As Halloween approaches, the latest research into fear suggests that the neurological systems in our brains that are stimulated by fear are the same as those associated with pleasure. So while you’re watching Saw IV or playing Resident Evil, you get the gratification of real fear without any of the danger.

Scientists say that while watching a scary movie, or playing popular games like Bioshock and Dementium, information runs from your eyes and ears to an almond-shaped clump of neurons called the amygdala. Located front-and-center in your brain, the amygdala has long been understood as vital to instantaneous emotional processing, especially of love and pleasure…

So as the zombie breaks through the door or the murderer leaps from the closet, your amygdala gets juiced just as it would by a home run in the bottom of the ninth, unleashing a brain- and body-energizing cocktail of hormones. But while this is happening, information also travels to your prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for consciously evaluating danger. It tells you that the movie is just a movie…

Scientists also admit that the focus on basic neurobiology doesn’t explain other aspects of pleasurable fear. As Ressler noted, experiencing fear and coming out unscathed is itself satisfying — an observation that stems more from psychology than neuroscience.

Psychologists say that watching scary movies is a way of testing and overcoming our limitations, similar to bungee jumping and other extreme sports.

“That could be why scary movies and games are so popular with children. They’re at a point in their lives when they’re testing their boundaries,” said Kansas State University psychologist Leon Rappoport. “By the time they get to college age or later, they’ve had enough of them. Their development proceeds in more substantial directions.” …

Source: Wired News
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/10/fear_neurology