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NEWS ABOUT: phobias

11 Animals Celebs Fear

Apparently, MJ loved giraffes...but hated dogs

(Newser) - Sam Greenspan wants you to know that celebrities are, indeed, just like you. “But only if you have peculiarly irrational fears of flightless birds or farm animals,” he writes on 11points.com , where he offers up 11 strange celebrity animal phobias:
  • Adolf Hitler, et al: He is joined
... More »

Scientists Think Injection Could 'Cure' Fear

Maybe some lidocaine in the cerebellum can erase phobias

(Newser) - A team of Japanese researchers say they’ve found evidence that a simple injection could turn off the brain’s ability to become afraid, or even reprogram it to eliminate certain phobias. The scientists say that since fear is a learned reaction, they should be able to find the part... More »

The Most Common Phobias

Don't like spiders and snakes? Join the club!

(Newser) - In honor of Halloween, LiveScience reveals the most common phobias. If you still need a costume, you'll scare the most people by playing on their evolutionarily sensible fear of creatures with venomous fangs. The top terrors:
  1. Snakes
  2. Spiders and other "creepy crawlies"
  3. Places that are difficult to escape, such
... More »

Girl's Death Hastened by Fear of Dentists

(Newser) - A British girl who died in 2005 from dehydration and starvation suffered from a severe fear of dentists that kept her from eating, the BBC reports. Sophie Waller was in and out of the hospital after she refused to eat when teeth came lose, but medical professionals mislaid her case.... More »

It's Friday the 13th: What Do Celebs Fear?

Some fears normal; others just weird

(Newser) - Friday the 13th is a good time to delve into the scary world of celebrity fears—and they run the gamut from the average (Johnny Depp is afraid of clowns) to the bizarre (Roseanne fears letting anyone touch her toes). More from the list, compiled by New York Post columnist... More »

Tiny Shocks Win by a Nose

Sense of smell shows electric response; technique could help PTSD patients

(Newser) - Electric shocks can sharpen the sense of smell, a finding that suggests new ways of altering sensory perception, the Chicago Tribune reports. MRIs showed subjects’ brains actually changing after researchers administered tiny shocks, which improved their ability to distinguish between similar smells. Because many psychological conditions relate to the senses,... More »

Humans Wired to Fear Snakes

Scientists find innate ability to discern slithering critters in the wild

(Newser) - Evolution seems to have given humans a hard-wired ability to recognize snakes and spiders, LiveScience reports. Intrigued by the widespread fear of serpents despite the fact that most humans rarely interact with them, researchers showed groups of adults and 3-year-olds natural scenes containing various hidden animals. Both groups were consistently... More »

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