Nerd Nite #19 - Fear + Brains ≠ Zombies

Tue, 02/03/2015 - 1:07pm

When: October 23, 2014 at Live!

Have you ever been cornered by zombies and not had a shotgun on hand? Did your palms sweat and your breathing increase? If so, you’ve experienced fear! Fear is one of our most basic emotions, and it is necessary for living beings to avoid undeath. During this talk, we will discuss the brain regions that help individuals determine what and when to fear. There will also be a demonstration of how scientists study fear in the laboratory. If you are interested in feeling the back of your neck prickle on the week before Halloween, you’re probably not a zombie, so this talk is for you!

About Katherine Prater:
Katherine adores science (both with and without the fiction). When she is not sciencing with her labmates, Katherine can often be found playing computer games with her husband, playing board games, or reading a good book. She also may be found playing with her “love”bird, known to some as “the destroyer of worlds.” Recently, Katherine has had the great pleasure of being a co-founder of RELATE, an organization at the University of Michigan that endeavors to teach STEM graduate students to better explain their research to lay-audiences.