Man was cured of arachnophobia when a part of his brain was removed Unidentified 44-year-old man began suffering seizures out of the blue Brain scan revealed the left amygdala in his brain was damaged Amygdala is the area of the brain involved in emotional reactions Tests showed he had suffered rare condition granulomatous encephalitis Doctors performed successful operation to remove the damaged amygdala Weeks later man reported he had a 'stomach-churning' aversion to music Was especially bad when he listened to a song on one TV advert Luckily this reaction was only temporary and went away after a while Man discovered he was no longer scared of spiders after surgery Previously he had to hoover up spiders after spraying them with hairspray Area of brain responsible for panic-fear response may have been removed Doctors say theory could be tested in other patients needing brain surgery A man who had part of his brain removed to treat his seizures has inadvertently been cured of his fear of spiders. The unnamed 44-year-old business man, was left with a 'stomach-churning' aversion to music following the operation. The man had part of his brain removed after he began suffering seizures out of the blue, New scientist reports. A brain scan revealed his left amygdala - the area of the brain involved in emotional reactions - was damaged. A 44-year-old businessman was cured of his arachnophobia after having a part of his brain chopped out because he was suffering from seizures. He now can touch spiders and says they are 'fascinating' Tests showed he had suffered from a rare condition called granulomatous encephalitis, which damages the lungs, skin and brain. Doctors decided to operate to remove the damaged amygdala. Soon after the surgery, the man noticed he had developed a 'stomach-lurching' aversion to music, the reaction especially strong when he heard one particular TV advert. While the aversion to music passed, the man also noticed he was no longer suffering a crippling fear of spiders. 78 shares Before the operation, his arachnophobia meant he threw tennis balls at spiders or used hairspray to immobilise them before vaccuming them up. Now, he is able to touch the creatures at close distance and says he finds them fascinating. Dr Nick Medford, from Brighton and Sussex Medical School, said it was likely the phobia was 'removed' when the part of the man's brain was cut out because we have two different types of fear responses. 'It's like when you see a snake and you jump back in alarm, but when you look back you realise it's just a stick,' he told New Scientist journalist Helen Thomson. 'That's your quick-and-dirty panic response: it isn't very accurate but it's necessary for basic survival. 'And then there's the more nuanced fear-appraisal which takes longer to process but is more accurate.' Experts said his arachnophobia was cured after surgery to remove the left amygdala, pictured as the red dot, because some of the pathways in the brain relating to the panic-type fear response were removed In this man's case, some of the pathways in the brain relating to the first panic-type response were destroyed when the amygdala was removed, while the parts responsible for the more nuanced fear-response were left untouched. Dr Medford added that it would be possible to test his theory in other patients as people have temporal lobe surgery (the temporal lobe is where the amygdala is found in the brain) for epilepsy, and it is likely some of those patients would also have arachnophobia. So doctors could test for arachnophobia, or any other phobia the person might have, before and after surgery. There are no ways of disrupting the amygdala without surgery, Dr Medford said, because the amygdala is too deep in the brain. But other 'fear-dampening' techniques are being trialled to help people with phobias, such as a blood pressure pill and stimulating specific areas of the brain to erase fearful memories.