UKC

Scientists have scanned Alex Honnold's brain and found out he doesn't appear to get scared in the same way as the average human.

http://m.nautil.us/issue/39/sport/the-strange-brain-of-the-worlds-greatest-...

In reply to Sam W:

Thanks for the link -- that's fascinating.

In reply to Sam W:

'The concerned scientist leaned in close, shot a glance toward Honnold, and said, “That kid’s amygdala isn’t firing.”'

No Big Deal.

Mick

In reply to Sam W:
Fascinating!

In reply to Sam W:

Great stuff.

Reminds me of a compulsive liar I know. Even when caught out, this guy would go on to lie or contradict things in the very next sentence. Some of his tales were very clearly fabricated.

Eventually I realised that whatever mechanism most of us have that kicks in when when we over-egg a story, he just simply did not have. I mean there was no way I could tell as embarrassingly obvious lies as him to someone's face, never mind sleep well the next night. And he did/does it with regularity.

His behaviours are a product of biology.

In reply to Shani:

I worked with a guy like that, swore blind that he'd run a sub 10 second 100m whilst at school. Continued to insist it was true even when we pointed out that it would have won him gold or silver in the 1992 Olympics.

Climbing has also thrown up a few of these characters. It's a queer thing to encounter.

In reply to Shani:

I had a friend who was a compulsive liar. He is now no longer a friend because it became just too much It really is quite bizarre behaviour when it gets taken to extremes.

In reply to Sam W:

Thanks for sharing... Really interesting.

In reply to Sam W:

Fantastic read - wrote my thesis on the amygdala so extra interesting. Thanks

In reply to Shani:


This idea is currently quite fashionable again (especially in relation to 'the brain'). But I'd favour the less fashionable, yet better evidenced, explanation that all of our behaviours are a product of a complex interaction of a large array of factors. And it's always important to remember that our 'biology' is shaped by our behaviour and the context in which we live.

Interesting to see how functional imaging might provide a vivid picture of the idea that the very bold are 'not wired up properly'. I guess it's another reason why we shouldn't necessary simplistically compare our own efforts and experiences with very famous (and perhaps by definition atypical) climbers.

In reply to Sam W:


Thanks for the link and info.

If my brain is ever scanned (an unlikely event) scientists may find that around cliffs I get a lot more scared than the average human e.g. when looking up at Quietus or Right Eliminate - not even climbing them, just effing standing at the foot of them....

In reply to Sam W:
A very good article, thanks. Interesting that like Dave MacLeod, Honnold's worst injury has been paradoxically the result of being lowered off the end of the rope after a sport route.

In reply to cathsullivan:

I don't there is much distance between our two views. Certainly one does not preclude the other. Our brains exhibit plasticity and so will be constantly adjusting and responding to a 'complex interaction of a large array of factors' - and our biology is not fixed in how it manifests. We don't really have free will as we experience it.

In reply to Sam W:

All i know is that i feel sick just watching this guy solo. as for actually how you keep it together climbing at or near the limit when the stakes are terminal, not a clue.

In reply to Sam W:


I think this is a cover story. What really happened when they scanned his brain, is that they found out he is in fact a Nexus-6 who's real name is Roy.

In reply to Sam W:

Regarding results obtained by fMRI imagine of the brain...http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/scicurious-brain/ignobel-prize-in-neuro...

In reply to Sam W:

One of the things that I found most interesting was his lack of response to the upsetting images that he was show and his "whatever" comment. It seems to indicate a lack of empathy but everything that I've ever read about him, or heard him say in interviews, would indicate otherwise.

In reply to Goucho:

It's your birthday. Someone gives you a calfskin chalk bag. How do you react?

In reply to Sam W:

Interesting how he the way he reacted to the images he was shown was really indifferent, he wasn't affected by them at all yet in his La Sportiva speed interview he says that he found watching Game of Thrones "really distressing" and wished that he could take back some of what he had seen on it.

In reply to Roberttaylor:


Brilliant.

In reply to cathsullivan:

Surely all our behaviours are by definition explained by 'our biology'? We are biological creatures and whatever we do is constrained by, and caused by, that fact. On the other hand, the connectome of our brain is by definition a product of the environment and so to separate what is 'biological' from what is anything else (environmental? social?) makes no sense. I think we probably agree here, I just consider the job lot to be 'our biology' since I don't see what else we have...our whole social world is a part of our biology.


I don't know why we'd expect Honnold's brain to be showing objective signs of fear (amygdala activation) when he's doing something that's just what he does and he's perfectly capable of not falling off. It's like anything, when you're out of your depth you're terrified, but when you know what you're doing it's just another day in the office. Yes, he does appear to be a particularly low temperature dude, but that's what you see in every interview, etc.

It is fascinating to see the neural correlates of personality, behaviour and experience - but it isn't surprising!

In reply to Jon Stewart:

He's struck me as pretty 'low temperature' but isn't this often the way, almost a paradox with 'extreme' sports people. Guy Martin comes over similarily geeky and unexitable but there is a ton of reward chemicals bathing the mid brain for those few souls who can push the envelope in arenas which require such a highly developed technical skill set. They are not merely thrill seekers chasing a whoosh of dopamine. Buts its definitely a male brain sort of thing and probably ADHD type circuits underlying the development of these characteristics.


D

In reply to Jon Stewart:
Yep. That is what I meant when I said biology. Chemical processes and electrical events resolve down to feelings and emotions.....that IS biology.

But one man's arousal is another man's 'meh'. Be that arousal of a sexual nature or arousal in terms of fear/heights etc...

In reply to Morty:


He said the images seemed 'outdated' or something. I wonder how much is Alex Honnold and how much could be just be the product of increased availability of unsettling images in news reports etc nowadays? Perhaps more people have been desensitised to this sort of thing than was the case in the past - a sad state of affairs.

In reply to Morty:

You know what the sort of tools used by psychologists are like. They were designed as references decades ago. The surveys keep cropping up on here...

"I would love to go abroad and experience different cultures."
"I would find it exciting to meet a gay man."

I wouldn't be surprised if, in today's 24h rolling news coverage, the images they use are no longer as upsetting as they used to be.