When you are afraid, you start going into fight or flight mode. Your body starts prioritising what is needed for immediate survival - screw routine body functions, if you don't make it past the next few moments there won't be a routine to return to. You stop digesting food. Cell repair slows or stops. You stop producing saliva, which is why your mouth goes dry when you're nervous just before making a speech or going into a difficult conversation. Your heart rate and breathing increase to ensure better blood flow. A cocktail of hormones like epinephrine and oxytocin are cued up and produced, which amplifies your body's ability to act (and remarkably, in the case of oxytocin, reminds you to seek help).
Don't be mistaken about what happens when you feel fear. Your body is readying itself to help you face what you fear in the way it knows how.
What causes us to feel fear?
1) Fear occurs to us unconsciously. Do you pause to think, hey, very angry looking snake! Maybe I should be scared. Of course not, it would be too late! Fear becomes much clearer when we examine what happens inside your brain. When you are afraid, the fear/anger/aggression/anxiety centre of your brain - the amygdalas (get used to this name, it's gonna keep popping up) lights up. And we've covered all the changes that happen in your body: your blood pressure, your hormones, your heart-rate. But remember how amygdala is like a train interchange with direct routes to different parts of your brain? There is a direct neural link between our amygdala and your pre-frontal cortex, the rational thinking part of your brain. And if we look closely enough or we think things through, sometimes we realise, argh! it's not an angry snake, it's just a prank toy that your annoying friend had thrown at you. Or if you've handled angry snakes enough times, your amygdala does not light as much. Your blood pressure and your heart rate do not increase as much, you realise what you need to do is to stay calm and slowly back away.
Finally, notice how fear, anger, aggression, and anxiety are processed by the same part of the brain, the amygdala. This is no coincidence. These 4 emotions are closely tied to one another; aggression maybe triggered because one is nervous, angry, or fearful. Being fearful may cause one to react angrily, as a self-defense mechanism. Fear, like all our emotions, happens to us. Mostly, we can't control how it originates. But we can control how it develops by understanding what exactly is causing fear and by choosing the response that dispels it
2) We fear what we are unconfident or uncertain about. Think back on your ancestors doing something they weren't confident or certain off - hunting a massive animal without a weapon, or eating a berry they've never seen before. Doing so would mean a very high chance of seriously harming themselves. Today, after many cycles of evolution, we have been wired based on these experiences.
Think about it. Are you ever fearful of something you've done before, and are good? Brushing your teeth, putting on your clothes, indulging in your favourite hobby (whatever it is)? Of course not. You know you can perform these functions easily. You are confident.
But many of us would have felt fearful and anxious the first time we ventured into something new: using a pair of chopsticks, riding a bicycle, swimming, going on a first date. We were uncertain about these functions, and we were not confident about performing them. However, once we have demonstrated to ourselves that we are able to perform these tasks, we are no longer afraid. The same applies to more challenging tasks. Some of us struggle with: public speaking, starting a business, having a very difficult conversation with the CEO... You are uncertain and unconfident if you can succeed. But once you have proven to yourself you are able to do it, even for the more challenging tasks, you are no longer afraid. People might start off feeling scared about public speaking, but after speech 3797, you're pro The catch, of course, is that sometimes, we are too scared to start.
Even if we were certain of something OR confident about something, many of us will still feel some amount of fear. We might be theoretically certain how we should use a pair of chopsticks, but if we have never succeeded in using them properly, we remain unconfident and will still feel nervous if we had to use them, especially when others are observing. You might also be confident about
3) we fear what is painful. Boxer. climbing 100 flights of stairs or doing 100 burpees. But pain is not just physical but mental. Failure is painful. Being judged is painful.
This is why you procrastinate. You either fear what you have to do bevause you don't know how to do it (you don't fear brushing your teeth for example), or you fear doing something becaue you know it will be effortful
4) we fear what we cannot control
Learn more about your amygdala, the amygdala hijack, the thalamus, the pre-frontal cortex, and how your brain works here.
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Summary:
- Fear and anxiety (and anger + aggression) are always
Neurogenesis - can we keep learning as we age?
Brain image - new neurons in yellow
(Image credit: Baylor College of Medicine blog)
We learnt about the importance of neurons in our brains: every brain function (understanding, remembering, communicating, deciding) is performed by a (network of) neuron(s). The reason why we are capable of more complex thoughts as compared to all other animals is precisely because we have many times the number of neurons. The more neurons - the more the capacity for learning and knowledge.
For a long time, it was believed that humans produced neurons only up till age 3; thereafter, our neurons slowly die off as we age. But we now know - with the improvement of technology and a rather vicious battle within the scientific community over decades - for certain.
Adult neurogenesis happens - we continue to produce new neurons even into old age. Indeed this happens at a much higher rate than ever expected. For example, 3% of the neurons in an adult hippocampus are replaced monthly. And if you think about it, this makes perfect sense. The hippocampus is responsible for short-term memory and learning (remember the example of HM?) These new neurons are essential and integrative - they combine new information with your existing knowledge - this is where you learn subtleties: the difference between a crocodile and an alligator, between one Kaadashian and another (looks like this neuron hasn't developed for me), between Samoa and American Samoa, between "bank" - the financial institution and "bank" - the sides of a river.
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So how can we "improve" our rate of neurogenesis?
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The answer is simple:
- The more positive stimulus we provide our brains, the more effective the process of neurogenesis. The more we are exposed to new stimuli, the more we learn, the more we challenge ourselves to think through things and to really gain an understanding, the higher the rate of neurogenesis
- Additionally, physical factors help. Reducing stress, a good diet, and especially exercise are all beneficial. You can hear more from Jim Kwik and Wendy Suzuki.
* There is, of course, a limit to neurogenesis and neuroplasticity. If there were no limit, it would be possible even for those with brain damage to keep rewiring their brains towards normalcy.