NO FEAR Can a rare brain disease erase fear?
A hideous monster leaped out of the darkness. Everyone walking through the haunted house screamed. Well, not everyone. One woman smiled and laughed. “This way guys, follow me!” she shouted excitedly, leading the way down a dark hallway and around a corner into the next room. At one point, she poked the mask of a man dressed up as a murderer.
The woman, called SM to protect her identity, seemed to have no fear.
A rare disease
SM has an extremely rare genetic condition called Urbach-Wiethe disease. Only a few hundred cases of the disease have ever been identified in the entire world. The disease causes skin problems and a hoarse voice. Over time, it may also cut off blood flow to parts of the brain. Often, the disease destroys part or all of the amygdala; a set of two
