Fear and the Brain Structure
How does fear affect our brains?
Amygdala:
The Amygdala is located in the temporal lobe of the brain, directly above the ears. Your amygdala activates as soon as you sense fear. It alerts your nervous system, triggering your body's panic response. Cortisol and adrenaline are released as stress hormones
The Amygdala is located in the temporal lobe of the brain, directly above the ears. Your amygdala activates as soon as you sense fear. It alerts your nervous system, triggering your body's panic response. Cortisol and adrenaline are released as stress hormones
Our Experiment
In our experiment, we asked participants to complete a survey and answer a series of questions on their personal fears.
(Due to issues with participants being unable to access the survey, we decided to create two surveys, however they both ask the same questions.)
Overall we had 76 participants answer our survey!
(Due to issues with participants being unable to access the survey, we decided to create two surveys, however they both ask the same questions.)
Overall we had 76 participants answer our survey!
What are some things YOU fear?
In our survey, we gave our participants a list of things they could potentially be afraid of, with the option of adding any additional specific worries they had that were not specified on the form.
When looking over the poll results, we discovered that the top three fears participants had were public speaking (39 responses), failure (34 responses), and death (29 responses). Some of the other fears that were not originally included in our poll results were fear of drowning, memory loss, being a bad father
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Is this fear caused by a traumatic event?
This question, I believe, surprised both me and those who worked with me the most. We expected that the vast majority of these anxieties would be triggered by a traumatic incident, but the vast majority of participants stated that their fears were not triggered by a traumatic event.
44 participants responded that their fears were not the result of a traumatic experience, whereas 29 stated that their fears were the result of a traumatic event.
How do you react to these fears?
We then asked participants how they react to their fears.
The vast majority of participants concluded after studying the findings that their anxiety typically increases when they are faced with their concerns. The second-highest risk factor was an increase in adrenaline, while panic attacks came in third.
The Sensation of Fear
What does Frission mean?
An exciting shiver is called a frisson. Some people get a rush of exhilaration just from gazing at roller coasters because they adore them so much. Its meaning falls directly between thrill and terror, so you're equally likely to experience a frisson whether you're terrified or excited.
Do you enjoy the sensation of feeling fear?
In this part of the survey we asked participant's if they enjoyed the sensation of fear.
As would be assumed, the majority of people do not like feeling afraid. Exactly 49 participants said they didn't enjoy the feeling of terror, while 25 said they did.
How could Fear be used as a Superpower?
My team and I came to the conclusion that the "Fear of Manipulation" was one way that fear could be used as a superpower after additional consideration and research. A superpower that may be used to manipulate people's perceptions and make them fearful is the fear of manipulation.