Horror Neurobiology (WATCHING SCARY STUFF) with Dr. Austin Lim
Thrills. Chills. Hiding behind your hands. It’s officially SPOOKTOBER month with a huge, fascinating (and I promise, mellow) episode on why humans watch horror, and what’s happening in your brain. Not only do we have the author of “Horror on the Brain: the Neuroscience Behind Science Fiction,” neuroscientist Dr. Austin Lim, but this also features CUTS from other episodes to FLESH it all out. Enjoy the political sociology of zombies vs. vampires, feminist body horror, horror as anti-war art, liminal spaces, the best blood in the business, goosebumps and Goosebumps, evolutionary mismatches, why clowns unsettle you, and if horror is having its moment. (Note: it is.)
Also, we had to cap this at 2+ hours so if we don’t cover your favorite movie or series and you yell at me about it, I will roll my eyes so hard that I will die and then I will haunt you by hiding your car keys.
Listen via Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Ad-free episodes available by subscribing to SiriusXM Podcasts+. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.
Visit Dr. Lim’s website and follow him on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube
Buy his book, Horror on the Brain: The Neuroscience Behind Science Fiction
Donations went to Homes For Animal Heroes and Homeboy Industries
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Links to things we discussed:
S.M. (patient) who lacks an amygdala
Regulation of fear responses by striatal and extra-striatal adenosine A2A receptors in forebrain
Nigrostriatal dopamine modulates the striatal-amygdala pathway in auditory fear conditioning
Dissociable neural systems for unconditioned acute and sustained fear
(PDF) Psychology and neurobiology of horror movies
Science of Scare - The Scariest Movies According to Science | MoneySuperMarket
Facing Fears: Patients With Past Trauma Can Still Enjoy Halloween | Psychiatric Times
Why Do We Like Horror Movies? | The Scientist
(PDF) Captured by True Crime: Why Are Women Drawn to Tales of Rape, Murder, and Serial Killers?
Why the True Crime Audience Is Predominantly Female | Psychology Today
Tales from the Screen: Enduring Fright Reactions to Scary Media
Waterloo researcher examines brain activity of horror movie fan
(PDF) Bleeding-Heart Horror Fans
Horror, personality, and threat simulation: A survey on the psychology of scary media
PERSONALITY TYPES AND THE ENJOYMENT OF HORROR MOVIES
Feminist Frameworks for Horror Films - Cynthia A Freeland
The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis - Barbara Creed
Women, Monstrosity and Horror Film: Gynaehorror
Horror films: Reflections of society's deepest fears and cultural anxieties | ASU News
Be Very Afraid: How Horror Movie Trends Reflect Societal Fears - The Trail
A Century of Horror Villains and the Fears That Inspired Them
The Origins of Horror: Delving into the First Horror Movie - NYFA
MSS: Correlation of the Week: Zombies, Vampires, Democrats and Republicans
Do Zombies Scare Democrats and Vampires Spook Republicans?
Caught on Tape? The Politics of Video in the New Torture Film
Moral competence and brain connectivity: a resting-state fMRI study
The children of Gaza are being killed every day. Where are the headlines?
French director with great blood: Alexandre Aja
Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM)
Out of the dark – Psychological perspectives on people's fascination with true crime
"Sinister” Screenwriter C. Robert Cargill On The Secrets Of Scaring An Audience's Pants Off
Probing Compulsive and Impulsive Behaviors, from Animal Models to Endophenotypes: A Narrative Review
A Century of Horror Villains and the Fears That Inspired Them
Feminist Frameworks For Horror Films
Why Trauma Survivors Are Drawn to Horror Movies
More episodes you might like:
Spooktober: Topics to Startle and Love
Serpopsychology (WHAT’S CREEPY?)
Obsessive-Compulsive Neurobiology (OCD)
The OCD Experience with a Neurobiologist
Trolleyology (MORAL DILEMMAS + THE TROLLEY PROBLEM)
Desairology (MORTUARY MAKE-UP)
Metropolitan Tombology (PARIS CATACOMBS)
Disgustology (REPULSION TO GROSS STUFF)
Osteology (SKELETONS/BODY FARMS)
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