have an innate negative reaction to snakes (and spiders), which was vital for their survival as it allowed such threats to be identified immediately. A 2009 report of a 40-year research program demonstrated strong fear conditioning to snakes in humans and fast nonconscious processing of snake images; these are mediated by a fear network in the human brain involving the amygdala. A 2013 study provided neurobiological evidence in primates (macaques) of natural selection for detecting snakes rapidly. In fiction In non-medical press and literature, the movie-character Indiana Jones has been used as an example of someone with ophidiophobia. References Zoophobias Snakes