A woman who knows no fear because of damage to a key emotion centre in her brain is lucky to be alive, scientists have said. Skip related content
The US woman, known only as SM, lives in a poor and dangerous neighbourhood and has been the victim of numerous crimes.
Over the years she has shrugged off being held at knife and gunpoint, death threats, and assaults, and was once nearly killed by an act of domestic violence.
Yet even when her life was in peril her behaviour "lacked any sense of desperation or urgency", said researchers. She was simply unafraid.
In tests for which she gave her consent, SM showed no hint of fear when exposed to snakes and spiders, during a trip to one of the world's scariest haunted houses, or while watching clips of spine-chilling horror films.
But other emotions such as happiness and sadness remained entirely intact.
SM suffers from a rare condition that has destroyed her amygdala, an almond-shaped region of the brain strongly linked to fear reactions.
Reporting on her case in the journal Current Biology, US scientists said this had left her vulnerable to walking into dangerous situations.
The US woman, known only as SM, lives in a poor and dangerous neighbourhood and has been the victim of numerous crimes.
Over the years she has shrugged off being held at knife and gunpoint, death threats, and assaults, and was once nearly killed by an act of domestic violence.
Yet even when her life was in peril her behaviour "lacked any sense of desperation or urgency", said researchers. She was simply unafraid.
In tests for which she gave her consent, SM showed no hint of fear when exposed to snakes and spiders, during a trip to one of the world's scariest haunted houses, or while watching clips of spine-chilling horror films.
But other emotions such as happiness and sadness remained entirely intact.
SM suffers from a rare condition that has destroyed her amygdala, an almond-shaped region of the brain strongly linked to fear reactions.
Reporting on her case in the journal Current Biology, US scientists said this had left her vulnerable to walking into dangerous situations.
