That Neuroscience Guy - Neuroscience Bites - Scary Movies

Episode Date: October 9, 2023

In today's Neuroscience Bite, we discuss how scary movies affect people, whether they love or hate them. 

Hi, my name is Olaf Kregolsen, and I'm a neuroscientist at the University of Victoria. In my spare time, I'm that neuroscience guy. Welcome to another Neuroscience Byte. So, question from a listener. Why do some people find scary movies so scary, but other people like them or even love them? Well, let's start with why some people find scary movies scary. Well, that's kind of the point. All right.

So the imagery that is portrayed is designed to be terrifying. You know, I've never seen one of the Saw movies, but I've seen enough of it to get the concept, and that should scare you. You know, the thought of you thinking that you're going to be sawed or getting sawed should terrify you because it would feel horrible. And that's what they try to do.

You know, they're trying to get you to think, what if that was me? And you get squiggly because, you know, that should make you squiggle. Of course, another aspect of scary movies is the suspense, right? And I've actually mentioned this on previous episodes, but, you know, the people behind the sound engineering of these movies are brilliant. They set you up with those tones. You know, the Jaws theme sets the stage for the fact that you know something is coming, right? And it starts slow and it builds up and that gives you a direct emotional response from your amygdala. And the thing is, we've been trained our whole lives to recognize those patterns.

From an early age, that sort of suspenseful buildup is in our TV shows, it's in our movies, and we learn these things. You know, imagine taking a young child and using the jaw music, and when it reaches its crescendo, you know, the Care Bears pop out and start dancing. You would have a whole group of children that believe that music actually leads to something nice. But the type of tones that are used and the way they're played in the buildup is designed to lead to a scary event. So we know it's going to happen. And sometimes that thing that jumps out isn't even that scary. It's just, we've had such a buildup that it causes us to make it worse than it is. And of course, there's also the surprise element. This is how haunted houses work. You know, it's closing in

on Halloween and I'll admit I'm not a fan how haunted houses work. You know, it's closing in on Halloween, and I'll admit I'm not a fan of haunted houses. I've never had me. But that thing when something jumps out right in front of you, especially if it looks a bit scary, well, that is, again, scary. Now the opposite. Why do some people like scary movies?

Well, they do. You know, people love everything. And the simple truth is, the thing that's scaring some of us causes a little dopaminergic release, and they like that. You know, the reasoning for every individual is different. But the reality is some people think it's funny. You know, they laugh at those things and go, oh, my gosh, that's ridiculous. Because they see how absurd some of it can be. Sometimes it's just they, it's their thing.

They think that Chucky or whoever is, it's kind of funny. And some people like being scared. This is probably the more common category where that feeling of being scared, that buildup, that suspense, they really enjoy that feeling. So it's not so much the scary movie, it's just the sense of being scared, that buildup, that suspense, they really enjoy that feeling. So it's not so much the scary movie, it's just the sense of being scared and the buildup is what they like,

and that causes that dopamine release. Anyway, there's a little bite on why some people like scary movies and some people don't. Anyway, of course, check out the website, thatneuroscienceguy.com. There's links to Etsy and Patreon. Follow me on X at that neuroscience guy. This bite was an answer to a question from a listener. And of course, thanks for listening to the podcast. And please subscribe if you haven't already. My name is Olive Kregolson, and I'm that neuroscience guy. I'll see you soon for another neuroscience bite.