiology

Physiology governs behavior

Common emotions:

JoyHappinessSadnessAnxietyAngerLovePityPrideRegretShyness

Why is fear good?

Stimulates the body to redline

Reprioritizes

Allows you to do things not normally possible

Specific Species Defense Response

Species react to situations in different, unique ways

Depends upon other behavior

Processing Fear

We recognize the feeling of fear, but what causes this feeling?

We have very little control over the process, as it’s automated

What’s involved

Amygdala

Hypothalamus

Thalamus

Hippocampus

Sensory Cortex

Septum

Brainstem

Sympathetic Nervous System

Autonomic Nervous System

Impossible to override some of it

Controls the processes that keep us alive

Fight or FlightAccelerated breathing

Constriction of blood vessels

Increase in muscle tension

Sweating

Increase in blood sugar

Increase in Calcium

Amygdala • Amygdala hijacking

• Paralyzed with fear

• Pavlovian Conditioning– Pairing of stimuli

• Stimulus of memories in amygdala trigger the same hormonal response

Laughter

Laughter

Laughter’s effect on the bodyIncrease heart rate and breathing rate

Activates pleasure centers of the brain

Dispels negative thoughts

Increases endorphins

Lowers stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline)

The simple anticipation of laughter

Simply anticipating laughter lowers stress hormones!!

Up next….a really funny video!!

Mimicking emotion

Laughing is the most contagious emotion of them all!

More than coughing, sneezing, yawning, crying, all of them!!

Cocktail of Hormones

Muscles are controlled by hormones and neurotransmitters

Protagonist and antagonistic exist

Situation determines which are released

Epinephrine and Norepinephrine

Increase heart rate

Increase blood sugar content

Also called adrenaline and noradrenaline

Lowers certain organ function, kidneys & stomach

CortisolIncreases Calcium ions in the blood

Increases sugar in blood

Increases white blood cell count

Endorphins

The body’s pain killers

HippocampusPortion of the brain directly involved in memory

Stimulated with Amygdala

Stores the emotional memories

PTSD

How the hormone cocktail affects behavior

All the hormones released will increase chance for survival

Very expensive responses, though

A snake in the grass!Think about how your body processes this…

Advantages to not thinking

How past experience affects future behavior

Memories become associated with hormone releases and behavior

When the same memory neurons fire, it will set off same response due to synaptic pathway