The pathophysiology of fear, is the discipline that studies said emotion, not as a system of adaptation and protection of ourselves but as a disease that generates negative changes for our health in the long, medium and short term; it is understanding how fear not only damages our mind but also our body.
“Emotions are psychophysiological reactions that represent modes of adaptation to certain stimuli transmitted by an object, person, place, event or memory and how these are related to reality or imagination; expressing itself physically through some physiological function that includes behavioral reactions”, affirms the Dr. Andres Villarrealspecialist in neurosurgery Medical Center.
The neuroscience of emotionsis a new field of medicine that scientifically investigates the neural bases of these in our brain, through neurobiological, psychological and socio-cultural models.
Keeping in mind that emotions have different patterns, these are found in our autonomic nervous system which cannot be consciously controlled. Patterns are recognized for six basic emotions, such as surprise, disgust, sadness, anger, fear, and joy.
To know the origin of fear, and why it is present in our lives, it must be clear that fear is an emotion which is transformed at the moment in which we rationalize, there it becomes a feeling.
We call fear an alarm system in our brain that is activated when it detects a possible real or supposed threat, present, future or even from the past. It is a useful and adaptive response that involves changes in the functioning of our behaviors, thoughts and body.
Fear is a cerebral scheme of adaptation to the environment and constitutes a survival and defense mechanism, which allows the person to respond quickly to adverse situations. In that sense, it is normal and beneficial for all living beings to be afraid.
Why do we feel afraid?
The study of the neurobiological bases of fear has focused on a specific region of the brain called the amygdala; which is a small structure housed within the limbic system, that is, our emotional brain. clarifies the Dr. Andres Villarreal, that this area plays a key role in the search and detection of danger signals. It could be said that it works in a similar way to a smoke detector: it remains inactive until the slightest threatening stimulus starts it up. If we didn’t have an amygdala, we probably wouldn’t feel fear.
This mechanism that unleashes fear is found, both in people and in animals, specifically in the most primitive region that is in charge of regulating essential actions for survival such as eating and breathing, in turn, in the limbic system that is in charge of regulate emotions, fight, flight, avoidance of pain and in general all the functions that ensure the conservation and safety of the being.
This system constantly reviews, even during sleep, all the information that is received through the senses, it does so through the structure called the cerebral amygdala, which controls basic emotions, such as fear, taking care of locating the source of danger.
Says the specialist Medical Center that when the amygdala is activated when detecting a possible danger, the sensation of fear is triggered, and its response can be flight, confrontation or paralysis. Fear produces immediate changes in our body such as: cellular energy consumption increases, blood pressure increases, blood sugar levels and brain alert activity.
In turn, non-essential functions are slowed or stopped, the heart rate increases, and blood flows to the major muscles, especially the lower extremities, in preparation for flight; A hormonal cascade begins from the hypothalamus to the pituitary and adrenal glands, increasing adrenaline and cortisol levels. These changes in the body are accompanied by facial modifications such as: opening of the eyes to improve vision, dilation of the pupils to facilitate the admission of light, the forehead wrinkles and the lips stretch horizontally, explains the specialist.
Are fears hereditary?
Fears cannot be inherited, we are all born with something called “fixed patterns of action” known as neural circuits to be afraid of any circumstance that endangers our lives.
When the father presents fear of a particular object or circumstance, it will not be inherited from his children; but if at birth any human being is repeatedly exposed and guided by his parents, his community or his culture transmitting fear, this person will learn and adopt that same fear. For what he affirms Dr. Andres Villarrealthat fears cannot be inherited but they can be taught.
From the first months, babies have the ability to recognize positive and negative emotions. It is necessary to consider that the experimentation of emotions is prior to the ability to express them. Our brain is born with neural circuits for some functions already destined, among them the recognition of danger and therefore, the circuit to have and feel fear.
At approximately four years of age, children can recognize basic emotions and understand them as feelings, recognizing the responses they can generate in themselves and in other people.
In adolescence, the social part in the recognition of emotions is emphasized, in addition to this, in this stage of life, self-assessment is developed from the interaction with others. Additionally, all emotions are already considered acceptable; the different responses or reactions that emotions provoke can be good or bad.
It is important to clarify that at this stage, one’s own emotions and those of other people are recognized, as well as the rules of expression, however, problems are experienced in managing emotions. This problem is related to hormonal and physical changes where children change to have adult-like developed male and female characteristics.
In adulthood, a person is expected to have the ability to identify and recognize their own emotions, including fear, as well as exercise control over them, developing what is called emotional intelligence.
It is important, then, to understand that as we age, various changes in emotions are generated, and these have an impact on the conception of oneself and the environment. In this sense, during emotional development, culture and society have a great influence on emotions, since they regulate their expression, especially emotions that generate fear, says the specialist.
It should be clarified that there is the possibility of modifying and ending the fears that we have been creating throughout life; It has been shown that through psychotherapy communication between the cerebral amygdala and anterior cingulate can be promoted, so that affected people could learn to act with less fear and have greater self-confidence.
Finally, we all have, were or will be afraid of something; As we mentioned before, a series of responses are generated before a danger stimulus which can be present in the now or in the future; It is something natural and we must recognize it as a protection system. The problem is when fear is generated and its response is not adequate or it generates behavioral changes and/or limits our daily activities. In this case, we could say that a case of protection is not being presented, but an obvious limitation in the face of some stimuli, and for these episodes should try to control and recognize with the help of a professional the reason for this abnormal response, says the Dr. Andres Villarreal, specialist in neurosurgery at the Medical Center.