O cérebro, por meio de estresse ou trauma emocional, pode causar algumas manifestações que não têm outra causa médica. Chama-se Doenças Psicossomáticas:
psychosomatic [si″ko-so-mat´ik]
pertaining to the interrelations of mind and body; having bodily symptoms of psychic, emotional, or mental origin.
psychosomatic disorder (psychosomatic illness) a disorder in which the physical symptoms are caused or exacerbated by psychological factors, such as migraine headache, lower back pain, or irritable bowel syndrome; see also somatoform disorders. It is now recognized that emotional factors play a role in the development of nearly all organic illnesses and that the physical symptoms experienced by the patient are related to many interdependent factors, including psychological and cultural. The physical manifestations of an illness, unless caused by mechanical trauma, cannot be divorced from a person's emotional life. Each person responds in a unique way to stress; emotions affect one's sensitivity to trauma and to irritating elements in the environment, susceptibility to infection, and ability to recover from the effects of illness. Physical conditions to which psychological factors are shown to be contributory are currently classified as psychological factors affecting medical condition. Any physical condition can be so classified, but the most frequently included are asthma, peptic ulcer, bowel disorders, cardiovascular disorders, arthritis, allergy, headache, and certain endocrine disorders. In recent years there has been some success in using behavior therapy to treat these and other illnesses whose symptoms are related to the autonomic nervous system. Clients are taught new ways of coping with stress and new patterns of behavior. Among the techniques used are biofeedback, relaxation training, classical conditioning, and operant conditioning using social and material reinforcement.
-Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc.
As reações psicossomáticas podem ser bastante extensas, mas na maioria das vezes não causam sangramento, cortes ou outros traumas físicos. Dito isto, as convulsões psicossomáticas podem ser graves o suficiente para causar contusões, de espasmos musculares auto-infligidos ou fazendo com que a pessoa bata em um objeto ou parede. Isso não é raro nas crises epilépticas, mas também não é muito comum.
Outra maneira de descrevê-lo é o Transtorno de Conversão, o Transtorno de Sintomas Somáticos ou o Transtorno Neurológico Funcional.
As reações psicossomáticas são conhecidas por causar falência de órgãos ou morte súbita. Ele foi cunhado como
Voodoo Death :
Voodoo death, a term coined by Walter Cannon in 1942 also known as psychogenic death or psychosomatic death, is the phenomenon of sudden death as brought about by a strong emotional shock, such as fear. The anomaly is recognized as "psychosomatic" in that death is caused by an emotional response—often fear—to some suggested outside force. Voodoo death is particularly noted in native societies, and concentration- or prisoner of war camps, but the condition is not specific to any particular culture.
Como vemos no filme, Neo espasma violentamente na cadeira de ligação ascendente, em resposta ao que seu cérebro está percebendo. Essa convulsão violenta explicaria algo como morder seu próprio lábio ou língua, causando sangue. Mais uma coincidência que ele foi atingido no rosto. As mortes súbitas de pessoas mortas na Matrix são mais precisas do que a parte do sangue.