INGOLSTADT BIOCHEMIC LABORATORY
Why Do We Feel Fear?: An Exploration of Trascranial Direct Current Stimulation and Its Capacities in the Study Of Fear, by Cerveza, E.

The human mind, as is clear through this facility's research, has the capacity to do tremendous things. One of its most remarkable abilities, and one that has plagued humanity for years, is its ability to conjure fear and terror, even when none should exist. Trauma responses to major events can impact the mind long after the threat has passed, and as such can cause fear responses to stimuli that otherwise would not warrant that sort of response. In an attempt to lessen or negate these impacts for those affected, this research was performed on both animals and willing human volunteers, hoping to isolate the brain's fear reaction and stimulate it using tDCS, a non-invasive, painless brain stimulation treatment that uses direct electrical currents to stimulate specific parts of the brain.

These experiments have proven highly useful in explorations of human fear. In identifying and stimulating the brain's amygdala, replicating the fear response, the brain exhibits the traits of fear without the necessary stimuli. This, researchers have identified, often results in fear-induced hallucinations, which, when the electrical currents are read and displayed, showcases the greatest fears of the subjects.

In one instance, for example, stimulation of the brain's fear stimuli caused the subject to hallucinate a series of clowns and jesters, which the subject identified before and after the trial to be their biggest fear. Further experiments were able to replicate these effects, with fears replicated including drowning, zombies, spiders, and, in one particular case, the existential concept of dying alone.

Of course, this field requires further research to be truly viable. In the opinions of the researcher, to fully understand the capacities of this technology, experiments must be run on subjects with more profound and overwhelming fears, in the hopes of perhaps adjusting their brain's reaction to that stimuli in order to make it more manageable for their daily life.