Love it or hate it, 'tis the season when zombies and vampires take to the streets, haunted houses pop up around town and horror films dominate cable TV.
Although some relish the feeling of a scary movie that leaves them sleeping with the lights on for a night or two, others will do anything to get out of a scary situation, resorting to the old childhood tricks of fear avoidance - clenched eyes and plugged ears.
So, just what is fear and why does it evoke such a wide range of responses in each of us?
To begin to understand fear, scientists suggest we take a look back in time. Researchers consider fear to be an evolutionary leftover, stemming from the early days when our ancestors needed a speedy alert system to help escape threatening situations.
If a predator comes after you, you need to be fearful in order to mobilize your resources to get you out of there,"" said Jack Nitschke, UW-Madison assistant professor of psychiatry. Instead of simply learning how to escape attacks, humans developed more sophisticated ways to avoid threatening situations.
""Over time, our nervous system learned to anticipate danger based upon previous experiences,"" said Deric Bownds, UW-Madison professor emeritus of zoology.
While our daily activities no longer typically include fleeing from predators, UW-Madison assistant professor of anthropology John Hawks said fear continues to help us keep our distance from things that might hurt us.
When something frightens you, several areas of your brain work together to keep you alert and help you assess just how dangerous a situation may be. The amygdala, a brain region Nitschke calls the ""danger detection center,"" is one of the first regions put to work during scary moments. Upon activation, the amygdala sends signals to other brain regions to help you control your emotions, remember the experience and prep your body to make a run for it.
When scared, your brain responds by releasing noradrenaline, a chemical that helps the body get pumped to move, and cortisol, a hormone that directs the brain to shut off systems not needed to escape a stressful situation. According to Nitschke, the amount of noradrenaline released to the amygdala may influence just how large or small your fear response may be.
Today, scientists mainly study how the brain responds to fear to help them to better understand the causes of anxiety and other fear disorders. Unlike being temporarily spooked by a seasonal goblin lunging toward you at a haunted house, Nitschke explained anxiety sticks with a person.
""[With anxiety,] you're not constantly freakin' out,"" Nitschke said. ""You're living in a low-level chronic fear state."" Nitschke studies how positive and negative expectations of an event can serve to influence fear response.
""Halloween capitalizes on a person's fear response,"" Nitschke said. ""You go to a haunted house and they pump you up with 'we're gonna scare the livin' dickens out of you,' and your fear system is so primed that, when something pops out at you for the first time, it accentuates your fear response.""
But, what about the so-called fearless? Nitschke explained people with nerves of steel have adopted strategies that help regulate emotions. For instance, during a horror film or while carefully walking through a haunted house, brave souls are continuously bracing themselves for something terrifying to happen, so that they are ready for scary situations at all times. Others cope with frightening experiences by employing techniques such as yelling or grabbing the person next to them for support.
Now, for those of you who live for a good scare, Nitschke explained you have discovered a way to tap into the energizing and arousing nature of fear. Through a combination of high levels of noradrenaline and reduced negative response to fear, you've learned to classify fear as a good thing.
So, whether you group yourself with the tough guys or the scaredy-cats this Halloween, it's important to remember that fear can creep into our lives throughout the year.
""We face different kinds of risks from our ancient primate ancestors,"" Hawks said. ""For one thing, we have many social risks today - people fear ostracism, they fear embarrassment.""
Instead of worrying about living from now until the next moment like our ancestors once did, Nitschke said most people today are busy worrying about the future.
Nitschke suggested just how our fears will play out is influenced largely by our expectations.
""Appreciate the power of expectancy,"" Nitschke said. ""If you expect bad things in life, or in the future, you will likely have more negative experiences.""
