The woman suffered from a genetic disease known as lipoid proteniosis, which has affected areas of her brain which controls the body's sensor to danger.
After years of psychological testing and numerous field tests, SM appears to fear absolutely nothing.
Though SM felt other emotions such as excitement and curiosity, she consistently displayed no signs of fear in almost any scenarios, and when asked to rate her fear on a scale of 1 - 10, never expressed a level higher than 2.
In one experiment, SM was taken to a pet shop where she had to interact with various types of snakes and spiders. Previously SM had stated she hated snakes and spiders, but during the experiment, she took delight in holding and touching the snakes. in some cases she pet the tongue of the snakes she was holding. She also had to be coaxed away from reaching towards some venomous tarantulas.
In another experiment, SM was led through a haunted house where she actually was drawn towards actors dressed as monsters. She actually scared one of the actors by poking as his face, as she was curious what the masks felt like.
SM said she felt the haunted house was "highly exciting and entertaining" she again rated her fear at zero.
SM was also subjected to numerous horror films and again rated her fear at zero.
Even during uncontrolled events during her real life, SM seemed to have no fear. In 1995, a man leapt off a park bench and held SM at knife point, threatening to kill her. She reportedly told her assailant "If you are going to kill me, you're going to have to go through my God's angles first." SM then walked away from the man, and returned to the same park the next night.
SM has said she recalled experiencing fear as a child when faced with a snarling Doberman that had cornered her, but said she could not recall any adult experience in which she had fear.
Scientists are trying to retrain SM's brain to react differently to fear. Dr. Justin Feinstein who is leading the study on SM said he felt "it is quite remarkable that she is still alive," indicating that she needlessly puts herself into dangerous situations due to her inability to process fear.
Doctors also hope that by studying SM that they may gain insight into curing the effects of post traumatic stress disorder in other patients.
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