planet goth... haunted house
the master bedroom
what happens in the brain when you’re frightened?
No matter how brave we think we are, we’re all scared of something – it could be spiders, mice, heights or flying. These fears can be totally irrational and despite knowing logically that the UK’s spiders are harmless and that flying is actually the safest form of transport, we still feel our heart racing and a cold sweat developing when we have to face our phobias…
• Fear is normally a reaction that we learn, either by experience or from the behaviour of others. If you had a nasty experience with a dog in the past, you might now cross the road to avoid any others you see. Or you might run screaming out of a room if you see a spider even though you’ve never been attacked by one, just because you’ve seen your Mum be scared by them in the past...
• When you hear a scary sound or find yourself in a dangerous situation, signals travel along your nerves from your sensory organs such as your eyes and ears to the part of the brain that evokes the fear response – the amygdala. These signals can arrive at the amygdala without going through the reasoning part of the brain so a fear response occurs as soon as you sense danger. This super-rapid survival response is very general though, so your heart can start racing long before you realise that dangerous snake in front of you is actually a harmless stick…
what happens to the body when you are scared?
AGGGHHH, what was that noise? Was it a ghost? You freeze, your heart starts to race, your blood pressure rises, you start breathing more deeply and quickly as adrenaline and other stress hormones are released into your bloodstream. Your pupils dilate and you become more aware of your surroundings – noticing the quietest sounds and slightest touch. Your liver releases glucose into your bloodstream and you get butterflies in your stomach as blood is diverted away from your stomach to your muscles in readiness for action…• Fear response in animals has evolved as a method of survival that was very useful in avoiding becoming a lion’s lunch. Potential predators would have sensed any slight noise or movement, so freezing was the best way to avoid detection, but at the same time the animal would be ready to run for its life or take on its attacker.
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