S. m. is a patient who has been called "the woman with no fear," even of being threatened with a gun. her fearlessness is best attributed to damage to her

S. M. likely has damage to her amygdala. This structure in the brain is correlated with a person's "fear response." When a person feels fear at a certain situation, this area is one of the first to show activity. Damage to this structure will slow (or completely remove) the person's response to fearful stimuli.