RICHARDSON, Texas — If you are of the population that enjoys a good, safe Halloween scare, medical science agrees there's nothing wrong with you. It's merely a competition between two sections of your brain that might actually, in some ways, be good for you.
Dr. Christa McIntyre is a leading researcher in the "emotional modulation of memory storage" at the University of Texas at Dallas School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Much of that work is focused on the treatment of PTSD by stimulating the vagus nerve, an approach effective with seizures, to reduce traumatic memories.
"We thought we could potentially stimulate during therapy to produce a new memory that's strong enough to compete with the trauma memory," McIntyre said. "Through exposure therapy people eventually learn not to fear the things that are associated with the original trauma. So that's the gold standard of treatment for things like PTSD."
But when it comes to Halloween or scary movies or haunted house displays, she says fear can actually be a good thing.
"So fear of course does have its benefits. It can protect us when we experience something is threatening," she said of the fight or flight response buried deep in the amygdala portion of our brains.
The neocortex, on the other hand, is the rational side that reminds you that everything is actually going to be OK. That's the adrenaline rush followed by a calm reassurance after a haunted house tour, a scary movie or a dramatic roller coaster ride.
"Your primitive amygdala brain stem system is acting as it should, charging up that adrenaline response," McIntyre said of the rush that makes you temporarily stronger and faster and more alert. "It basically diverts the blood supply to striated muscles and increases your lung capacity and your heart rate. So it does help you get out of danger."
"So you can get a little bit of a buzz from that but then, you know you're safe. And so you can kind of feel empowered by that like you've conquered something. In this case it's conquering you're own fear," she said.
"I think that can be rewarding for people to experience especially when they know they're not in danger."
So if you actually enjoy a Halloween scare or two, the doctor says no, nothing is wrong with you. You're just getting a safe adrenaline buzz.
But, as for someone with a Ph.D. in psychobiology, there will be no haunted houses for her.
"That's not my thing, no. But I can see why some people really like it," McIntyre said.
And, in moderation of course, science says - that's perfectly OK.