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Science Live Classroom

The science Of FEAR

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Warm-Up:

Haunted houses are popular attractions at theme parks. Today we will talk about the science of fear.

Click a picture for more fear!

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Explore Fear Click the red arrows to explore

More info:

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Is someone there?!

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Your brain on Fear

♪♬ø

The amygdala is your brain’s 911 operator, triggering a hardwired reaction to danger. Fear is fun to learn about, but fear itself can hinder learning!

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Well, if you are experiencing these symptoms, you have your amygdala to thank. The amygdala is the part of the brain that rests behind the eye and over from the ear. There are two of them, and they are tiny and almond shaped, but don't let the size fool you. Without the amygdala, humans would not have survived throughout history. The amygdala is a brain's alarm system.

Whatever it is that scares you, what we can agree on is that fear causes our bodies to react. Hearts pound. Palms sweat. Muscles freeze. Knees shake.

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Fear and Learning Don't Mix

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Show what you know

Or are you too scared?

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01

What word best describes how the body responds to fear?

pleasantly

anxiously

not at all

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02

What word best describes the benefits of fear?

dangerous

scary

protective

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03

What quote supports that fear is protective?

"Fear is a tool that the brain uses to keep the body safe"

"Faster heartbeat and breathing send more blood and oxygen to the muscles"

"We don't want to be fearless"

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04

This is not correct...

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Have no fear we are finished

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The Biology behind fear.

• Amygdala: scans for threats and signals body to respond
• Brain Stem: triggers the freeze response
• Hippocampus: turns on the fight-or-flight response
• Hypothalamus: signals the adrenal glands to pump hormones
• Pre-Frontal Cortex: interprets the event and compares it to past experiences
• Thalamus: receives input from the senses and "decides" to send information to either the sensory cortex (conscious fear) or the amygdala (defense mechanism)

Parts of Our Body's Fear System

The small change causes the brain to wonder, "What's up?" (Curiosity and fright are along a continuum.) However, an environment full of fear and anxiety will not improve learning. And this is not just in the classroom. Stress at home reduces learning, too. No one can perform well on cognitive tasks when their brains are being bombarded with fight-or-flight chemistries. A calm environment with a bit of variety increases learning, but a tense environment does not. Fear is a funny thing. Some people enjoy it, but most of us don't. What is certain is that fear is the brain's amygdala showing its ability to protect us from danger.

Fear and Learning Don't Mix

Oil and water. Milk and lemon. Toothpaste and orange juice. This is a list of things that don't mix well together. Another pair that we can add to that list is fear and learning. When we are in a state of fear, there are stress hormones in our bloodstream. Researchers have shown that low and medium levels of the stress hormone, called cortisol, improve learning and enhance memory, but high levels of the stress hormone have a bad effect on learning and memory.

• What that means is if you want to improve learning when things seem a bit stale in your class, you can create a bit of change like moving some chairs around or altering the environment slightly.

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Have a great evening!

Using his expertise in psychology and neuroscience, Princeton professor Michael Graziano explains in 90 seconds how fear is all in your head.