We’ve all had them, those OMG moments like OMG I’m pregnant; OMG I got a job. OMG you’re out of Chardonnay? Maybe not as traumatizing but you get the picture. But according to Armin Schnider of the University Hospitals of Geneva in Switzerland, no matter how unexpected or frightening the event, the processing of it in the brain’s orbitolfrontal cortex remains unchanged.
It’s like watching a movie like Buried or 127 Hours. No more bars on your cell? You’re a dead man and soon you’ll be buried alive. Have to cut your arm off to escape; sucks to be you. Of course if this were an actual event then the “flight or fight” response would kick in and that orbitofrontal cortex would have something to think about. It’s like that accident you just can't seem to look away from or denying you watch Jersey Shore because quite frankly it’s just like watching a train wreck. This is not news.
So why conduct this study? Seems like common sense to me. As someone with an obitofrontal cortex this study offends me. The researcher thinks we should find comfort in the findings in that while an unexpected event may give us a jolt, our brains tell us it’s simply business as usual. I call this conditioning. We have become desensitized because of being injected with increasing amounts of unexpected and eventful jolts. Earthquakes in San Francisco.....get used to it. IED’s in Afghanistan...............watch where you step. Lost your job as a Congressman............should have kept your shirt on.
I would like to conduct a study on just how many stupid studies there are out there and who in their right mind is funding them. My advice.... Switzerland should stick to banking.
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