Bruce Schneier, a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard, explains that exposure to sensationalized news coverage exploits the brain’s tendency to prioritize stories over statistics. “News, by definition, is something that almost never happens,” Schneier says. “But that’s not how our brain works. If it’s in the news, if it’s talked about, if we hear about it a lot, we confuse that with it being common.”

Source: This is your brain on terrorism – Vox