According to the report on daily mail the scientists discover the secret to the feeling of fear and courage.
The discovery means it might one day be possible to give people back their courage.
Scientists pinpointed a brain region called the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) which was activated when people displayed courage.
Snakes were used to test the bravery of participants in the unusual brain scanning study.
Volunteers were divided into those who had a fear of snakes, and those who did not.
They were then tested with either a toy bear or a live corn snake, a non-poisonous American species often kept as pets.
Participants could choose whether to have the toy or snake moved closer or further away from them.
At the same time, their brains underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan.
The scans showed up different patterns of brain activity when volunteers succumbed to fear and when they displayed courage by deliberately overcoming it.
Activity in the sgACC increased along with with the degree of fear felt by snake-hating volunteers who showed bravery by having the corn snake brought closer to them.
However this was not the case when scared participants succumbed to fear by increasing their distance from the snake.
In addition, activity in a series of temporal lobe brain structures was reduced when fear increased but was overcome.
The findings were reported today in the journal Neuron.
Lead researcher Dr Yadin Dudai, from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, said: 'Our results propose an account for brain processes and mechanisms supporting an intriguing aspect of human behaviour, the ability to carry out a voluntary action opposite to that promoted by ongoing fear, namely courage.
'Specifically, our findings delineate the importance of maintaining high sgACC activity in successful efforts to overcome ongoing fear and point to the possibility of manipulating sgACC activity in therapeutic intervention in disorders involving a failure to overcome fear.'
The discovery means it might one day be possible to give people back their courage.
Scientists pinpointed a brain region called the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) which was activated when people displayed courage.
Snakes were used to test the bravery of participants in the unusual brain scanning study.
Volunteers were divided into those who had a fear of snakes, and those who did not.
They were then tested with either a toy bear or a live corn snake, a non-poisonous American species often kept as pets.
Participants could choose whether to have the toy or snake moved closer or further away from them.
At the same time, their brains underwent a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan.
The scans showed up different patterns of brain activity when volunteers succumbed to fear and when they displayed courage by deliberately overcoming it.
Activity in the sgACC increased along with with the degree of fear felt by snake-hating volunteers who showed bravery by having the corn snake brought closer to them.
However this was not the case when scared participants succumbed to fear by increasing their distance from the snake.
In addition, activity in a series of temporal lobe brain structures was reduced when fear increased but was overcome.
The findings were reported today in the journal Neuron.
Lead researcher Dr Yadin Dudai, from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, said: 'Our results propose an account for brain processes and mechanisms supporting an intriguing aspect of human behaviour, the ability to carry out a voluntary action opposite to that promoted by ongoing fear, namely courage.
'Specifically, our findings delineate the importance of maintaining high sgACC activity in successful efforts to overcome ongoing fear and point to the possibility of manipulating sgACC activity in therapeutic intervention in disorders involving a failure to overcome fear.'
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