That Nearly Scared Me to Death! Let's Do It Again

Fear is a handy evolutionary mechanism for staying out of danger. So why do we get off on it sometimes?

If the half-billion dollars spent by Americans on horror movies last year is anything to go by, I'm not the only one to ask that question. Scientists believe the answer is that humans have evolved to enjoy fear.

"There's a substantial overlap between those brain areas involved in processing fear and pleasure," said Allan Kalueff, a brain researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health.

As Halloween approaches, the latest research into fear suggests that the neurological systems in our brains that are stimulated by fear are the same as those associated with pleasure. So while you're watching Saw IV or playing Resident Evil, you get the gratification of real fear without any of the danger.

Scientists say that while watching a scary movie, or playing popular games like Bioshock and Dementium, information runs from your eyes and ears to an almond-shaped clump of neurons called the amygdala. Located front-and-center in your brain, the amygdala has long been understood as vital to instantaneous emotional processing, especially of love and pleasure.

Wired

Advertising Is Good For The Economy

A report published by the World Advertising Federation and the French Advertisers Association offers a deep analysis on how advertising spend correlates with GDP.

The report, based research on ad and economic data from the 1990s and early this decade, mainly from France and the U.S., with some data from other developed European countries and Japan, attempts to show that advertising contributes to economic growth by:

• Stimulating consumption (as consumers respond to ads).
  
  
• Accelerating the spread of innovation (by creating demand for products that grow out of R&D spending).
  
  
• Promoting competition (as marketers battle for market share).
  
  
• Creating ad-related jobs and promoting ad-related economic activity (such as ad-supported media).

Malte Lohan, the WFA's Public Affairs Director said about the report: "In a climate where pressure is growing worldwide for restrictions on marketing communications," he said, "it is urgent that the industry better understands and more effectively communicates the benefits of advertising: real choice for consumers, more jobs, vibrant and independent media, the competitiveness of domestic markets in the age of globalization. This study provides valuable arguments to demonstrate that advertising is an integral element of the fabric of dynamic, wealthy societies."

Someone should tell that to Sao Paolo mayor, Gilberto Kassab.

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