Quirin's team found that thoughts of death, but not of dental pain, triggered heightened activity in brain regions such as the right amygdala, which is associated with fear and anxiety. More surprisingly, the team also saw increased activity in the caudate nucleus when the men thought of death - an area of the brain associated with performing habitual behaviours.

Quirin thinks the work of German philosopher Martin Heidegger could explain the unexpected result. Heidegger said that doing what everyone else does is a defence against anxiety. According to Quirin, performing culturally learned habitual behaviours to fit in with the crowd could be a strategy to reduce the anxiety associated with death.

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