Duration of the Fight-or-Flight Response: Exploration
In the face of danger, our ancestors did not have the luxury of time to ponder and analyse their situation. Instead, their survival often hinged on their immediate emotional responses.
The rhesus macaque, a primate commonly studied, serves as a prime example of the crucial role emotions played in the survival of our ancestors during threatening situations. This is due to the fact that emotional pathways in the brain transmit signals twice as fast as the logical route.
This rapid response was necessary, as our hunter-gatherer ancestors had to act quickly based on their emotional reactions to survive. The immediate action response was either fight (attack) or flight (run away).
The prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for logical thinking and decision-making, was often outmatched by the amyggdala, the part of the brain responsible for emotional responses. The amyggdala's emotional impulses transmit signals via neurological express routes, allowing for a faster response.
This emphasis on emotional responses over logical problem-solving was crucial for survival. The emotion-laden pathways in the brain are faster than logical signals, allowing our ancestors to react quickly and efficiently to threats.
On the other hand, rational thoughts are processed via local roads in the brain, stopping at other regions along the way. This slower process would have been detrimental in threatening situations.
In conclusion, our ancestors' survival was not dependent on their ability to logically analyse a situation, but rather on their ability to react quickly and decisively based on their emotional responses. The rhesus macaque serves as a reminder of the importance of emotions in our evolutionary history.
