A new study suggests that the inner sense of our cardiovascular state, our "interoceptive awareness" of the heart pounding, relies on two independent pathways, contrary to what had been asserted by prominent researchers. The UNIVERSITY OF IOWA study was published online this week in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

The brain's fear center apparently has a built-in chemical sensor triggered by a primordial terror -- threat of suffocation.

His graduate students simply call him Dan. Not Dr. Tranel. Not Professor Tranel.This isn’t a lack of respect for their mentor, one of the top neuroscientists in his field. They just see him as a normal guy who happens to have a 100-yard football field, complete with goal posts at each end, on his farm in southern Johnson County.