[thedoc (OP)]

kiri white asked the Naked Scientists:
   How do certain pre-frontal cognitive functions go 'offline' during times of intense anger, fear, or distress, and could having ready access to deadly weapons when these functions are impaired be a factor in high rates of gun violence.

I'm studying a doctorate in psychology in Australia, where thankfully gun violence is nowhere near as prolific as it is in the US. but was wondering if you might be able to do a story on the brain and gun violence?
What do you think?

[alancalverd]

Cart before horse, possibly? The acquisition of lethal weapons is an entirely rational and conscious process, as is the selection of targets. Lack of familiarity with an automatic or semiautomatic weapon can produce temporary hand/brain overload ("freezing on the controls" applies to racing cars, horses, guns and aeroplanes) but that isn't quite the same as an extended massacre or sniper attack.

It is certainly easier to indulge in a massacre if you have an assumed constitutional right to own heavy weaponry without a sanity check, but I doubt that there's much evidence that access to guns actually induces irrational motivation, it just makes irrationality more dangerous.

Good luck with your study, and hurry: a bankrupt narcissist will have his finger on the nuclear button in January!

[evan_au]

How do certain pre-frontal cognitive functions go 'offline' during times of intense anger, fear, or distress

The "fight or flight" response kicks in, and this does not require any conscious thought or training.

Of course, this is often not a very effective response, so soldiers are trained to suppress this primal instinct, and have drilled into them some more effective responses that aren't available to the average man (woman or child) on the street.

Another possible response is to faint in times of stress. It doesn't get you out of the dangerous situation physically, but it does mean that you are no longer viewed as a threat. This approach is probably more effective against an inquisitive bear than a hungry lion. It might also possibly work against a random shooter. "Playing dead" is a more conscious version of this.