Lisa Feldman Barrett, a leading neuroscience professor and author, sheds light on the complex nature of emotions. She debunks the myth that emotions are hardwired from birth, arguing they are shaped by our experiences and brain predictions. Barrett emphasizes that we can actively influence our emotional responses by diversifying our life experiences, likening emotions to narratives crafted by the brain. This understanding can empower individuals to reshape their emotional well-being and confront challenges like depression with new perspectives.
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insights INSIGHT
Emotions Are Constructed Predictions
Emotions are not hardwired fixed modules in the brain from birth.
Lisa Feldman Barrett explains emotions emerge from the brain's predictive use of past experience.
insights INSIGHT
The 'Emotions Happen To You' Illusion
The feeling that emotions happen to you is an illusion created by that same predictive process.
Emotions don't simply erupt from an 'animal' brain region; the brain constructs them proactively.
insights INSIGHT
Emotions Are The Brain's Stories
The brain continuously regulates the body and summarizes bodily signals as basic feelings.
An emotion is the brain's story that uses learned knowledge to predict and explain sensations in context.
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In today’s world, people are more open than ever to discuss their emotions, largely due to the growth in self-help literature and efforts to destigmatize therapy. However, this openness has also resulted in certain misconceptions about emotions, which neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett aims to clarify.
Contrary to the notion that emotions are inherently fixed in our brains from birth, Barrett contends that they are primarily based on past experiences and the brain’s predictions of future events. This means that emotions aren’t merely reactions thrust upon us, but something we actively participate in creating.
Barrett further posits that we can alter our brain’s predictive patterns by diversifying our experiences such as learning new things, watching films, or engaging in activities like acting that deviate from our routine. By doing this, we can shape the architecture of our future selves.
0:00 Two myths about emotion
1:24 How your brain creates emotion / How emotions are made
4:36 Depression: A metabolic illness?
5:52 Changing your brain’s predictions
7:45 You have more control than you think
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About Lisa Feldman Barrett:
Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett is among the top 1% most-cited scientists in the world, having published over 250 peer-reviewed scientific papers. Dr. Barrett is a University Distinguished Professor of psychology at Northeastern University with appointments at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, where she is Chief Science Officer for the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior. She is the recipient of a NIH Director’s Pioneer Award for transformative research, a Guggenheim Fellowship in neuroscience, the Mentor Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Association for Psychological Science (APS) and from the Society for Affect Science (SAS), and the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association (APA). She is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of Canada, and a number of other honorific societies. She is the author of How Emotions are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain, and more recently, Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain.
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