According to a recent report in a scientific journal, a 44-year old woman suffers from a very rare illness called Urbach-Wiethe disease. It is so rare that only around three hundred people have been diagnosed with it since it was discovered in 1929. It affects a part of the brain called the amygdala1. In this woman’s case, the damage to the amygdala seems to have caused an even rarer condition. As far as scientists studying her can tell, she doesn’t experience fear.