Our Limbic Legacy

The Freeze Response

For early man to succeed, the limbic brain, which had evolved from our animal forebearers, developed strategies to compensate for the power and speed advantages our predators had over us. That strategy, or the first defence of the limbic system, was to use the freeze response in the presence of danger

There are 3 basic when it comes to the freeze response:

1. Movement attracts attention

2. Ability to freeze automatically in the face of danger makes sense

3. Many animals freeze, some even play dead, which is the ultimate freeze reaction

Accounts of the school shooting at Columbine and Virginia tech demonstrate that
students used the freeze response to deal with deadly predators. By holding still and playing dead, many students survived even though they were a few feet away from the killer.

We not only freeze when confronted by physical and visual threats but in practically every situation that we might find ourselves uncomfortable with. The same behaviour is observed when an individual is being questioned about matters that he or she perceives could get them into trouble.

For example, during interviews, when being questioned about a sensitive topic, people tend to hold their breath or their breathing becomes very shallow to minimise movement. When confronted, people being questioned about a crime will often fix their feet in a position of security (interlocked behind the chair legs), regardless of their involvement in the case. Also, thieves or shoplifters will try to hide their physical presence by restricting their motions or hunching over, as if trying to be invisible

The Flight Response

One purpose of the freeze response is to avoid detection by dangerous predators or in dangerous situations. A second purpose is to give the threatened individual the opportunity to assess the situation and determine the best course of action to take.

When the freeze response is not adequate to eliminate the danger or is not the best course of action, the second limbic response is to get away by use of the flight response. Running, of course, is useful when it is practical, and as a survival mechanism our brain directed our body to adopt this tactic judiciously over millennia in order to escape from danger.

Examples:

When a child turns away from undesirable food at the dinner table and shifts her feet towards to the exit
When a person distances herself from someone by leaning away, placing objects (a purse) on her lap, or turning her feet towards the nearest exit
In business, an individual in negotiations may shift away from his counterpart if he hears an unattractive offer or feels threatened as bargaining continues.

The Fight Response

The fight response is the limbic brain’s final tactic for survival through aggression. When a person confronting danger cannot avoid detection by freezing and cannot save himself by distancing or escaping (flight), the only alternative left is to fight.

In the modern world, however, acting our rage may not be practical or even legal, so the limbic brain has developed other strategies beyond the more primitive physical fight response.

Some examples include arguments, use of insults, ad hominem phrases, counterallegations, denigration of professional stature, goading, sarcasm are all, in their own ways, the modern equivalent of fighting. You can even use your posture, your eyes, puff out your chest, to violating another’s personal space.

One of the best reasons for studying nonverbal behaviours is that they can sometimes warn you when you when a person intends to harm you physically, giving you time to avoid a potential conflict. It can also tell you to change the conversation topic or stop whatever it is you might be doing to cause the other party to use these responses.

One of the classic ways the limbic brain has assured our survival as a species - and produced a reliable number of nonverbal tells in the process - is by regulating our behaviour when confronting danger, whether it be prehistoric man facing a stone age beast or a modern-day employee facing a stone=hearted boss.

As such, in order to ensure our survival, the brain's very elegant response to distress our threats has taken 3 forms: Freeze, Flight and Fight.

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