WHEN FEAR ATTACKS THE BRAIN

Fear is the absence of courage. But courage is only the mastery of fear, and not the absence of it. Fear is a physiologic, and psychologically normal response to a perceived danger. It is a primeval behavior of animal -- both macroscopic and microscopic animals.

Both the physiology and psychology of fear have been extensively studied. These studies have shone very bright light on the process of fear and the possible ways of managing it.

Many studies have proven that fear attacks the brain in several ways that cause so many negative physiological and psychological effects.

How the brain processes and responds to fear

Fear respose in the brain starts from the thalamus which receives signals from the senses. From the thalamus, the signals take any of the two fear signaling pathways in the brain -- the low road and high road.

When the signals are life-threatening , they get fast to the amygdala through the low road. This causes the hypothalamus to stir up the adrenal gland to release hormones that facilitate the flow of blood into the muscles to energize them for escape.

Fear signals get to the amygdala through the high road when they are not from life-threatening sources. The amygdala communicates to the pre-frontal cortex which modulates and relays it to the hippocampus - the brains memory center - to compare the present threat with the previous ones. When it confirms it is not from a life-threatening source, the hippocampus elevates the senses to very high levels for defense or escape (fight-or-flight) response in a split second.

The negative effects of fear

Fear short-circuits more rational processing pathways in the brain and causes the brain react swiftly the level of the amygdala.

An overwhelming situation known as fear conditioning result from fear. This is the production of similar physical and emotional responses whenever sights sounds, other contextual dedetails of the former event is stumbled upon. This happens most times without the sufferer noticing.

Fear causes people to act unethically. It can cause chronic depression, fatigue and fast ageing.

Long-term memory creation is slowed down by fear. It damages the hippocampus and short-circuits the response pathways.

Fear can cause constant feeling of anxiety. It skyrockets impulsive tendencies. It tricks the mind into believing what is not real.

Festus C. Anaba, B Med.