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S.M. (patient)
S.M., sometimes referred to as SM-046, is an American woman with a peculiar type of brain damage that physiologically reduces her ability to feel fear. First described by scientists in 1994, she has had exclusive and complete bilateral amygdala destruction since late childhood as a consequence of Urbach–Wiethe disease. Dubbed by the media as the "woman with no fear", S.M. has been studied extensively in scientific research; she has helped researchers elucidate the function of the amygdala. Characteristics An experiment with S.M. revealed no fear in response to exposure and handling of snakes and spiders (including tarantulas), a walk through a haunted attraction ( Waverly Hills Sanatorium, specifically), or fear-inducing film clips (e.g., ''The Blair Witch Project'', '' The Shining'', and '' The Silence of the Lambs''), eliciting instead only interest, curiosity, and excitement, though she expressed emotions appropriate to the film content such as happiness and disgust when view ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fear
Fear is an unpleasant emotion that arises in response to perception, perceived dangers or threats. Fear causes physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat, commonly known as the fight-or-flight response. Extreme cases of fear can trigger an immobilized freeze response. Fear in humans can occur in response to a present stimulus (physiology), stimulus or anticipation of a future threat. Fear is involved in some mental disorders, particularly anxiety disorders. In humans and other animals, fear is modulated by cognition and learning. Thus, fear is judged as rational and appropriate, or irrational and inappropriate. Irrational fears are phobias. Fear is closely related to the emotion anxiety, which occurs as the result of often future threats that are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable. The fear response serves survival and has been preserved throughout evolution. Even simple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Memory
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, it would be impossible for language, relationships, or personal identity to develop. Memory loss is usually described as forgetfulness or amnesia. Memory is often understood as an informational processing system with explicit and implicit functioning that is made up of a sensory processor, short-term (or working) memory, and long-term memory. This can be related to the neuron. The sensory processor allows information from the outside world to be sensed in the form of chemical and physical stimuli and attended to various levels of focus and intent. Working memory serves as an encoding and retrieval processor. Information in the form of stimuli is encoded in accordance with explicit or implicit functions by the working memory p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Propranolol
Propranolol is a medication of the beta blocker class. It is used to treat hypertension, high blood pressure, some types of cardiac dysrhythmia, irregular heart rate, thyrotoxicosis, capillary hemangiomas, akathisia, performance anxiety, and essential tremors, as well to prevent migraine headaches, and to prevent further heart problems in those with angina or previous myocardial infarction, heart attacks. It can be taken oral administration, orally or by intravenous injection. The formulation that is taken orally comes in short-acting and long-acting versions. Propranolol appears in the blood after 30 minutes and has a maximum effect between 60 and 90 minutes when taken orally. Common side effects include nausea, abdominal pain, and constipation. It may worsen the symptoms of asthma. Propranolol may cause teratogen, harmful effects for the baby if taken during pregnancy; however, its use during breastfeeding is generally considered to be safe. It is a non-selective beta block ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Positivity Effect
The positivity effect is the ability to constructively analyze a situation where the desired results are not achieved, but still obtain positive feedback that assists one's future progression. Empirical research findings suggest that the positivity effect can be influenced by internal positive speech, where engaging in constructive self-dialogue can significantly improve one’s ability to perceive and react to challenging situations more optimistically. The findings of a study show that the optimism bias in future-oriented thinking fulfils a self-improvement purpose while also suggesting this bias probably reflects a common underpinning motivational process across various future-thinking domains, either episodic or semantic. In attribution The positivity effect as an attribution phenomenon relates to the habits and characteristics of people when evaluating the causes of their behaviors. To positively attribute is to be open to attributing a person’s inherent disposition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxytocin
Oxytocin is a peptide hormone and neuropeptide normally produced in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary. Present in animals since early stages of evolution, in humans it plays roles in behavior that include Human bonding, social bonding, love, reproduction, childbirth, and the Postpartum period, period after childbirth. Oxytocin is released into the bloodstream as a hormone in response to Human sexual activity, sexual activity and during childbirth. It is also available in Oxytocin (medication), pharmaceutical form. In either form, oxytocin stimulates uterine contractions to speed up the process of childbirth. In its natural form, it also plays a role in maternal bonding and lactation, milk production. Production and secretion of oxytocin is controlled by a positive feedback mechanism, where its initial release stimulates production and release of further oxytocin. For example, when oxytocin is released during a contraction of the uterus at the start of c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Molaison
Henry Gustav Molaison (February 26, 1926 – December 2, 2008), known widely as H.M., was an American epileptic man who in 1953 received a bilateral medial temporal lobectomy to surgically resect parts of his brain—the anterior two thirds of his hippocampi, parahippocampal cortices, entorhinal cortices, piriform cortices, and amygdalae—in an attempt to cure his epilepsy. Although the surgery was partially successful in controlling his epilepsy, a severe side effect was that he became unable to form new memories. His unique case also helped define ethical standards in neurological research, emphasizing the need for patient consent and the consideration of long-term impacts of medical interventions. Furthermore, Molaison's life after his surgery highlighted the challenges and adaptations required for living with significant memory impairments, serving as an important case study for healthcare professionals and caregivers dealing with similar conditions. A childhood ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jo Cameron
Jo Cameron (born 1948; age years), also known as Patient PFS, is a Scottish woman who feels no pain and experiences little to no anxiety or other aspects of negative affect. She has two mutations, one in the gene encoding fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and one in the pseudogene '' FAAH-OUT'' modulating FAAH expression, which are theorized to be responsible for her condition. FAAH is an enzyme involved in the metabolism of endocannabinoids like anandamide. Cameron has high levels of anandamide and other endocannabinoids. She was first presented as a published case report in 2019 and was subsequently featured widely in the mainstream media. Development of pharmaceutical drugs (specifically FAAH inhibitors) for treatment of pain and psychiatric disorders has been encouraged by her case. Clinical presentation Cameron was identified at the age of 66years when she underwent trapeziectomy surgery for severe hand osteoarthritis. This condition had led to deformity of her thumbs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amygdalotomy
Amygdalotomy, also known as amygdalectomy, is a form of psychosurgery which involves the surgical removal or destruction of the amygdala, or parts of the amygdala. It is usually a last-resort treatment for severe aggressive behavioral disorders and similar behaviors including hyperexcitability, violent outbursts, and self-mutilation. The practice of medical amygdalotomy typically involves the administration of general anesthesia and is achieved through the application of cranial stereotactic surgery to target regions of the amygdala for surgical destruction. While some studies have found stereotactic amygdalotomy in humans to be an effective treatment for severe cases of intractable aggressive behavior that has not responded to standard treatment methods, other studies remain inconclusive. In most cases of amygdalotomy in humans, there is no substantial evidence of impairment in overall cognitive function, including intelligence and working memory, however, deficits in specific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White People
White is a Race (human categorization), racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry. It is also a Human skin color, skin color specifier, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, ethnicity and point of view. Description of populations as "White" in reference to their skin color is occasionally found in Greco-Roman ethnography and other ancient or medieval sources, but these societies did not have any notion of a White race or pan-European identity. The term "White race" or "White people", defined by their light skin among other physical characteristics, entered the major European languages in the later seventeenth century, when the concept of a "unified White" achieved greater acceptance in Europe, in the context of racialization, racialized slavery and social status in the European colonies. Scholarship on Race (human categorization), race distinguishes the modern concept from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Empathy
Empathy is generally described as the ability to take on another person's perspective, to understand, feel, and possibly share and respond to their experience. There are more (sometimes conflicting) definitions of empathy that include but are not limited to social, cognitive, and emotional processes primarily concerned with understanding others. Often times, empathy is considered to be a broad term, and broken down into more specific concepts and types that include cognitive empathy, emotional (or affective) empathy, wiktionary:somatic#Etymology, somatic empathy, and spiritual empathy. Empathy is still a topic of research. The major areas of research include the development of empathy, the genetics and neuroscience of empathy, cross-species empathy, and the impairment of empathy. Some researchers have made efforts to quantify empathy through different methods, such as from questionnaires where participants can fill out and then be scored on their answers. The ability to imagin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emotion And Memory
Emotion can have a powerful effect on humans and animals. Numerous studies have shown that the most vivid autobiographical memories tend to be of emotional events, which are likely to be recalled more often and with more clarity and detail than neutral events. The activity of emotionally enhanced memory retention can be linked to human evolution; during early development, responsive behavior to environmental events would have progressed as a process of trial and error. Survival depended on behavioral patterns that were repeated or reinforced through life and death situations. Through evolution, this process of learning became genetically embedded in humans and all animal species in what is known as flight or fight instinct. Artificially inducing this instinct through traumatic physical or emotional stimuli essentially creates the same physiological condition that heightens memory retention by exciting neuro-chemical activity affecting areas of the brain responsible for encod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
