The horror film "Insidious" directed by Wen Ziren. The film was used as one of the materials for studying fear emotions using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Think back to how you reacted when Sadako suddenly climbed out of the TV and held out her hand to you. For horror movies, many people love and hate. But few people know what the neural activity in the brain is like when watching horror movies. In a recent study published in Neuroimaging, researchers used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to reveal the close connection between various brain regions when watching horror movies — when fear accumulates, the entire brain is desperate to cope with potential fear and danger.
Written by | jennifer ouellette
Translate | Pan Lei
Review | Shi Yunlei Wu Fei
When we watch horror movies, the brain works harder than usual: different areas of the cerebral cortex constantly exchange information, try to predict potential dangers, and are ready to react in the first place. In a recent study published in the journal Neuroimage, researchers at the University of Turku in Finland used MRI to monitor the subjects' neural activity while watching horror movies. Studies have found that in the process, the brain produces reactions that enhance the thrill of horror movies.
Matthew Hudson, the corresponding author of the paper and currently at National College Ireland, said the aim of the study was to further look at the dynamic interactions between regions when the brain is in a strong emotional experience. Most previous studies of neural mechanisms have been based on dualism, arguing that it is only necessary to focus on comparing the differences in the brain's neural states before and after experiencing fear, but this ignores the dynamic transition between the two states, that is, the continuous fear response.
Hudson said that instead of simply comparing the neural activity of the brain before and after stimulation, "we wanted to analyze neural data with a natural stimulus and a new research method to understand how fear actually changes." "And horror movies are the perfect trigger for fear emotions."
Brain region activity during fear
To select the right horror movies, the researchers set up an online questionnaire that listed the top 100 horror movies with imdb ratings, and asked 216 horror movie "enthusiasts" to rate their horror, film quality, and popularity. They also investigated how often people watched horror movies and what type of horror movies they were most afraid of watching. (The most terrifying are based on real events, followed by invisible or potential threats.) In addition, the authors record the number of times a horror scene suddenly appears in each film.
In the end, they chose two films directed by Wen Ziren, "Insidious" and "The Conjuring 2", which had 24 and 22 thrillers, respectively. In addition, many of the respondents had not seen the two films, ensuring that the subjects were watching them for the first time, and were therefore more appropriate than the classic Jaws and the Shining. Throughout the movie, the subjects assess their level of fear.
They studied two different kinds of fear: an ominous premonition that spreads in a strange environment and slowly devours the spirit; the other is an instinctive tremor response in the face of a sudden monster or threat. The researchers found that in the former scenario, the neural activity of visual and auditory perception in the brain increased significantly; in the suddenly frightened scenario, the activity of brain regions involving emotional processing, risk assessment and decision-making was significantly enhanced, resulting in more timely responses to threats.
Areas of the brain that are activated when facing fear (top) and sudden fright (bottom).
Hudson said: "I was surprised that the visual and auditory areas of the participants' brains were relatively active when watching the tense episodes of these films. "These episodes tend to be relatively quiet parts of the film, showing very little information on a dark screen. So Hudson speculates that the brain is trying to gather as much information as possible to reduce uncertainty. The researchers also found that the functions of different brain regions are largely interrelated.
"What surprised me most was that the response to fear involved so many areas of the brain," Hudson says, "and there was a steady exchange of information between the various brain regions." The whole brain can deal with potential dangers at all costs, and it seems reasonable. ”
Inter-subject correlation, isc, while watching "Latent" and "The Conjuring 2", the subjects' brain correlation (ISC)
A sense of fear that continues to spread
Mathias Clasen of Aarhus University in Denmark is very supportive of this study using neuroimaging to observe fear emotions. Clasen specializes in how people react to horror scenes in forms of entertainment such as books, movies, video games, and more. Previously, Clasen had investigated the regulatory mechanisms of two different groups of people facing fear through haunted house experiments, namely "adrenaline addicts" who were addicted to fear and "extremely nervous little whites" who tended to vent fear.
Of course, the research carried out by Hudson et al. is not about "fear" per se, they are just using horror movies as stimuli to study complex fear systems in the brain, but coincide with Clasen's research. Clasen said: "I appreciate their work. One part of the brain's neural network becomes alert (receptors on the cerebral cortex are activated), which in turn activates another part of the network, triggering the so-called 'fight or flight' response. ”
"It's so cool that someone is finally studying fear with MRI," Clasen says, "and their findings confirm my core hypothesis: that something horrible triggers an escalating fear system in the brain." Finally, there can be some solid empirical evidence. Classic horror movies will deepen the audience's fear step by step, causing people to completely fall into a premonition of anxiety, and finally suddenly appear horror pictures, that is, 'stressful' startles. ”
In Latent, Josh and Renai Lambert find a bloody handprint in front of their son's bed.
Hudson said similar research could be broadly extended to the study of other emotions, and in the future they could study how the brain reacts to comedies and thrillers. And Clasen is curious as to why we enjoy watching horror movies so much. "Perhaps the fear of something beyond our control can instead alleviate people's fear of great threats," he said. ”
In addition, many of those surveyed reported that they preferred to watch horror movies with other people, suggesting that this type of film can also enhance social connections. Hudson added: "There is evidence that sharing traumatic experiences helps build social bonds between people. ”
Exploring the brain's response to fear from a neurological perspective may involve specific neurotransmitters, such as multiple neurotransmitters that are addicted to opioids. They are involved in a variety of human emotional responses, including fear. Regarding his next research plan, Hudson said: "I wanted to know what neurotransmitters are produced in the brain when watching horror movies, and whether their concentration can distinguish between horror movie lovers and people who don't like such movies." ”
Source: pixabay
Original link:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/02/watching-horror-movies-in-an-mri-can-shed-light-on-how-we-cope-with-fear/
Original paper:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s1053811920300094?via%3dihub
This article is reprinted with permission from the WeChat public account "Universal Science" (id: huanqiukexue).
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Editor: Dannis
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