Woman who cannot feel fear may help in treating PTSD

BBC ^ | 17 Dec 2010A woman who cannot feel afraid because of a missing structure in her brain could help sci

[FourPeas]

A woman who cannot feel afraid because of a missing structure in her brain could help scientists discover treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Research published in Current Biology showed the woman felt no fear in a variety of scary situations.

These included exposure to snakes and spiders, horror films and a "haunted house".

The woman feels other emotions but said as an adult, she had never felt afraid.

She is the first known case of someone who is unable to process fear.

Researchers at the University of Iowa said her inability to feel frightened was because she is missing a structure in her brain called the amygdala.

[snip]

This could be useful in treating patients suffering from PTSD - such as soldiers who have been serving in conflict areas.

[JPG]

Put her alone in a room with Reid and Pelosi and see how she responds. I'll bet stark raving terror.

[Lazamataz]

A woman who cannot feel afraid because of a missing structure in her brain....

....and then she met The Laz.

....and this is her now.

[Nea Wood]

I wonder what the woman’s life is like? Is she successful because she doesn’t have fear holding her back...or is she a failure because of making risky decisions that most people would be afraid to make?

[EyeGuy]

“Woman who cannot feel fear”

####

Sarah Palin.

[Spitzensparkin1]

Missing amygdala? I always thought daredevels were missing something. Fear is a basic, useful instinct. In small doses of course. Take the natural fear of falling, it keeps you from getting too close to the edge of the cliff.

[FourPeas]

Those are interesting questions. Her level of success may also be affected by whether it was a traumatic event(s) that caused her to not have an amygdala.

[WayneS]

Not capable of feeling fear, eh?

If she can ride as a passenger in a 1963 Chevy Biscayne with bald tires, bad brakes, blown shocks and a defective power steering pump while a one-armed, one-eyed paraplegic who is high on mescaline tries to drive it through a tight, downhill, declining radius, off-camber curve with a 1,200 foot drop just off the edge of pavement, on a polished concrete road surface covered with oil-soaked black ice... ...at 80 mph... ... at night... ...with only one, dimly burning, misaligned headlight to show the way...

...and HONESTLY say she felt no fear, THEN I will believe she is not capable of feeling fear.

[a fool in paradise]

A woman who cannot feel afraid because of a missing structure in her brain could help scientists discover treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Everything she owns is covered in these stickers.

[WayneS]

This could be useful in treating patients suffering from PTSD - such as soldiers who have been serving in conflict areas.

Why not just remove their amygdalas?

;-)

[I Buried My Guns]

Stop.

You had me at "mescaline".

[a fool in paradise]

If she can ride as a passenger in a 1963 Chevy Biscayne with bald tires, bad brakes, blown shocks and a defective power steering pump while a one-armed, one-eyed paraplegic who is high on mescaline tries to drive it through a tight, downhill, declining radius, off-camber curve with a 1,200 foot drop just off the edge of pavement, on a polished concrete road surface covered with oil-soaked black ice... ...at 80 mph... ... at night... ...with only one, dimly burning, misaligned headlight to show the way...

[a fool in paradise]

Or use acupuncture/pressure to block the transmitter.

[FourPeas]

If removing the amygdala helps with PTSD, there would be the complication of losing the "good" fear that helps humans stay out of truly dangerous situations.

[murron]

As a person who lives her live constantly in the state of fear and nervousness, I wonder what it’s like to never feel afraid. In my world, that would be utopia. I’m sure there’s a down side to it somewhere, but I can’t figure out what it could be.

[Constitution Day]

LOL

[Allegra]

[FourPeas]

I've known people who've experienced a temporary form of this. One who is normally deathly afraid of heights, but had to be stopped from climbing on a 2nd floor railing just to see what it was like. The person wasn't suicidal, or impaired by any chemical substances. They simply were not afraid of things they knew should scare them and had scared them in the past.

[FourPeas]

Continuous anxiety stinks. I hope you’re able to find something to help you with it someday.

[JRandomFreeper]

When the stars line up like that, you gotta know you'll survive the ride down the mountain, because whatever is at the bottom is going to be much, much worse.

/johnny