What has been discovered about fear by studying a woman who does not feel it

SM was born in 1965 and from an early age suffered from acute epileptic seizures.

Initially it was believed that he had a tumor cerebral which caused epilepsy.

However, the medical team found that the crises were generated by bilateral atrophy within the medial temporal lobe, in the amygdala.

The most striking thing about SM is that I did not recognize fear.

To do this, researchers exposed her to live snakes and spiders, took her on a tour of a haunted house and showed her horror movies.

When asked to draw fear, SM would draw a crawling baby.

The study was conducted and published in 2010.

That research placed fear in the brain.

The emotions

Patient SM suffered Urbach-Wiethea strange disease that, among other things, induced the formation of calcium deposits in the amygdala, with subsequent damage to the cells that made up this brain structure.

SM’s neuropsychological examination revealed that his intelligence was within normal values, that the different cognitive functions were preserved and that there were no motor, sensory or perceptual problems.

The main deterioration shown by the patient was related to the emotional information processing.

SM had no difficulty in judging from photographs the emotions expressed on different people’s faces, unless it was fear.

It seemed as if he was unable to understand and comprehend the reactions of fear when looking at others. He did not recognize it in other people’s faces.

However, from a theoretical point of view, SM was able to describe situations that could provoke fear in people, and was also able to verbally use different concepts to describe it.

SM could not represent this emotion through drawings either.

When asked to draw the face of a person who is experiencing fear, he drew the figure of a baby on all fours.

On the contrary, there was no difficulty at all when he had to draw the face of a person who was experiencing another emotion.

Snakes, spiders, scary movies and haunted houses

In the study published in December 2010, Feinstein, Adolphs, Damasio, and Tranel attempted to induce fear in SM by exposing her to live snakes and spiders (stimuli that commonly produce fear in humans and nonhuman primates) in an exotic pet store, taking her on tours of a supposed “haunted” hospital, and having her watch emotionally evocative horror films.

On none of the occasions mentioned showed the slightest hint of fear.

SM said she hated snakes and spiders and tried to avoid them, but upon entering the store she was spontaneously drawn to and captivated by the large collection of snakes.

An employee asked her if she would like to hold a snake and she agreed.

SM showed great fascination and curiosity about the animal and repeatedly commented, “This is so cool!” and asked numerous questions to the store clerk (e.g., “When they look at you, what do they see?”).

In addition, he showed a compulsive desire to “touch” the largest and most dangerous snakes in the store.

The haunted building

Investigators took SM to the Waverly Hills Sanatoriuma former hospital located in Louisville, Kentucky, considered one of the most haunted places in the United States.

Paranormal enthusiasts describe spectral apparitions and unexplained sounds and say the fifth floor of Waverly Hills, known as “Death Row,” is particularly active in terms of paranormal activity.

This floor housed terminally ill patients, and legend suggests that many died there.

Upon arrival, SM and the research team were paired with a group of five women (all of whom were strangers).

From the beginning, SM willingly led the entire group through the abandoned hospital, showing no signs of hesitation when turning corners or entering dark hallways.

As the other members of the group fell behind, she repeatedly shouted, “This way, boys, follow me!”

In addition to displaying a marked lack of fear, SM displayed an unusual inclination to explore the place and a high level of excitement and enthusiasm.

Horror films

Finally, the researchers used a selection of films that induced fear and other types of emotions, including disgust, anger, sadness, happiness and surprise.

During the non-fear-related films, SM experienced high levels of the emotion induced by each of the films.

In contrast, he showed no fear responses.

However, she said that most people would probably be scared by the content of such films, even if she wasn’t.

This shows that their poor experience of fear cannot be fully explained by a deficit in its recognition and understanding.

Although SM’s life story is full of traumatic events, he has never shown signs of fear.

The importance of the amygdala

That research located in the brain the area responsible for fear, the one that SM had damaged.

The amygdala is constantly monitoring the information we receive from the environment looking for danger signs.

The nervous system registers stimuli of biological importance, such as snakes or spiders, because for our ancestors these animals constituted a threat.

In this way it has evolved in such a way that it allows us to recognize them and this helps our survival.

Nevertheless, The amygdala is also activated by positive stimuli. that are important to the individual.

He does this based on previous experience.

In this way, through the emotional memory mechanisms that depend on the amygdala, some stimuli are not important for some people and yet are of cardinal importance for others.

The case of patient SM highlighted the importance of the amygdala in the Identifying facial expressions of fear.

However, different studies that have followed this clinical case for years have shown the contribution that the amygdala can play in other more complex aspects such as, for example, attention or social cognition.

Understanding how the brain processes fear through cases like MS could lead to treatments that prevent fear from taking over our lives.