Latest news with #Afraid
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
If anxiety is in my brain, why is my heart pounding? A psychiatrist explains the neuroscience and physiology of fear
Heart in your throat. Butterflies in your stomach. Bad gut feeling. These are all phrases many people use to describe fear and anxiety. You have likely felt anxiety inside your chest or stomach, and your brain usually doesn't hurt when you're scared. Many cultures tie cowardice and bravery more to the heart or the guts than to the brain. But science has traditionally seen the brain as the birthplace and processing site of fear and anxiety. Then why and how do you feel these emotions in other parts of your body? I am a psychiatrist and neuroscientist who researches and treats fear and anxiety. In my book 'Afraid,' I explain how fear works in the brain and the body and what too much anxiety does to the body. Research confirms that while emotions do originate in your brain, it's your body that carries out the orders. While your brain evolved to save you from a falling rock or speeding predator, the anxieties of modern life are often a lot more abstract. Fifty-thousand years ago, being rejected by your tribe could mean death, but not doing a great job on a public speech at school or at work doesn't have the same consequences. Your brain, however, might not know the difference. There are a few key areas of the brain that are heavily involved in processing fear. When you perceive something as dangerous, whether it's a gun pointed at you or a group of people looking unhappily at you, these sensory inputs are first relayed to the amygdala. This small, almond-shaped area of the brain located near your ears detects salience, or the emotional relevance of a situation and how to react to it. When you see something, it determines whether you should eat it, attack it, run away from it or have sex with it. Threat detection is a vital part of this process, and it has to be fast. Early humans did not have much time to think when a lion was lunging toward them. They had to act quickly. For this reason, the amygdala evolved to bypass brain areas involved in logical thinking and can directly engage physical responses. For example, seeing an angry face on a computer screen can immediately trigger a detectable response from the amygdala without the viewer even being aware of this reaction. The hippocampus is near and tightly connected to the amygdala. It's involved in memorizing what is safe and what is dangerous, especially in relation to the environment – it puts fear in context. For example, seeing an angry lion in the zoo and in the Sahara both trigger a fear response in the amygdala. But the hippocampus steps in and blocks this response when you're at the zoo because you aren't in danger. The prefrontal cortex, located above your eyes, is mostly involved in the cognitive and social aspects of fear processing. For example, you might be scared of a snake until you read a sign that the snake is nonpoisonous or the owner tells you it's their friendly pet. Although the prefrontal cortex is usually seen as the part of the brain that regulates emotions, it can also teach you fear based on your social environment. For example, you might feel neutral about a meeting with your boss but immediately feel nervous when a colleague tells you about rumors of layoffs. Many prejudices like racism are rooted in learning fear through tribalism. If your brain decides that a fear response is justified in a particular situation, it activates a cascade of neuronal and hormonal pathways to prepare you for immediate action. Some of the fight-or-flight response – like heightened attention and threat detection – takes place in the brain. But the body is where most of the action happens. Several pathways prepare different body systems for intense physical action. The motor cortex of the brain sends rapid signals to your muscles to prepare them for quick and forceful movements. These include muscles in the chest and stomach that help protect vital organs in those areas. That might contribute to a feeling of tightness in your chest and stomach in stressful conditions. The sympathetic nervous system is the gas pedal that speeds up the systems involved in fight or flight. Sympathetic neurons are spread throughout the body and are especially dense in places like the heart, lungs and intestines. These neurons trigger the adrenal gland to release hormones like adrenaline that travel through the blood to reach those organs and increase the rate at which they undergo the fear response. To assure sufficient blood supply to your muscles when they're in high demand, signals from the sympathetic nervous system increase the rate your heart beats and the force with which it contracts. You feel both increased heart rate and contraction force in your chest, which is why you may connect the feeling of intense emotions to your heart. In your lungs, signals from the sympathetic nervous system dilate airways and often increase your breathing rate and depth. Sometimes this results in a feeling of shortness of breath. As digestion is the last priority during a fight-or-flight situation, sympathetic activation slows down your gut and reduces blood flow to your stomach to save oxygen and nutrients for more vital organs like the heart and the brain. These changes to your gastrointestinal system can be perceived as the discomfort linked to fear and anxiety. All bodily sensations, including those visceral feelings from your chest and stomach, are relayed back to the brain through the pathways via the spinal cord. Your already anxious and highly alert brain then processes these signals at both conscious and unconscious levels. The insula is a part of the brain specifically involved in conscious awareness of your emotions, pain and bodily sensations. The prefrontal cortex also engages in self-awareness, especially by labeling and naming these physical sensations, like feeling tightness or pain in your stomach, and attributing cognitive value to them, like 'this is fine and will go away' or 'this is terrible and I am dying.' These physical sensations can sometimes create a loop of increasing anxiety as they make the brain feel more scared of the situation because of the turmoil it senses in the body. Although the feelings of fear and anxiety start in your brain, you also feel them in your body because your brain alters your bodily functions. Emotions take place in both your body and your brain, but you become aware of their existence with your brain. As the rapper Eminem recounted in his song 'Lose Yourself,' the reason his palms were sweaty, his knees weak and his arms heavy was because his brain was nervous. Leer en español. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Arash Javanbakht, Wayne State University Read more: Pain and anxiety are linked to breathing in mouse brains – suggesting a potential target to prevent opioid overdose deaths Medication can help you make the most of therapy − a psychologist and neuroscientist explains how New research supports brain cell transplantation as a treatment for some neurological disorders Arash Javanbakht does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Best Songs of the Week: 2hollis, Momma, Weatherday, and More
The post Best Songs of the Week: 2hollis, Momma, Weatherday, and More appeared first on Consequence. Consequence's Songs of the Week roundup highlights great new songs from the last seven days and analyzes notable releases. Check out our new favorites and more on our Top Songs playlist, and for other great songs from emerging artists, check out our New Sounds playlist. This week, Momma, Weatherday, Uwade, and others deserve your attention. 2hollis, nate sib — 'Afraid' The restless energy that dominates 'Afraid' epitomizes both 2hollis and nate sib's approaches to pop music. The hook is one thing; the skittering synths that bubble with radioactivity, the candy-coated piano line that pops in at the chorus, the throbbing bass beneath their croons, and the overall quick tempo all show that the pair of pop auteurs are firmly in their own lane. They debuted 'Afraid' on tour together, with sib opening for Hollis, and that ecstatic meeting of minds is well on display through the track's accessible flavorings and rousing groove. They're both having a moment right now, so it's not too late to get on the 2hollis and nate sib bandwagons. — Paolo Ragusa Hooky & Winter — 'horseshoe' Hooky, the glitch-prone indie rockers from Philly, and Winter, the project of songwriter Samira Winter, have joined forces for the upcoming collaborative EP Water Season. 'horseshoe' arrives as the collection's lead single, and it's every bit as woozy, delicate, and irresistible as each act's best work. Low-fi in all the right ways, it's a perfect little tune that's sure to appeal to fans of guitar music in the vein of early Alex G or poppy noisemakers like Feeble Little Horse. — Jonah Krueger JayWood – 'Big Tings' feat. Tune-Yards Melodic and atmospheric, the latest from alternative hip-hop artist JayWood is pleasantly unpredictable. The genre-fluid performer teamed up with Oakland duo Tune-Yards to bring 'Big Tings' to life, and the final product is highly detailed, layered, and lyrically encouraging. JayWood shared that the perspective in the song flip-flops throughout — sometimes he's hyping up the listener, other times he's working to hype himself up — but 'Big Tings' is easy to get lost in either way. — Mary Siroky Mamalarky – 'Feels So Wrong' Indie-rock quartet Mamalarky unveiled 'Feels So Wrong' this week, a song that actually feels quite right for a Friday. Glittering instrumentals and breezy flutes create the dreamy backdrop for a song lamenting the moments in life where nothing seems to be going right. The band's Livvy Bennett confirms that the track is best suited for the moments of 'confronting your challenges even when it sucks;' allow 'Feels So Wrong' to provide a much-needed burst of motivation. — M. Siroky Momma — 'I Want You (Fever)' Momma's lead single off their forthcoming sophomore album Welcome to My Blue Sky was the irresistible 'Ohio All the Time,' a track so instantly satisfying that we named it as one of the best of 2024. Now, with second single 'I Want You (Fever),' they've done it again, concocting a blissed-out rock song about crushing on someone you can't have. Like many of their best songs, 'I Want You (Fever)' is one of those tracks that sounds familiar, but you can't quite place where you've heard it before; perhaps it comes from the song's warm, crisp production from the band's Aron Kobayashi Ritch, which places 'I Want You (Fever)' firmly in the canon of new-but-'90s-esque indie rock songs that hit like antidotes. — P. Ragusa Uwade — 'Call It a Draw' Singer-songwriter Uwade is teasing her debut album with this dreamy acoustic single. 'Over the past few years I've been trying to experiment with my songwriting process a bit more, and this song is one of the fruits of that exploration,' the artist revealed in a statement, specifically as the process relates to the relatively form-free structure of the song. There's a freedom to 'Call It a Draw' that is reflected in the accompanying music video, encouraging the listener to get lost right alongside the vocalist.— M. Siroky Weatherday — 'Angel' Weatherday, the noise-pop project of mononymous Swedish songwriter Sputnik, has returned with Hornet Disaster, a brand new album out March 19th via Topshelf Records. To preview the LP, the genre-blending act dropped two new songs, 'Heartbeats' and 'Angel.' While both boast the low-fi, raw, catchy goodness that led many fans to take to Weatherday in the first place, 'Angel' in particular stands out as a wonderfully creative, captivating composition. Less than two minutes in length, the song features everything from clipping drums to strained vocals to a fake-out ending. Trust us, it's a banger. — J. Krueger Best Songs of the Week: 2hollis, Momma, Weatherday, and More Consequence Staff Popular Posts Paul Reubens Comes Out as Gay in Posthumous Documentary Tom Morello: Rage Against the Machine Were Locked Down by Secret Service After SNL Performance Former MTV Host Matt Pinfield Recently Suffered Massive Stroke Bob Dylan to Play Small Towns on 2025 Tour Nine Inch Nails Announce 2025 "Peel It Back World Tour" [Updated] Björk Says Spotify Is the "Worst Thing That Has Happened to Musicians" Subscribe to Consequence's email digest and get the latest breaking news in music, film, and television, tour updates, access to exclusive giveaways, and more straight to your inbox.
Los Angeles Times
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Selena Gomez, who sobbed over ICE raids, spars with critic over family's immigration story
Selena Gomez was moved to tears over the weekend as the Trump administration fast-tracked policies to deliver on the president's mass-deportations campaign promise. Her show of emotion did not sit well with many. The 'Only Murders in the Building' and 'Emilia Pérez' star, who is of Mexican descent on her father's side, posted a since-deleted video on Instagram in which she sobbed over the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids carried out over the weekend that targeted criminals who had entered the country illegally. 'I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry. All my people are getting attacked, the children. I don't understand. I'm so sorry, I wish I could do something, but I can't. I don't know what to do. I'll try everything, I promise,' Gomez, 32, said through tears in the raw video. She added an emoji showing the Mexican flag and wrote 'I'm sorry' on the clip. The actor-singer took down the clip after facing mixed criticism, then took to her Instagram story to say: 'Apparently it's not ok to show empathy for people.' The outspoken immigration advocate appeared to be responding to President Trump's decision last week to remove long-held guidelines that restricted ICE from operating at 'sensitive locations' such as schools, churches or hospitals. The decision was a cause for concern among many migrants and advocates who fear that children could be traumatized by seeing their parents arrested in school dropoff lines or avoiding getting needed medical out of fear of arrest, according to the Associated Press. In 2019, Gomez produced a Netflix docuseries, 'Living Undocumented,' about the ongoing immigration crisis in which she shared her family's experience. She also wrote a stirring op-ed about it for Time in 2019 titled 'I'm Afraid for My Country.' 'Undocumented immigration is an issue I think about every day, and I never forget how blessed I am to have been born in this country thanks to my family and the grace of circumstance,' she wrote at the time. Gomez said that in the 1970s her aunt crossed the border from Mexico to the U.S. in the back of a truck, then her 'grandparents followed,' and her father was born in Texas 'soon after.' The actor-singer, whose mother is of Italian descent, said it took 17 years for her paternal grandparents to get citizenship. In the essay, she credited her family's 'bravery and sacrifice' for allowing her to be born a U.S. citizen. But after posting her video over the weekend, the Rare Beauty co-founder was harangued on social media by many, including Sam Parker — a Republican who unsuccessfully ran for Utah's U.S. Senate seat in 2018 — who repeatedly called for the 'Wolves' singer's deportation. 'Selena Gomez picked illegals over America b/c she's the 3rd gen descendant of Mexican illegals who received citizenship in the '87 Amnesty,' Parker wrote on X. 'She has an entitlement attitude toward America, like her illegal g'parents. Maybe Selena should be deported, too?' Gomez's fans quickly defended her and attacked Parker, prompting him to write Monday on Instagram that he 'didn't have 'wage war against a bunch of ... Selena Gomez fans' on my bingo card today.' 'But here we are. I'm drinking their tears, now. #DeportSelenaGomez,' Parker wrote. A representative for Gomez did not immediately respond Tuesday to The Times' request for comment. Flavor Flav tweeted his support for Gomez, writing Monday on X: 'Team Selena Gomez. Again. That woman is always so brave to share her truth,,, and so many are quick to bully her.' Gomez responded late Monday to the back-and-forth, writing on social media: 'Oh Mr. Parker, Mr. Parker. Thanks for the laugh and the threat.' Parker then tweeted 'Selena Gomez has responded to me' with a laughing emoji. Parker has since used his surge in recognition as a way to promote American nationalism and Trump's America First agenda. 'Woke up this morning to me sharing headlines w/Selena Gomez in every media outlet & on ever SM platform, all over the world. Good. While I have your attention: America is NOT a global welfare, jobs or education program. Stay home & build your own countries,' he tweeted Tuesday. Meanwhile, when asked about Gomez's video, Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, said Monday that the administration has 'no apologies' for the ICE raids and is only after illegal immigrants with a criminal history. 'If they don't like it, then go to Congress and change the law. We're going to do this operation without apology,' Homan said on Fox News. 'We're gonna make our community safer. It is all for the good of this nation. And we're gonna keep going. No apologies. We're moving forward.' The Trump administration's new policy, known as 'expedited removal,' empowers immigration officials to swiftly deport those who have entered the country illegally without going before a judge — even if they have been in the U.S. for up to two years and are far from the border. The policy, according to Times reports, could pave the way for mass deportations. Times staff writers Jessica Garrison and Rachel Uranga contributed to this report.
