Exploring the health science behind horror films
LOS ANGELES (CBS, KYMA) - When it comes to horror movies, some people run from fear, while others buy a ticket.
Turns out the on-screen suspense activates the brain in different ways for different people.
For some, horror films is the stuff of nightmares, but for others, fear is part of the fun.
Dr. Jonas Kaplan, a neuroscientist, uses an MRI machine and a viewing of George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" to explain the brain activity horror films trigger, like the amygdala, which processes fear.
"When your heart rate's going up, it's going to be sensed here," Dr. Kaplan explained.
The brainstem then activates physical responses, like sweaty palms.
"Definitely at different strengths for different people, depending on if there's someone who is seeking out those kinds of sensations," Kaplan shared.
Perhaps the key to loving the genre is a region near the brain's center called "the striatum," driving feelings of pleasure.
"It's certainly possible that people who enjoy horror movies are activating these systems at the same time that they're experiencing fear," Kaplan spoke.
People like Aubrey West, who's with the Hollywood Horror Museum, and who has been a horror film fan for decades.
"It's a genre that continues to draw people in," West expressed.
Scary movies account for more than 16% of this year's domestic box office revenue, up from just 5% a decade ago, and fear can be contagious, especially in a theatre.
"Fear is something that spreads, and there is a collective experience of being in an audience that is probably very different from what you experience, you know, lying in bed with your laptop alone," Kaplan spoke.
For some brains, the best scare is shared.
Kaplan said our response to scary movies isn't set in stone. With repeated, gradual exposure, some people can change the way their brain reacts and become a little more comfortable with the on-screen scares.
