PMC3030206_01
Fear induction in patient SMM. Still-frame pictures of (A) SM handling a snake, (B) the tarantula that SM tried to touch, and (C) the Waverly Hills Sanatorium Haunted House.
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F1
SM if she would like to hold a snake and she agreed (Figure 1A). SM held the snake for over three minutes while displaying a wide range of exploratory behaviors: she rubbed its leathery scales, touched its flicking tongue, and closely watched its movements as it slithered through her hands. SM asked 15 different times if she could touch one of the larger snakes. She also attempted to touch a tarantula (Figure 1B), but had to be stopped due to the high risk of being bitten. During Halloween, we took SM to the Waverly Hills Sanatorium (Figure 1C), ranked as one of the "most haunted" places in the world.
Fear induced by film clips. Subjective ratings for the maximum amount of fear induced while watching a series of 10 different scary film clips. Ratings were provided immediately after viewing each individual film clip using a modified visual analogue scale ranging from 0 (no fear) to 8 (extreme fear). Comparison data for films A-G were obtained from five females with no history of neurological or psychiatric illness. Comparison data for films H-J were derived from previous studies that tested large samples of healthy participants. Descriptions of all film clips can be found in Table S2. Data for films inducing other emotions can be found in Figure S2. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean.
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F2
During the non-fear-related films, SM exhibited behaviors compatible with those emotions (e.g., laughter during happiness, shouts of revulsion during disgust) and reported experiencing high levels of the appropriate emotion (Figure S2). By contrast, SM exhibited no fear responses and reported experiencing little to no fear across the entire battery of fear-inducing films (Figure 2).
Fear experience in patient SM. Self-report questionnaires comparing patient SM's experience of fear to normative samples comprised of healthy individuals. All scores have been converted to POMP units representing the "percent of maximum possible" for each questionnaire. Raw scores and additional information about the questionnaires can be found in Table S1. Data from the experience-sampling study can be found in Figure S3.
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F3
For all basic emotions other than fear, SM reported numerous instances of experiencing the emotion, with intensity levels varying from "a little" to "quite a bit" (Figure S3).