In The Face Of Fear

Our brains have chemical reactions to fear. The amygdala is a part of the brain that activates when we sense a threat stimulus and prompts the body to have a physical response, like the “release of stress hormones and sympathetic nervous system.” The hippocampus is closely related to the amygdala and helps our brains interpret the threat. For example, seeing a lion is likely to provoke a fear response in the brain, but that response is tempered by the existence of a thick glass wall in a zoo ...