fear response
Instinctive danger reaction
Fear response refers to the body's automatic reaction to perceived danger—the cascade of physiological changes preparing an organism to confront or flee a threat.
Heart rate increases, muscles tense, adrenaline surges.
The term appears in psychology and biology to describe both the immediate physical reaction and learned behavioral patterns: Her fear response to spiders developed in childhood.
Also called the fight-or-flight response.
- amygdalaEmotion-processing brain cluster
- adrenalineEmergency response hormone
- hidingStaying out of sight
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- freezingExtremely cold
deer in headlights · trembling · panic · survival instinct · cortisol · racing heart · phobia · startle reflex · limbic system · hypervigilance · pupil dilation · hair standing up · threat detection · danger signal · gut feeling · evolutionary adaptation · hypothalamus · fleeing
- animal behavioranimal behavior, instincts, learned behavior, conditioning, social behavior
- behavioral cuesbody language, facial expression, eye contact, posture, gestures
- unconscious drivesrepressed desires, hidden desires, libido, instincts, survival instinct
- lizard brainlizard brain, brainstem, fight or flight, survival instincts, instinctive behavior
- Neurobehaviorsattention, learning, memory disorders, impulse control, motor control
- emotionsjoy, anger, sadness, love, happy
fear responsetranquility
Undisturbed peacefulness
equanimity · serenity · composure · placidity · imperturbability