Q 01/05

Brain scans found which El Capitan free soloist's amygdala barely reacting to disturbing images?

A) Tommy Caldwell

B) Adam Ondra

C) Alex Honnold

D) Dean Potter

Answer · why

C) Alex Honnold

Alex Honnold lay in an MRI scanner in 2016 while pictures that jolt most people flashed past, and his amygdala stayed almost silent. A year later he c...

Q 02/05

Patient S.M., who lost both amygdalae and nearly all fear, panicked after inhaling which gas?

A) Carbon dioxide

B) Nitrous oxide

C) Carbon monoxide

D) Sulfur dioxide

Answer · why

A) Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide set off a panic S.M. described as completely new to her, because a feeling of suffocation is an alarm from inside the body. The amygdal...

Q 03/05

The amygdala, a fear-processing cluster deep in the brain, is named after the Greek for which nut?

A) Walnut

B) Almond

C) Chestnut

D) Hazelnut

Answer · why

B) Almond

Almond is what the Greek amygdale means, and a German physician picked the name in 1822 for the shape he saw. There are two of them, one in each half ...

Q 04/05

A Berkeley study found the amygdala 60 percent more reactive after 35 hours without what?

A) Food

B) Water

C) Daylight

D) Sleep

Answer · why

D) Sleep

Sleep loss sent the amygdala into overdrive at gory pictures and weakened its link to the brain's reasoning areas. The study kept healthy young adults...

Q 05/05

The DC Comics villain Amygdala, a strongman prone to violent outbursts, fights which superhero?

A) Batman

B) Superman

C) The Flash

D) Green Arrow

Answer · why

A) Batman

Batman's foe Amygdala is Aaron Helzinger, who had that part of his brain removed in a failed attempt to cure his rage. Properly medicated, the charact...