ELI5: How Does the Brain Process Risk During High-Altitude Climbing?

saw an ELI5 on how the brain processes risk during high-altitude climbing, and it got me thinking about the interplay between instinct and training. On one hand, you’ve got the innate survival mechanisms kicking in, screaming at you that thin air and sheer drops are *not* your friends. But climbers also undergo extensive training, learning to assess objective risks like whether patterns, crevasse danger, and equipment failure.Is the brain basically trying to reconcile these two conflicting signals? I wonder to what extent experienced climbers actively suppress their natural fear responses through learned behavior and disciplined focus, and how much of that is genuinely internalized risk assessment versus just pushing through the fear with sheer willpower. Are there specific neurological differences between experienced climbers and the average person in how thay process fear and risk, maybe something to do with the prefrontal cortex (impulse control) and amygdala (fear processing)? It seems like the stakes are so high that even a tiny miscalculation could be fatal, so you need a damn good understanding of true risk versus perceived risk up there.