Factoring Fear: What Scares Us and Why

October 27, 2008

Scientists scan the brain in an attempt to explain the hows and whys of being afraid–very afraid

What’s scarier, a deadly snake slithering across your path during a hike or watching a 1,000-point drop in the stock market? Although both may instill fear, researchers disagree over the nature and cause of this very powerful emotion.

"When you see the stock market fall 1,000 points, that’s the same as seeing a snake," says Joseph LeDoux, professor of neuroscience and psychology the Center for the Neuroscience of Fear and Anxiety based at New York University. "Fear is the response to the immediate stimuli. The empty feeling in your gut, the racing of your heart, palms sweating, the nervousness—that’s your brain responding in a preprogrammed way to a very specific threat."

FRIGHTENING: Researchers disagree over the nature and cause of fear.
Courtesy of iStockphoto; Copyright: Ryan Lane

LeDoux adds: "Since our brains are programmed to be similar in structure, we can assume that what I experience when I’m threatened is something similar to what you experience."

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