Trade-off of the Day: A fearful vision

New Scientist reports:

FEAR changes how we see things, enhancing our ability to identify blurry shapes but impairing our perception of fine details.

From the abstract of the original paper:

Our results show that the brief presentation of a fearful face, compared with a neutral face, enhances sensitivity for the orientation of subsequently presented low-spatial-frequency stimuli, but diminishes orientation sensitivity for high-spatial-frequency stimuli. This is the first demonstration that emotion not only improves but also impairs low-level vision.
...Our results suggest an emotion-induced tradeoff in visual processing, rather than a general improvement. This trade-off may benefit perceptual dimensions that are relevant for survival at the expense of those that are less relevant.

Certain cognitive trade-offs seem to be built into our brains. To solve this particular one, we would have to come up with a neuro-enhancer system that detects fear and enables the brain to switch between high- and low-resolution modes. Getting rid of the emotion itself would be a mistake because it is connected with many other useful mind-body interactions. In other words, fear itself is good, but the loss of control associated with it has to be dealt with.