Brain is one of the most important parts of the human body. It is the hub of our nervous system. According to sciencemuseum.org.uk, our brain is made up of 100 billion nerve cells, which is about the same as the number of trees in the Amazon rainforest. Each cell is connected to around 10,000 others so the total number of connections in your brain is the same as the number of leaves in the rainforest, about 1,000 trillion.
Among the different feeling which is controlled by some of our billion nerve cells, I did some research on the fear that we feel. In the music video of Fearing by Amygdaloids, the lyrics says that our body reacts to fear automatically such as faster heartbeat and strengthening of muscle. It is our body’s natural reaction. Ole Asli, a postdoc in the department of Psychology at The Arctic University of Norway says,” Our reaction to fear is almost as quick as a reflex.” Because human’s ancestors learned to fear danger to survive, we are predisposed to being afraid. That is why our body reacts to fear instantly and being sensitive to fear is extremely important for survival.
I found an interesting research on our brain and how it processes art. The research suggests that people feel fear and our body react just by seeing an image in which the person is feeling fear. In Michelangelo’s Expulsion from Paradise, the the tip of the sharp sword is right on the neck of the man in the left. According to Smithsonian.com, neuroscientists and art historians observed what happened to people who look at this drawing.
David Freedberg, the Columbia University professor, reports that just the sight of the raised wrist causes an activation of muscle. It means that our brain reacts the action we see without actually experiencing it. Our brain may reacts to what we see while walking on the street and what we see on TV screen without knowing it. It made me think that it is important that we are not just exposed to the images but to choose the image that we want to view.
References
"Who Am I?" How Does Your Brain Work? N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2015.
"Fearing - The Amygdaloids." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 15 May 2015.
"Your Fear Reaction Is Lightning Quick." Sciencenordic.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2015.
"How Does the Brain Process Art?" Smithsonian. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2015.
"Masterpieces of Deception." Masterpieces of Deception. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2015.
"7 Things Fear Has Stolen from You." Marc and Angel Hack Life RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2015.
I can't help but think of the movie Avatar when you talk about the connections in the brain because in the movie it also talks about the root systems and how tress are connected like the cells in the brain. The concentration on human reaction to art is fascinating because it is easy to see how art can affect a person just based on the scenario that is painted/drawn. We as humans in a sense feel emotions and thought through our eyes and your post picks up on that.
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