Reduced activity in the brain

I once heard a scream in the night.  Initially I reacted with a startle and experienced concern and fear.  It was a child’s voice and the tone of the scream had excitable tone to it. Later I heard a small giggle.  By exploring the tone of the initial scream I was able to categorise it better and develop a less fearful response.

The part of the brain that may help think through the emotional response to fear is just above your eyebrows.  The red area shown below is the prefrontal cortex.  The medial prefrontal cortex is a smaller section of this red area and is involved in sleep, memory and regulation of emotions.  This is an important part of the brain that can help manage the fear response.

A study by Hermann et al (2007) showed that when blood-injection-injury patients are exposed to phobic images the medial prefrontal cortex does not look as active as people without the phobia.  The authors of the study suggest that this part of the brain is not controlling the response as well and phobic patients experience higher levels of disgust sensitivity.

If you have a needle phobia this means that some of the automatic fear responses you have may be intensified compared to other people.  The level of disgust you feel may be much higher than many other people.

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