Have you ever wondered why humans scream in pain? Studies suggest that non-verbal communication is made up of patterns of activity that are so familiar that we don’t always think about their purpose. It is an evolutionarily useful tool.
A 2003 study found that for some adults, pain expressions and vocalizations lasted longer when people were around. This suggests that one purpose of the cry of pain, although apparently involuntary, may be to communicate the need for addiction.
This year, a research published in the journal Current biology suggested that hearing a scream can activate the brain’s fear circuits, acting as a warning signal. The team found that screams are sent from the ear to the amygdala, the area responsible for processing fear.
“In parts of the brain imaging experiment, screaming activates the brain’s fear circuits. The amygdala is a core of the brain that is particularly sensitive to fear information,” say the researchers.
This means that the scream is inherently considered not just a sound, but a trigger for raising awareness. To better understand this, in the study, the team played several alarm sounds to the volunteers.
Scientists found that people responded to alarms with similar variations – the more the alarms varied at higher speeds, the more terrifying they were. This could be a clue to how our brains process distress sounds.
The conclusion is that the human being screams not only to convey danger, but also to induce fear in the listener and sensitize both the person who shouted and the listener to respond to their environment.
Source: Live science, Time, Current biology
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