by KYW's medical editor Dr. Brian McDonough
It is called the fight or flight response, a reaction that naturally occurs when you find yourself in a dangerous situation. This isn’t the only thing that happens. The heart rate goes up, breathing patterns can change, and we’ve all been through it. It is a sympathetic response, and it causes the release of epinephrine throughout the body.
Scientists are studying what happens in the brain using an MRI to see just which parts are affected by these issues. The brain actually can control the response if the danger is perceived as real or imaginary.
Now, why is it important? Because identifying the parts of the human brain could help uncover the problems in people with anxiety disorders, using MRI to track the blood flow to different areas of the brain. It’s a phenomenon and a way of looking at things to try to figure out whether the cortex is involved or not.
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