Faculty of Art

Drawing and Painting

Ana Lochness

The Unknown

The “Reptilian Brain” or the Limbic system (plus the brainstem) that our brain has evolved from; comprises of the Hippocampus (memory and learning), Amygdala (identifies threats), Hypothalamus (homeostasis and emotion regulation), Thalamus (sensory processing, motor control) ,Cingulate Gyrus (behaviour regulation, emotional processing) and the Basal Ganglia (reward processing). (The limbic system, 2024.) (Nauman R. 2015)Primal instincts, sexual desire, fight-or-flight; life sustaining functions such as these are regulated by the Limbic system. It is the main reason for instant reactions that may keep us out of danger. The spinal cord dictates knee-jerk reactions without any involvement from the rest of the brain. The spinal cord existed before our limbic system evolved. This is why we tend to jerk our hands away from a hot stove before we can think, and before the heat does much damage.The amygdala is responsible for instantaneous fear when fight-or-flight mode is triggered in us. Sometimes, the trigger is not logical. Fight-or-flight mode triggers can be collectively experienced by large groups of people. These are known as fundamental human fears. (ICJIA. n.d.) Fear of the unknown is something every human experiences to some degree, and we collectively evolved to have this fear. (Robson, D. 2022)Robson, D. (2022, February 25). Why we’re so terrified of the unknown. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20211022-why-were-so-terrified-of-the-unknown Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. ICJIA. (n.d.). https://icjia.illinois.gov/researchhub/articles/individual-and-community-trauma-individual-experiences-in-collective-environments The limbic system. Queensland Brain Institute - University of Queensland. (2024, December 24). https://qbi.uq.edu.au/brain/brain-anatomy/limbic-system Naumann, R. K., Ondracek, J. M., Reiter, S., Shein-Idelson, M., Tosches, M. A., Yamawaki, T. M., & Laurent, G. (2015, April 20). The reptilian brain. Current biology : CB. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4406946/