People who wish they want to live their life like a video game should be careful with what they wish for. Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at the University College London have set up a study which tests the brain's responsive reaction towards as perceived threat approaches through a simulated game experiment.

The experiment puts volunteers in a Pac Man-like video game where they are being pursued by an artificial predator - if the volunteer gets caught, a mild electrical shock zaps the player. This generally tests a person's behavioural patterns depending on how close the threat is to them and measures their brain activity through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Researchers observed that when the artificial predator was still at a distance the lower parts of the prefrontal cortex functions predominantly compared to when the predator moves closer. This shows the brain can still function on an objective level, formulating strategies on how to respond to the threat.

As the predator moves closer, the brain activity shifts to the periaqueductal grey area, the area of the brain responsible for the "fight or flight" instincts that a person has.

Dr. Dean Mobbs from UCL, lead author of the study had this to say:

Without fear, animals would not react to threats. This is a poor survival strategy and makes it more likely that the animal will be eaten and not pass on its genes. The most efficient survival strategy will depend on the level of threat we perceive. This makes sense as sometimes being merely wary of a threat is enough, but at other times we need to react quickly. The closer a threat gets, the more impulsive your response will be – in effect, the less free will you will have.