Snakes occupy a special place in the human brain because they’re so weird.

If you liked this week’s video, we think you might also like: Vsauce2 on Dragons and Snakes and Humans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6grLJyqIM8E

LEARN MORE

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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:

• Ophidiophobia: The abnormal fear of snakes
• Lateral Undulation: Waves of lateral bending through the body that propel the snake forward.
• Trichromatic Vision: Three color receptors in the eye that allow the animal to see a wider spectrum of colors.
• Electroencephalogram: A non-invasive method of measuring electrical activity in the brain.

CREDITS

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Script Writer: David Goldenberg Script Editor: Kate Yoshida Video Illustrator: Qingyang Chen Video Director: Kate Yoshida Video Narrator: Kate Yoshida With Contributions From: Emily Elert, Henry Reich, Alex Reich, Ever Salazar, Peter Reich Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder

MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info

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REFERENCES

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Isbell, L. (2004). Snakes as agents of evolutionary change in primate brains. Journal of Human Evolution 51 (1-35). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16545427

LoBue, V., and DeLoache, J. (2008). Detecting the Snake in the Grass: Attention to Fear-Relevant Stimuli by Adults and Young Children. Psychological Science 19:3 (284-289). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18315802

Van Lea, W., Isbelle, L., Matsumotoa, J., Nguyen, J., Horia, E., Maiorc, R., Tomazc, R., Trana, A., Onoa, T., and Nishijoa, H. (2013) Pulvinar neurons reveal neurobiological evidence of past selection for rapid detection of snakes. PNAS 110:47 (19000-19005). http://www.pnas.org/content/110/47/19000

Kawai, N., and He, H. (2016). Breaking Snake Camouflage: Humans Detect Snakes More Accurately than Other Animals under Less Discernible Visual Conditions. PLoS ONE 11:10. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0164342