The Sum of All Fears… Includes Safety?
Identifying safe or dangerous situations are essential for survival. A child may be fearful of crossing a road alone, but he will be completely relaxed while crossing the same road…
Read more
Fear
Indiana Jones and the Overactive Amygdala
For Indiana Jones, there was no villain as menacing and no foe as treacherous as the writhing snakes in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Audiences saw their archaeologist champion paralyzed…
Read more
The Road to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Begins at the Intersection of DNA and Childhood Trauma
Shakespeare left out a crucial component for understanding human behavior when he wrote:
it is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.
Our genetic predispositions are…
Read more
The amygdala: a full brain integrator in the face of fear
You are sitting at your computer quietly reading this article when – BOOM! – there is a sharp loud noise behind you! You instinctively stop what you are doing, jump…
Read more
Superhuman Fearlessness? Think Again.
There are a handful of things that make me really uneasy. The mere thought of getting onto a roller coaster, especially the kind that slowly ascends hundreds of feet before…
Read more