Distracted by danger!
![MULCKHUYSE 2015 FIGURE 1](https://www.pygaze.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Mulckhuyse_2015_figure_1-216x150.png)
Threatening elements (think spiders) in your surroundings tend to grasp your attention more strongly than non-threatening things (think puppies). Some scientists believe that your brain is wired to notice threatening stimuli quicker, via a special sub-cortical route. In a new experiment, we show that task-irrelevant threatening stimuli are prioritised over non-threatening stimuli, but that they are not processed any quicker.