Cracking the Snake Detection Theory: The Subcortical Visual Pathway as a Major Player in Cultural Transformations

Abstract

According to the proposed hypothesis, graphic characters trigger the subcortical visual route. The reaction discussed is very weak. Yet, its very existence has an unusual importance: characters and (occluded) venomous snakeskin patterns reveal themselves as conflatable. Furthermore, following tractographic research, a functional segregation of the subcortical pathway is to be presupposed. Thus, there can't be a later dissociation of two stimuli previously associated. The outcomes of lecture will gradually appear probabilistically (much) more peaceful than encountering a venomous snake, though, and thus a continuous lessening of the reaction is expectable. Here, on one hand, it is relevant that the subcortical visual pathway goes to the amygdala. The reactions we describe tap into goal-oriented processes, and they will do that unfettered. On the other hand, in the case of characters, since the beginning, fear has been converted into appetition to a great degree. This process should be fostered in the presence of light. In this way, luminosity might become a conditioned stimulus for attraction. In this case, a Pavlovian addiction for light will foster, yet also-from the point of view of reward feeling-counterbalance the lessening of the stimulation elicited by characters. The addiction we refer to is one towards light accompanied by graphic signs. Yet, as opposed to the case of the luminous medium, the attention captured by the later ones taken for themselves is continuously reduced.

Are vipers prototypic fear-evoking snakes? A cross-cultural comparison of Somalis and Czechs

“…However, recent neurobiological studies on non-human primates and those measuring non-invasively human brain activity when participants see snake pictures show that not only subcortical neural systems involving thalamic regions ( superior colliculus and pulvinar , as well as the amygdala ) responsible for automatic processing are activated, but also cortical neural circuits (mainly involving the right anterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex) are specifically engaged during the fear and visual processing of snake stimuli. Moreover, there is high subcortical–cortical connectivity showing that both automatic ( LeDoux, 2012 ), and conscious emotional and cognitive processes are at play (reviewed in Pessoa and Adolphs, 2010 ; Dinh et al, 2021 ; see also Nicula, 2020 ). The amygdala itself was proposed as an important center evolutionary designed to detect and avoid prior interactions with dangerous stimuli, such as snakes ( Amaral, 2002 ; see also LeDoux, 2000 , 2012 ).…”