Dear ruthful-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. The
answer to your question is actually quite simple. In humans, there is
a portion of our brain called the ?limbic brain?, an almond shaped
neural structure in the anterior portion of the temporal lobe that
plays an important role in our emotional behavior. This specific area
of the brain is located here:
Image: http://img.tfd.com/dict/105/183050-limbic-brain.gif
The limbic system is where our protective emotions originate, like our
maternal and paternal love, care, fear, caution, etc as well as memory
to some extent. When you see a child (any child) crossing the road or
doing something potentially dangerous, your limbic brain is in high
gear. It?s weighing the potential outcomes and preparing you
physically and emotionally for immediate and desperate action. This
same experience arises when you see a puppy cross the road in traffic
or witness an elderly person fall. It?s the mechanism by which a
person is called into action in an emergency. This reaction in our
sympathetic nervous system is sometimes called the ?fight or flight?
response.
Deeper inside the limbic system is a part of the brain very near our
spinal cord, called the ?R-complex?. It?s a very primitively designed
segment of the brain and is sometimes referred to as the ?lizard
brain?, because even simple creatures like snakes and lizards have
one. In most healthy people the R-complex is always at the ready and
requires very little stimulation to fire into action. When stimulated
the R-complex is what seemingly causes us to involuntarily jump at the
sound of a loud noise, take a few quick steps away from the sound of
falling object or shield your face or duck at the very suspicion of an
incoming projectile (a rock, a flying insect, etc). Likewise this
instantaneous response is the reason why we grip the arm of the chair
when Freddy Kruger jumps out at us or, in some cases, even remain at
the ready for weeks, months or years after seeing something scary.
For example, someone who simply cannot bring themselves to enter the
water for years after seeing the movie ?Jaws? has what is known as an
?enduring fright response?. Essentially what has happened to them is
that they have developed sensitivity to the frightening stimuli to
such a degree that whenever they even think of having the initial
reaction some latent fear in their memory stimulates a belated
reaction of the R-complex and that anxious feeling they experienced
initially is re-kindled. This is a somewhat different response than a
phobia (the unreasonable or unfounded fear of something) rather it is
akin to remembering what it is like to get burned, thus being careful
for life to avoid touching open flames.
Our first frightening movie is a scary experience indeed, but some
people come to enjoy that anxious feeling and like to repeat it. Until
you experience your first self-imposed fright you really know little
about how to deal with this kind of media stimuli. Once this reaction
is controlled however (say, in a horror movie connoisseur, for
example), a person?s brain is trained to submit to fright to a certain
degree and of course process it properly (as entertainment). In a
matured and properly trained brain the very idea of sitting down in a
darkened theater to enjoy a scary movie starts the process in motion.
Since we have the ability to recall experiences and react to them in a
predictable way, just sitting down in a theater can set our autonomic
nervous system into motion. Our pupils dilate, our sweat glands are
stimulated, our eyes open wider, and the blood vessels in large
muscles open wider to prepare for additional fuel in case fighting or
fleeing is necessary. Other physical changes that we?ve come to
recognize as ?fear? also begin to set into motion: blood vessels in
portions of our bodies that are not immediately necessary to aid is in
fighting or fleeing are actually constricted to compensate for the
larger volume of blood that is now being flooded into our primary
defense muscles, our heart rate increases to meet the large muscles
demands, our bronchial tubes of the lungs expand in preparation to
meet the increased need for oxygen should we be called upon to defend
ourselves from a threat and secretions in the digestive system are
inhibited giving you that tight feeling in your gut. All these things
combined cue our brain that danger is only moments away and that
heightened alert is what we have come to recognize as ?fear?. In
short, a person who enjoys horror movies is conditioned to be afraid
and may even actually be disappointed if the fear is not sufficient
enough to cause the desired results or is not sufficient enough to
challenge the opposing physical reaction that comes from that
conditioning.
The human brain?s limbic system is very primitive and it is not very
discriminatory. While the portion of your brain that governs reason
and reality is always on top of things, the limbic system does not
distinguish between something that is imagined and something that is
real. If you?ve ever been to a 3D movie and took off your glasses
you?ll see people ducking and dodging and shielding their faces from
things on the screen that their limbic brains perceive is threatening
them. At the same time you?ll hear them joyously squealing and
laughing at their own, almost uncontrollable actions. In an instant
their limbic brain causes a reaction while their reasoning instantly
shrugs it off and rationalizes the reaction as inappropriate and thus
funny or enjoyable (or maybe even relieved to know that they cannot,
in reality, be harmed).
Everyone reacts differently to given situations. Some people are just
bored by horror movies while others cannot bring themselves to see
one. On the other hand, a combat veteran for example, whose limbic
system has been over-conditioned may not bat an eye at the sight of
Jason lunging out of the big screen with an axe, but he may find the
idea of viewing a war movie absolutely unbearable. Why? Because he has
been conditioned to dismiss irrational threats that many of the rest
of us fear; yet he remains sensitive to the sights and sounds of what
he has painfully come to recognize (forever perhaps) as truly and
indisputably life-threatening events.
I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
INFORMATION SOURCES
ANATOMY OF FEAR
http://www.indyweek.com/durham/2002-10-30/ae.html
THE LIMBIC SYSTEM
http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/limbicsystem.html
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
Limbic system
R-complex
Fear
Fright
Horror
Reaction |
