Ever wondered why you get chills down your spine each time you sit in
the dentist’s chair or strap yourself into a rollercoaster?
They're produced by a conditioned fear response, which can be learned
following a bad experience and recalled whenever certain stimuli
relating to that event present themselves. While this concept is
certainly nothing new, scientists have for the first time identified a
particular brainwave that appears to regulate this response, potentially
opening the door to new treatments for conditions such
as post-traumatic stress disorder.
The brain’s ability to learn and recall conditioned behaviors was famously illustrated by Ivan Pavlov and his slobbery dogs in the 19th century, and numerous subsequent studies have revealed how this phenomenon can be manipulated to elicit fear as well as hunger. Rodents, for instance, can easily be trained to freeze upon hearing a tone that they have come to associate with an aversive experience such as pain.
The brain’s ability to learn and recall conditioned behaviors was famously illustrated by Ivan Pavlov and his slobbery dogs in the 19th century, and numerous subsequent studies have revealed how this phenomenon can be manipulated to elicit fear as well as hunger. Rodents, for instance, can easily be trained to freeze upon hearing a tone that they have come to associate with an aversive experience such as pain.