Exposure to CO2 Leads to Fear of Suffocation
It would appear that our genetic legacy also features some very intriguing left-overs, which are not necessarily of use to us today. One such feature is the fact that the human brain triggers a primordial type of fear when exposed to increased amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2), which makes us fear suffocation in the most “thorough” way possible. The cortex seems to have what scientists have termed a built-in sensor against high CO2 concentrations, which circumvents other alert mechanisms. The new study could have significant implications for the people that suffer from panic attacks very often. The condition, which severely affects their lives – even if it's not lethal –, may come from mechanisms such as the recently discovered one, which malfunctions in some individuals. The work may also be able to finally explain why people drawing deep breaths can calm down when suffering from such anxiety attacks, LiveScience reports. The investigation was conducted on unsuspecting mice.
In the research, scientists from the University of Iowa focused on a region of the brain known as the amygdala, which had been proven in past studies to play a major role in mediating innate and learned fear. The acid-sensing ion channel-1a (ASIC1a) was also a target of the scientific effort. This is a chemica... (read more) Read More
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