Fear and genetic
ByYou might investigate about the root of some fears you might have with not much luck. Some fears aren’t linked to the belief system or your mind they come from genetic. So it is good to study a bit about this.
They are certainly better stuy and article than the one below just do your homework.
The Genetics of Fear
Fear – which in humans ranges from generalized anxiety to specific phobias – is an important biological adaptation, and a common behavior in all mammals. Fear is an emotion, an unspoken memory, stored in special parts of the brain. It provokes individuals to react rapidly, almost instinctively, in the face of perceived danger.
Fear can be present in greater or lesser degrees in different individuals. When a tendency to fear is present in excess, its consequences are not always helpful. As many as one-fourth of all Americans will suffer from potentially debilitating anxiety, panic disorders, animal phobias and post-traumatic stress reactions at least once in their lives. These disorders cause not only mental anguish but a variety of real physical symptoms including localized pain. As with other forms of behavior, we would like to know to what extent fear is learned from environmental experience, and to what extent it is influenced by our genetic makeup.
The study of fear in animals such as mice has shown that fear can be selectively bred into succeeding generations, suggesting a strong genetic component. Randomly selected mice subjected to an “open-field test” – a brightly lit, open box with no hiding places – exhibit a range of different responses. Some mice cower motionless near one wall, defecating and urinating repeatedly, while others roam about, sniffing and exploring without concern. Most mice are somewhere between these two extremes. If fearful mice are bred with one another repeatedly over a dozen or so generations, it is possible to develop lines of mice in which all members are highly anxious and fearful in a variety of different tests. But they do not learn this from one another or from their mothers. A newborn mouse from a fearful line, reared by a fearless mother together with fearless siblings, will still be fearful as an adult.
A list of related entries:
