The Science of Fear

Fourth Grade Life Science Standards: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. Form an argument that explains how animals and plants have systems that work together to support their survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. Use a model to describe that animals’ receive different types of information through their senses, process information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways.

Brain Structures The following structures are the brain’s key players in helping animals detect and react to fear. What are your fear triggers?

Brain structures that help us survive Prefrontal Cortex- higher-level brain area; analyzes events in light of past experiences; keeps fear system from spiraling out of control. Thalamus- receives inputs from all sensory organs; provides low-level processing of sensory information before relaying it to the sensory cortex or the amygdala. Hypothalamus- signals the adrenaline glands, just above the kidneys, to release hormones, such as adrenaline, which jump start several of the body’s defensive responses. Amygdala- scans information for threats and orchestrates a full-body response if danger is detected; important to the storage and retrieval of emotional memories. Brain Stem- triggers the freeze response as well as bodily changes associated with fear (rapid breathing, increased awareness, etc.) Hippocampus- helps place events in context; important to the formation of memories

Animals are Wired for Fear The following amygdala video teaches about the short and long pathways to the brain’s threat center: http://www.fearexhibit.org/brain/wired

Wired for Fear Review- How our brain structures relate to one another and coordinate different processes Sensory organs gather information Sensory neurons hustle the information up to the brain right away The thalamus receives information from our sensory organs and passes it along to other parts of the brain. a. The amygdala is the brain’s threat center. b. The brain stem receives, sends out, and organizes all the brain’s messages, and helps with actions that happen without any thought i. Freeze response ii. facial muscles c. The hypothalamus floods the body with hormones to fight or flee OR d. The visual cortex determines when danger is confirmed, a fraction of a second later i. fight/flight ii. relax e. The hippocampus and prefrontal cortex create a memory of the experience

Physiological responses to fear- how a body reacts to fear in order to stay safe Scroll over Mr. Goose Bumps to see how fear affects the various parts of his body: http://www.fearexhibit.org/brain/full_body_experience

Performance Task 1. Your group will determine five common fears children may experience. 2. You must create a survey asking students to identify what they most fear. You will administer the survey to all students in another Kolb teacher’s classroom. 3. You will graph the data in two different formats (bar graph, line plot, pie graph, pictograph, etc.). Calculate the fraction of fear for each category. 4. Analyze your data by comparing it to the data of another group. Were the results as you expected? Why or why not? What other factors do you infer influenced the results of the data? Extra Credit: Create a fear box designed to challenge phobic people to face their fear. Examples may include spiders, rodents, snakes, etc.