Human Fear Research Articles

Behavioral responses during and after a postpartum human-animal interaction in rangeland breeding ewes

Lamb welfare, performance and survival on rangeland is partially determined by the quality of maternal care received (i.e., high durations of sniffing/grooming, allowing udder access, and staying close to the lamb). Previous studies have explored maternal behavior scores (MBSs), as a tool to select ewes based on their proximity to the lamb and the shepherd, finding variable evidence towards sensitivity and robustness in scores in ability to gauge lamb outcome (birth weight and weaning weight), survival, and maternal care throughout the lambing season. Though this scoring system is convenient, there may be another behavioral attribute related to fear of human or relationship to the human handler may be elicited during lamb collection and processing. This longitudinal study investigated the presence of a trait in response to the human handler employing a Lamb Handling (during processing) and a Lamb Tie Down (after processing) test with N= 42 total ewes and n=26 ewes consistently present across both years of the study. The current study also set out to investigate the relationship between proximity to the shepherd and lamb outcome. Attempts to perform principal component analysis revealed that variables from the Lamb Handling and Lamb Tie down test were not suitable for factor analysis. In the Lamb Handling test, proportion of ‘pacing’ was a nearly significant, negative predictor (P=0.07) term in the binary ‘investigating human’ model, improved model fit and explained more variance compared to the null model [(cumulative weight: 90 vs 10 %); (R2adjusted: 30.8 vs 15.2 %; deviance= 31 vs 18.5 %)]. A random term for individual also improved fit in this model, indicating a potential behavioral trait driven by the ewe related to fear or perception of the human. The occurrence of grazing (0 or 1) was a nearly significant, positive predictor (P=0.06), improved model fit and explained more variance in the ‘investigating human’ model compared to the null model [(cumulative weight: 76 vs 24 %); (R2adjusted: 21 vs 15.2 %; deviance= 26.8 vs 18.5 %)]. Individual did not improve model fit in the relationship between ‘investigation human’ and ‘grazing’. Weaning weights were a nearly significant positive predictor in the model for ‘close proximity’ at lamb collection (P=0.07) and a significant positive predictor for ‘close proximity’ during processing (P<0.001), however, did not improve model fit over the null. Birth weights improved model fit for behaviours including ‘sniffing/grooming’ and ‘pawing’ in the Lamb Tie Down test and these behaviours may have been moderated by maternal investment in heavier lambs. Behavioural responses, expanding beyond proximity measures, can be useful for gauging maternal attachment and investment in the lamb during and after processing. Fear or perception of humans should also be considered as contributors to the response to the shepherd during human-animal interactions in the lambing season.

Interrogating Christian and Muslim responses to COVID-19 in Nigeria

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the far-reaching significance of religion in shaping human interaction within social crises. Efforts to slow down the spread of coronavirus prompted different national governments, including the Federal Government of Nigeria to restrict large density gatherings, enforce lockdowns and promote social distancing, which were largely resisted initially. Organised religion may have influenced citizens’ compliance with government directives for curbing the pandemic. Focussing largely on providing economic assistance to people in need, it may have missed out on the reason for recourse to faith. One outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic was the need to understand the application of religious faith in explaining epidemics and health crises. This work predominantly relies on data from secondary sources (library research and internet materials). Just as it critically investigates Christian-Muslim responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, it seeks also to justify reliance on religion during a health emergency. By the evaluative method of philosophy, we show that although the pandemic triggered dread of annihilation, it brought in its wake a search for ontological meaningfulness. This study therefore argues that Nigerians turned to religion to meet the deep-seated, individual need for meaningfulness (‘survivability’) that is primary to the need of soul and body, which includes material donations by organised religious entities. The primacy of fulfilling this need precedes sociality both ontologically and epistemologically because meaningfulness is an inalienable property of individuality.Contribution: This work presents religion as a rationally defensible need that is fundamentally rooted in individual human nature, even in a pandemic; religion pertains to meaningfulness, which counters human fear of annihilation and meaninglessness.

The effect of gradual extinction training on the renewal of electrodermal conditional responses.

Extinction, the repeated presentation of a conditional stimulus (CS) without the unconditional stimulus (US), is the standard paradigm to reduce conditional responding acquired by the repeated pairing of CS and US in acquisition. However, this reduction of conditional responding is prone to relapse. In rodent fear-conditioning, gradual extinction, the fading out of CS-US pairings during extinction, has been shown to reduce the return of fear. The current study replicated the gradual extinction procedure in human fear conditioning and assessed whether it reduced the return of fear due to ABA renewal and reacquisition. During extinction, one group received standard extinction, a second received gradual extinction (increasing the spacing of USs presented after the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 10th, and 15th CS+ trials), and a third received reversed extinction training (decreasing the spacing of USs presented after the 1st, 6th, 10th, 13th, and 15th CS+ trials). Larger renewal and faster reacquisition of differential electrodermal responses to CS+ and CS- were expected after standard and reversed extinction than after gradual extinction training. The results were inconclusive due to the failure to find extinction of differential electrodermal responses and US expectancy ratings in both gradual and reversed extinction groups. Despite successful extinction in group standard, renewal was only observed in US expectancy. Visualization of US expectancy ratings during extinction suggested that potential identification of the US presentation patterns during extinction in the gradual and reversed groups delayed extinction learning.

Digital transformation in public sector auditing: between hope and fear

ABSTRACT This paper explores the imaginaries of public sector auditors on public value creation due to digital transformation (DT). The study is based on the case of the Supreme Audit Institution (SAI) in Norway – the Office of the Auditor General (OAG). We find diverging imaginaries regarding the potential impact of DT on creating public value through enhancing public accountability that represent the gap between technological hopes and human fears regarding DT for public value creation. This gap highlights the need to properly explore the downsides of DT in the theory and practice of public sector auditing.

Forget me not: The effect of doxycycline on human declarative memory

Investigations into neuroprotective drugs are in high demand for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer's disease, but also psychiatric disorders, such as depression, trauma, and substance use. One potential drug class being investigated are tetracyclines impacting on a variety of neuroprotective mechanisms. At the same time, tetracyclines like doxycycline have been suggested to affect human fear and spatial memory as well as reducing declarative memory retention. Based on the assumed necessity for synaptic consolidation in hippocampus-dependent learning, we hypothesised declarative memory may be similarly impaired by doxycycline as fear and spatial memory. Therefore, in this study we investigate the potential diminishing effects of doxycycline on consolidation of declarative memory in healthy humans. Additionally, to test for effect specificity we assessed motor memory, sustained attention, and processing speed. We administered a neuropsychological test battery in three independent randomized placebo-controlled double-blind trials (RCTs), in which healthy young volunteers (total N = 252) either received a single oral dose doxycycline (200 mg, n = 126) or placebo (n = 126) in a between-subject design. We found no evidence for a detrimental effect of doxycycline on declarative memory; instead, doxycycline improved declarative learning (p-value=0.022, Cohen's d=0.15) and memory consolidation (p=0.040, d=0.26). Contrarily, doxycycline slightly reduced motor learning (p=0.001, d=0.10) but subtly strengthened long-term motor memory (p=0.001, d=0.10). These results suggest that doxycycline can improve declarative learning and memory without having long term negative effects on other cognitive domains in healthy humans. Our results give hope to further investigate doxycycline in neuroprotective treatment applications.

Generalization of conditioned fear in humans: Transitioning from episodic to semantic memory

Overgeneralization of anxiety is a potential etiological factor contributing to anxiety disorders. Based on perceptual and conceptual generalizations of fear memory, previous research has initiated investigations into the involvement of explicit memory in human fear generalization. However, the precise relationship between episodic and semantic memory in fear generalization remains unclear. Based on the theoretical framework of "multiple trace theory" in memory and using the experimental paradigm of fear generalization from episodic memory, this study aimed to investigate the potential of human fear generalization from episodic to semantic memory. The results showed that conditioned fear can be generalized from episodic to semantic memory and that this generalization has a categorical effect. The results of this study are of great importance for elucidating the mechanism underlying human fear generalization and for exploring more effective measures of emotional intervention.

A shared threat-anticipation circuit is dynamically engaged at different moments by certain and uncertain threat.

Temporal dynamics play a central role in models of emotion: "fear" is widely conceptualized as a phasic response to certain-and-imminent danger, whereas "anxiety" is a sustained response to uncertain-or-distal harm. Yet the underlying human neurobiology remains contentious. Leveraging an ethnoracially diverse sample, translationally relevant paradigm, and theory-driven modeling approach, we demonstrate that certain and uncertain threat recruit a shared threat-anticipation circuit. This circuit exhibits persistently elevated activation when anticipating uncertain threat encounters and a transient burst of activation in the moments before certain encounters. For many scientists and clinicians, feelings are the defining feature of human fear and anxiety. Here we used an independently validated brain signature to covertly decode the momentary dynamics of anticipatory distress for the first time. Results mirrored the dynamics of neural activation. These observations provide fresh insights into the neurobiology of threat-elicited emotions and set the stage for more ambitious clinical and mechanistic research.

Aggressive shark displays: a quantitative analysis of its impact on shark tourism

ABSTRACT Shark tourism is considered a type of enjoyable and exciting ecotourism that can simultaneously be effective in protecting sharks. However, the human fear of sharks may affect the level of interest in shark tourism. The present study investigated the effect of viewing images/videos of aggressive sharks on people’s interest in shark tourism. For this purpose, Participants were asked to rate their preference for the type of outdoor recreation, action mode, and encounter activity in shark tourism, level of trust in shark tourism, and covariates related to cost, distance travelled, waiting time, and desired number of shark visits in each tour. The experimental treatments of the study included viewing a picture/film (or animation) of an aggressive shark display (ASD) and a peaceful shark display (PSD). Our results indicated that viewing images or videos of aggressive sharks may negatively affect tourists’ interest levels in shark tourism, particularly in activities including physical contact. Also, the exposed individuals had less confidence in the safety of shark tourism and opted for lower tour charges. Nevertheless, prior information can mitigate the detrimental influence of the aforementioned aspect on attitude.

Reading Between The Shadows: Barthes' Semiotic Analysis of 'The Monstrumologist' Cover Design

The book cover design plays a crucial role in attracting readers' attention and conveying the essence of the story within. This article analyzes the cover of "The Monstrumologist" by Rick Yancey, designed by Olvyanda Ariesta, using Roland Barthes' semiotic approach. The analysis explores three levels of meaning: denotation, connotation, and myth. At the denotation level, visual elements such as a dark road, large shadow, red blood, and a big clock are identified and described. At the connotation level, these elements reveal deeper meanings related to themes of horror, threat, and the tension of time. At the myth level, the combination of these visual elements reflects profound cultural and social values about the struggle between good and evil, as well as human fear of the unknown. Furthermore, this article discusses the influence and experimentation of the designer in achieving an engaging and meaningful final design. Through a qualitative approach with an emphasis on literature studies, this article presents a comprehensive analysis of how the visual elements on the cover of "The Monstrumologist" not only attract attention but also convey deep themes within the story. The results of the analysis show that this cover design successfully creates a rich visual narrative and enhances readers' experience of this horror novel.

Neuropsychobiology of fear-induced bradycardia in humans: progress and pitfalls.

In the last century, the paradigm of fear conditioning has greatly evolved in a variety of scientific fields. The techniques, protocols, and analysis methods now most used have undergone a progressive development, theoretical and technological, improving the quality of scientific productions. Fear-induced bradycardia is among these techniques and represents the temporary deceleration of heart beats in response to negative outcomes. However, it has often been used as a secondary measure to assess defensive responding to threat, along other more popular techniques. In this review, we aim at paving the road for its employment as an additional tool in fear conditioning experiments in humans. After an overview of the studies carried out throughout the last century, we describe more recent evidence up to the most contemporary research insights. Lastly, we provide some guidelines concerning the best practices to adopt in human fear conditioning studies which aim to investigate fear-induced bradycardia.

Epigenetics of Fear, Anxiety and Stress - Focus on Histone Modifications.

Fear-, anxiety- and stress-related disorders are among the most frequent mental disorders. Given substantial rates of insufficient treatment response and often a chronic course, a better understanding of the pathomechanisms of fear-, anxiety- and stress-related disorders is urgently warranted. Epigenetic mechanisms such as histone modifications - positioned at the interface between the biological and the environmental level in the complex pathogenesis of mental disorders - might be highly informative in this context. The current state of knowledge on histone modifications, chromatin-related pharmacology and animal models modified for genes involved in the histone-related epigenetic machinery will be reviewed with respect to fear-, anxiety- and stress-related states. Relevant studies, published until 30th June 2022, were identified using a multi-step systematic literature search of the Pub- Med and Web of Science databases. Animal studies point towards histone modifications (e.g., H3K4me3, H3K9me1/2/3, H3K27me2/3, H3K9ac, H3K14ac and H4K5ac) to be dynamically and mostly brain region-, task- and time-dependently altered on a genome-wide level or gene-specifically (e.g., Bdnf) in models of fear conditioning, retrieval and extinction, acute and (sub-)chronic stress. Singular and underpowered studies on histone modifications in human fear-, anxiety- or stress-related phenotypes are currently restricted to the phenotype of PTSD. Provided consistent validation in human phenotypes, epigenetic biomarkers might ultimately inform indicated preventive interventions as well as personalized treatment approaches, and could inspire future innovative pharmacological treatment options targeting the epigenetic machinery improving treatment response in fear-, anxiety- and stressrelated disorders.

Fear of the human 'super predator' in native marsupials and introduced deer in Australia.

Recent experiments have demonstrated that carnivores and ungulates in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America fear the human 'super predator' far more than other predators. Australian mammals have been a focus of research on predator naiveté because it is suspected they show atypical antipredator responses. To experimentally test if mammals in Australia also most fear humans, we quantified the responses of four native marsupials (eastern grey kangaroo, Bennett's wallaby, Tasmanian pademelon, common brushtail possum) and introduced fallow deer to playbacks of predator (human, dog, Tasmanian devil, wolf) or non-predator control (sheep) vocalizations. Native marsupials most feared the human 'super predator', fleeing humans 2.4 times more often than the next most frightening predator (dogs), and being most, and significantly, vigilant to humans. These results demonstrate that native marsupials are not naïve to the peril humans pose, substantially expanding the taxonomic and geographic scope of the growing experimental evidence that wildlife worldwide generally perceive humans as the planet's most frightening predator. Introduced fallow deer fled humans, but not more than other predators, which we suggest may result from their being introduced. Our results point to both challenges concerning marsupial conservation and opportunities for exploiting fear of humans as a wildlife management tool.

Exploration of skin redness and immunoglobulin A as markers of the affective states of hens

Non-invasive markers of affective states can help understanding animals' perception of situations and improving their welfare. These markers are scarce in avian species. In this study, we investigate the potential relation between alterations in facial skin redness in hens and their corresponding affective states. Six hens were filmed in both naturally unfolding scenarios and controlled tests designed to elicit various affective states. The facial skin redness was measured from images extracted from the videos. Our observations revealed that hens exhibited the highest degree of facial skin redness in negative situations of high arousal, a high redness in positive situations of high arousal, and the lowest in positive situations of low arousal. In a second study, we further examined whether facial skin redness and secretory immunoglobulin A (S-IgA) can serve as markers for the quality of the human-animal relationship. Two groups of hens, one habituated to humans (n=13) and one non-habituated (n=12), were compared for general fearfulness in an open field test and for fear of humans in a reactivity to human test. In the open-field test, there were no statistical differences in general fearfulness, facial skin redness or S-IgA concentrations between both groups. However, habituated hens exhibited significantly lower fearfulness and facial skin redness in the presence of humans compared to non-habituated hens in the reactivity to human test. Additionally, habituated hens showed significant lower S-IgA concentration in lachrymal fluid in the presence of humans, with no significant differences in saliva or cloacal samples. We propose that changes in facial skin redness reflect variations in affective states and can be used as a marker for assessing the quality of the human-hen relationship. The relationship between S-IgA concentrations and affective states requires further investigation.

Early human contact and housing for pigs − part 1: responses to humans, novelty and isolation

The development of fear and stress responses in animals can be influenced by early life experiences, including interactions with humans, maternal care, and the physical surroundings. This paper is the first of three reporting on a large experiment examining the effects of the early housing environment and early positive human contact on stress resilience in pigs. This first paper reports on the responses of pigs to humans, novelty, and social isolation. Using a 2 × 2 factorial design, 48 litters of pigs were reared in either a conventional farrowing crate (FC) where the sow was confined or a loose farrowing pen (LP; PigSAFE pen) which was larger, more physically complex and allowed the sow to move freely throughout the farrowing and lactation period. Piglets were provided with either routine contact from stockpeople (C), or routine contact plus regular opportunities for positive human contact (+HC) involving 5 min of scratching, patting and stroking imposed to the litter 5 days/week from 0–4 weeks of age. The positive handling treatment was highly effective in reducing piglets’ fear of humans, based on +HC piglets showing greater approach and less avoidance of an unfamiliar person at 3 weeks of age. There was evidence that this reduction in fear of humans lasted well beyond when the treatment was applied (lactation), with +HC pigs showing greater approach and less avoidance of humans in tests at 6, 9 and 14 weeks of age. The +HC treatment also reduced piglets’ fear of a novel object at 3 weeks of age, and for pigs in FC, the cortisol response after social isolation at 7 weeks of age. Rearing in FC compared to LP reduced piglets’ fear of novelty at 3 weeks of age, as well as their vocalisations and cortisol response to isolation at 7 weeks of age. The FC pigs showed greater approach and less avoidance of humans compared to LP pigs at 3, 4 and 6 weeks of age, but not at 9 and 14 weeks of age. These results show that positive handling early in life can reduce pigs’ fear of humans, fear of novelty and physiological stress response to social isolation. The LP pigs were reared in a more isolated environment with less overall contact with stockpeople and other pigs, which may have increased their fear responses to humans and novel situations, suggesting that different housing systems can modulate these pigs’ responses.

Nuclear Challenges of Neglected Lessons of Chornobyl

The article is dedicated to the analysis of new nuclear challenges resulting from Russia’s nuclear blackmail and attacks at civic nuclear facilities in Ukraine. It is shown that Russia’s actions concerning civic nuclear facilities correspond to the criteria of nuclear terrorism and demonstrate the violation of the internationally accepted principles of non-proliferation and nuclear taboo. This attitude to potentially dangerous objects and behavior is rooted in the non-acceptance of the post-Chornobyl safety culture. For the Russian Federation, it is the exploitation of human fears of new nuclear disasters and radiation pollution. European and global communities in close cooperation with the Ukrainian authority, scientists, and civic society urgently need to work out efficient instruments to translate and convert nuclear fear and concern into efficient actions for the enforcement of international legislation in the sphere of nuclear safety and terrorism prevention and the empowerment of international institutions and organizations. Translated article was published for Czech readers in Ekolist (with small changes): https://ekolist.cz/cz/publicistika/eseje/jaderne-vyzvy-a-ignorovani-zkusenosti-z-cernobylu

Economic valuation of snake conservation in Greece

Snakes are at the same time valuable and vulnerable because they offer many ecosystem services but are also threatened by humans, both directly through persecution and indirectly through habitat destruction. The implicit human fear of snakes often leads to negative attitudes and behaviors. Increasing support and collecting funds are therefore critical for their future survival. We carried out face-to-face interviews of Greek residents (n = 936) for implementing a multiple-bounded discrete choice approach to estimate willingness to pay (WTP), the effects of cognitions, emotions, and sociodemographics on WTP and infer support for snake conservation. A mean annual WTP of €28.0 per household was estimated, suggesting that about €26.6 million per year could be collected during a fundraising campaign. Survey participants had higher mutualism than domination wildlife value orientations and reported moderately low levels of attractiveness and moderately high levels of fear toward snakes. Participants more mutualism-oriented who found snakes more attractive were WTP a higher amount for their conservation than those less mutualism-oriented who found snakes less attractive. Young, females, with higher income, non-farmers, and pet owners were WTP a higher amount for the conservation of snake species than old, males, with lower income, farmers, and non-pet owners. Findings revealed that considerable funds could be collected for snake conservation, further suggesting pro-conservation attitudes among the participants. Further, findings revealed groups with high and low WTP and support of the animals. This information would be valuable if used for creating and implementing tailored education and outreach programs aimed at increasing public support for the protection and survival of snake populations.

Specialization of amygdala subregions in emotion processing.

The amygdala is important for human fear processing. However, recent research has failed to reveal specificity, with evidence that the amygdala also responds to other emotions. A more nuanced understanding of the amygdala's role in emotion processing, particularly relating to fear, is needed given the importance of effective emotional functioning for everyday function and mental health. We studied 86 healthy participants (44 females), aged 18-49 (mean 26.12 ± 6.6) years, who underwent multiband functional magnetic resonance imaging. We specifically examined the reactivity of four amygdala subregions (using regions of interest analysis) and related brain connectivity networks (using generalized psycho-physiological interaction) to fear, angry, and happy facial stimuli using an emotional face-matching task. All amygdala subregions responded to all stimuli (p-FDR < .05), with this reactivity strongly driven by the superficial and centromedial amygdala (p-FDR < .001). Yet amygdala subregions selectively showed strong functional connectivity with other occipitotemporal and inferior frontal brain regions with particular sensitivity to fear recognition and strongly driven by the basolateral amygdala (p-FDR < .05). These findings suggest that amygdala specialization to fear may not be reflected in its local activity but in its connectivity with other brain regions within a specific face-processing network.

‶Don’t Say Neigh, Say Yay”

‶Don’t Say Neigh, Say Yay”

Validation of the Italian version of the Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale (NPSS)

Research on the neuroscience of fear in both humans and non-humans has suggested that a lack of acquisition of safety cues might be a biological hallmark of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Danger perception, and in particular, feeling as one's own life is in danger, is thought to represent a major predictor of PTSD. Persistent danger perception is concurrently associated with a persistence of lack of safety. However, despite several research efforts, no validated psychometric tools exist regarding psychological safety as a unique core construct in the domain of a soothing-contentment system. By including social, compassionate, and bodily components, the Neuroception of Psychological Safety Scale (NPSS), neurophysiologically rooted in the polyvagal theory, aims to specifically assess psychological safety. Originally developed in English, we employed a rather large non clinical sample to validate our Italian translation of the NPSS (n = 338) and the scale was found to retain a three-factor structure. In light of its positive moderate correlations with the Unconditional Self-Kindness Scale (ρ = 0.376) and the Self-Compassion Scale-Short-Form (ρ = 0.481), good convergent validity and robust psychometric properties were shown by the NPSS. The Subjective Traumatic Outlook Questionnaire (ρ = −0.283) and the three subscales of the Body Perception Questionnaire-22—Body Awareness (ρ = −0.103), Supradiaphragmatic Reactivity (ρ = −0.234), and Body Awareness/Subdiaphragmatic Reactivity (ρ = −0.146)—were found to have weak negative correlations with the NPSS, which further demonstrated its good discriminant validity. Eventually, the NPSS was found to show good test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.922; three-week time interval), and its usage is fostered in clinical and research contexts where the evaluation of psychological safety is of relevance.

Do human-wildlife interactions predict offspring hiding strategies in peri-urban fallow deer?

Human activities can induce significant behavioural changes in wildlife. Often explored through extractive interactions (e.g. hunting) that can favour certain behavioural traits, the implications of non-extractive ones, such as wildlife feeding, remain understudied. Research shows that people tend to favour bolder individuals within populations despite their dynamics and consequences being unclear. Using fallow deer in a peri-urban environment, we studied whether mothers that show reduced fear of humans and consistently approach them for food adopt weaker anti-predator strategies by selecting less concealed fawning bedsites closer to human hotspots. This would provide the advantage of additional feeding opportunities in comparison with shyer mothers while keeping their fawns close. Our dataset encompassed 281 capture events of 172 fawns from 110 mothers across 4 years. Surprisingly, mothers that regularly accepted food from humans selected more concealed bedsites farther from human hotspots, giving their offspring better protection while also benefitting from additional food during lactation. Our results show behavioural adaptations by a subset of females and, for the first time, link the tendency to approach humans and strategies to protect offspring. Given previous findings that these begging females also deliver heavier fawns at birth, our research further investigates human-wildlife feeding interactions and their behavioural implications.