Lisa Feldman Barrett, a leading expert in psychology and neuroscience, shares insights about her book, *Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain*. She discusses how the brain's primary function is survival, constantly predicting our actions. Learning, she reveals, is energetically costly, making it essential for leaders to foster supportive environments for better learning. Barrett also debunks common myths about emotions, emphasizing that they're interconnected biological processes rather than isolated experiences, enhancing our understanding of feelings and regulation.
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insights INSIGHT
Brain's Primary Purpose
Your brain's main job isn't thinking, but regulating your body.
It prioritizes survival by managing internal systems like temperature.
insights INSIGHT
Predictive Brain
Our brains predict our actions and sensory experiences.
This "controlled hallucination" is constrained by the world and our bodies.
insights INSIGHT
Sensing vs. Predicting
Brains predict actions first, then senses to confirm or update predictions.
Learning occurs when new information changes these predictions.
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In this book, Lisa Feldman Barrett presents a new neuroscientific explanation of emotions, overturning the widely held belief that emotions are automatic, universal, and hardwired in different brain regions. Instead, she argues that emotions are constructed in the moment through a unique interplay of brain, body, and culture. Barrett's theory, known as the 'Theory of Constructed Emotions,' suggests that emotions are highly individualized and vary by culture. The book explores how this new understanding has significant implications for fields such as psychology, medicine, law, parenting, and national security. Barrett uses clear, readable prose and practical examples to make her complex theories accessible to a broad audience.
Seven and a Half Lessons about the Brain
Lisa Feldman Barrett
In this book, Lisa Feldman Barrett demystifies the brain through seven short essays and a brief story on its evolution. She explains where brains came from, their structure, and how they function in tandem with other brains. The book dispels myths such as the 'lizard brain' and the battle between thoughts and emotions or nature and nurture. Barrett highlights the brain's primary role in controlling the body, discusses brain development, and emphasizes the social and cultural aspects of cognition and consciousness.
Lisa Feldman Barrett: Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain
Lisa Feldman Barrett is among the top one percent most cited scientists in the world for her revolutionary research in psychology and neuroscience. She is a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University, with appointments at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. She is also Chief Science Officer for the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior at Harvard University.
In addition to her bestselling book How Emotions Are Made*, she has published over 240 peer-reviewed, scientific papers appearing in Science, Nature Neuroscience, and other top journals in psychology and cognitive neuroscience. She has also given a popular TED talk with nearly 6 million views and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in neuroscience and an NIH Director's Pioneer Award.
In this conversation, Lisa and I discuss the lessons from her newest book, Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain*. We explore some of the common misperceptions about brain biology and examine how much energy use and conservation affects us. Then, we uncover how we can help ourselves — and others — learn better.
Key Points
The primary purpose of your brain is to keep you alive. As a result, your brain predicts almost everything you do.
Unlike how we perceive, sensing actually comes second for the brain. It’s wired to prepare for action first.
Learning is an expensive use of energy. Leaders can cultivate environments for learning by providing stable environments that don’t burn unnecessary energy.
Changing behavior in the heat of the moment isn’t likely, but we can change how our brain will predict outside of the moment.
You are always cultivating your past, since today’s present becomes the past. That’s how you change the way your brain predicts in the future.
Resources Mentioned
Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain* by Lisa Feldman Barrett
Lisa Feldman Barrret’s website
Interview Notes
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