US daredevil climber Alex Honnolds brain shows no…
US skilled rock climber Alex Honnold upped the ante during his current city climb in Taiwan.
The daredevil athlete scaled the Taipei 101 skyscraper on Jan. 25 with no ropes or protecting gear. The event was streamed live on Netflix, as Fox News Digital beforehand reported.
Honnold efficiently reached the summit of the 101-story metal building in just an hour and 31 minutes, waving his arms in victory at the top.
He later famous the view was “amazing,” even though it was windy.
As a profession climber, Honnold’s conquests have included major mountain ranges across the US, plus Greenland’s large sea cliffs — thrice the scale of the Empire State Building.
In a 2016 experiment, neuroscientist Jane Joseph set out to uncover what in Honnold’s brain possessed him to take on such scary climbing by scanning it.
The doctor was one of the first to carry out fMRI scans — practical magnetic resonance imaging — on “high sensation seekers,” according to a Nautilus report.
Alex Honnold climbs Taipei 101 Skyscraper with no ropes in Taipei, Taiwan on Jan. 25, 2026. NETFLIX
Joseph and a staff of technicians discovered that Honnold’s amygdala confirmed little exercise in response to photographs that would usually set off worry and stress reactions.
“Nowhere in the fear center of Honnold’s brain could the neuroscientist spot activity,” the report famous.
The researchers flipped the experiment, introducing a reward process where Honnold might win money. Normally, a control subject’s amygdala and other brain buildings “look like a Christmas tree lit up,” Joseph said.
But Honnold’s was “lifeless in black and white.” Activity confirmed only in the areas that course of visible enter — confirming that he was awake and trying at the screen.
“There’s just not much going on in my brain,” Honnold told Joseph. “It just doesn’t do anything.”
Honnold efficiently reached the summit of the 101-story metal building in just an hour and 31 minutes, waving his arms in victory at the top. NETFLIX
An individual takes a picture of Alex Honnold as the American climber scales the tall building. AFP via Getty Images
Dr. Daniel Amen, the founder of Amen Clinics and a California-based psychiatrist, didn’t scan Honnold’s brain but is an professional in brain imaging.
In the brain scans of other excessive athletes and adrenaline junkies, Amen said there’s often decrease baseline exercise in the prefrontal cortex, which is concerned in worry inhibition, impulse control and risk analysis.
In these people, there may be also a strong activation of reward and motivation circuits, or dopamine pathways, according to Amen.
“Meaning, high stimulation feels normal — or even necessary — for them to feel engaged,” he said. “Some also show reduced reactivity in the amygdala, so situations that trigger fear in most people don’t produce the same alarm response.”
He added, “In short, their brains are less easily ‘scared’ and more strongly driven by challenge and novelty.”
Based on almost 300,000 brain scans executed at Amen Clinics, Dr. Amen famous that in people like Honnold who are “elite extreme performers,” the key distinction in contrast to the average brain is “exceptional top-down control.”
“The prefrontal cortex stays online and organized under stress, allowing precise focus, emotional regulation and decision-making in high-risk environments,” he said. “Fear circuits activate just enough to sharpen attention — but not enough to overwhelm performance.”
As a profession climber, Honnold’s conquests have included major mountain ranges across the US, plus Greenland’s large sea cliffs — thrice the scale of the Empire State Building. Ann Wang/GWN via Imagn Images
He later famous the view was “amazing,” even though it was windy. NETFLIX
Brains like Honnold’s are also often “very efficient” in sensory-motor integration, or when imaginative and prescient, steadiness and motor planning “work seamlessly together.”
“Instead of panic, the brain enters a highly regulated, flow-state pattern where attention is narrow, calm and precise,” he said.
In the average brain, worry circuits have a tendency to activate sooner and louder, according to Amen — and the prefrontal cortex “tends to go offline” under menace, triggering hesitation, overthinking or panic.
“Most people experience a strong mismatch between perceived risk and control, which is protective for survival but limits extreme performance,” he said.
“For the average person, high adrenaline disrupts accuracy and judgment; for extreme athletes, it organizes the brain,” he said.
“Their brains are not reckless — they are better regulated under stress, whereas the average brain prioritizes safety and avoidance.”
Fox News Digital’s Jessica Mekles contributed reporting.
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