SM was born in 1965 and suffered from acute epileptic seizures. Initially, it was believed that he had a cerebral tumor which caused epilepsy. However, further testing revealed that the seizures were generated by bilateral atrophy within the medial temporal lobe, specifically in the amygdala.
One of the most striking things about SM is that he did not recognize fear. Researchers conducted a study in 2010 to explore this further. They exposed SM to live snakes and spiders, took him on a tour of a haunted house, and showed him horror movies. When asked to draw fear, SM would draw a crawling baby. This research placed fear in the brain.
Despite his own lack of fear response, SM could acknowledge that most people would be scared by certain content in horror films. His neuropsychological examination revealed that his intelligence was within normal values, with preserved cognitive functions. However, the main deterioration shown by the patient was related to emotional information processing. Specifically, SM had difficulty recognizing fear in others and struggled to represent this emotion through drawings.
Further studies following SM’s case have shown the importance of the amygdala in processing fear and other complex aspects such as attention and social cognition. Understanding how the brain processes fear through cases like SM’s could lead to treatments that prevent fear from dominating our lives.
SM suffered from Urbach-Wiethe disease, which induced the formation of calcium deposits in the amygdala, leading to damage to the cells in this brain structure. Despite his own lack of fear response, SM could acknowledge that most people would be scared by certain content in horror films.
The researchers attempted to induce fear in SM by exposing him to live snakes and spiders, taking him to a haunted hospital, and showing him horror films. However, SM showed no fear responses and instead displayed curiosity, fascination
