What happened in Will Smith’s brain when he hit Chris Rock – UNAM Global
Will Smith and the beginning of anger at the Oscars
Diana Paz Trejo explained in conversation with Mexican media that there are positive and negative emotions that everyone possesses and that, depending on the stimuli to which it is exposed, different emotions will be activated. Anger, for Psychology, belongs to the spectrum of anger recognizable in negative emotions, and it is what the American actor went through that night.
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According to the researcher, anger is an adaptive response and it is, contrary to what it seems, necessary for daily work since it supports the resolution of problematic situations. Anger can prepare us to face a difficult situation or to escape from it.
What happens in the brain when a person feels anger?
Emotions are produced in the brain; to be more precise in the limbic system, formed among other structures by the amygdala, which is responsible for assuming the responses of negative emotions, such as anger or anxiety, to name a few.
In our brain, chemicals are produced that block the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which in turn is responsible for controlling our impulses when something exceeds our emotions.
When the prefrontal cortex is blocked, there is no way to control it; For its part, the amygdala is activated and that is why a person feels the impulse to ‘release’ this emotion and get even with what caused such a negative feeling.
What happened to Will Smith’s brain when he punched Chris Rock?
“Comedian Chris Rock had been joking for days about the actor’s wife’s alopecia. It was a repetitive question, and at first the protagonist of I’m legend reacted passively, that is, with flight; she put up with the jokes and controlled herself for a long time, ”explained the researcher.
“However, as the days passed, and Noticing that the jokes continued, Smith’s brain thought: “the flight did not serve me, what do I do?”. So reacted differently with the aggression and hit Chris Rock“, accurate.
In this sense, the specialist explained what happens in the brain after the moment in which anger is expressed. When the amygdala is deactivated and the prefrontal cortex is unblocked, other mechanisms related to reasoning and analysis of situations come into play, and that is when, based on moral questions, previous experiences and pre-established social norms, regret can be experienced.
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This was what happened with the winner of the Oscar for Best Actor: one day after hitting the presenter of the awards, he offered a public apology to Chris Rock and later accepted his responsibility and the charges that were brought against him for such a situation.
Source: Ambito

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