What Happens If You Don't Feel Fear

In this article, written by J.B. MacKinnon and beautifully illustrated by the climbing photographer Jimmy Chin, doctors and psychologists take a look at Alex Honnold’s brain. Honnold is the solo rock climber who’s got a verb named after him. "To honnold" — usually written as “honnolding”— is to stand in a high, precarious place with your back to the wall, looking straight into the abyss. To face fear, literally.

The reason scientists wanted to see what’s on Honnold’s mind is because the man seems fearless. He climbs mountains that some people wouldn’t dare climb at all, let alone without any ropes. He walks across a 1,800 foot high path with his toes dangling in the air - that’s how narrow it is!

Basically, scientists thought that his brain must somehow be damaged, as that’s what usually happens to people who display fearless behaviour. With a closer look, you find that their amygdala isn’t working as it should. The amygdala is the fear centre, and it’s responsible for interpreting and responding to threats.

What the doctors found when examining Honnold was, as the title of the article says, a very strange brain indeed.