Anxiety acts like a sixth sense
Anxiety acts like a sixth sense that could save your life, scientists have discovered.
This counters prevailing beliefs that anxiety is bad for health as being in a chronic state of alertness causes the stress hormone, cortisol, to surge through the body and damage cells. It’s been thought chronic anxiety can even impair the body’s ability to react quickly – such as when someone is “frozen with fear”.
However, a new study published in the online journal eLife suggests there is an upside to anxiety. People who are often in a “hyper-vigilant” state are more attuned to danger. You see anxiety seems to allow warning signals to quickly travel to the part of your brain responsible for action, triggering your “flight or fight” response.
The same cannot be said for laid-back people who are not so quick when they sense a threat. When confronted with danger, the signals travel to the region of brain responsible for sensory perception and the recognition of faces.
The human brain is able to detect threats in under 200 milliseconds.
“Such quick reactions could have served an adaptive purpose for survival,” said lead author Dr Marwa El Zein from the French Institute of Health and Medical Research, adding, “For example, we evolved alongside predators that can attack, bite or sting. A rapid reaction to someone experiencing fear can help us avoid danger.”
The researchers monitored the brain activity of 24 participants while they viewed picture displaying various levels of threatening or non-threatening behaviour.
“The enhanced sensitivity to threat-signalling emotions measured in the motor cortex is only found in high-anxious observers,” said Dr Marwa El Zein.
“Facial expressions can communicate important social signals and understanding these signals can be essential for surviving threatening situations.”
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