Lisa Feldman Barrett, a distinguished psychologist and neuroscientist at Northeastern University and Harvard Medical School, challenges our understanding of emotions. She reveals that emotions can be transformed by how we think and talk about them. Listeners learn that reframing feelings—like viewing anxiety as determination—can empower emotional management. The rich vocabulary of emotions across cultures is discussed, and Barrett busts myths about emotional control, presenting techniques for mastering resilience. Her insights shed light on the amygdala’s complex role in shaping our emotional experiences.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
TED Talk Anxiety
Lisa Feldman Barrett used her science to manage her anxiety before her TED Talk.
By relabeling her high arousal as determination, she successfully performed.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Get Your Butterflies in Formation
Recategorize anxiety as determination.
This helps manage arousal in challenging situations.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Pandemic Arousal
Before the pandemic announcement, Lisa felt high arousal but needed to gather information.
Her husband helped by focusing on what information would reduce her discomfort, not labeling the emotion.
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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.
How Emotions Are Made
The Secret Life of the Brain
Lisa Feldman Barrett
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.
Emotions are like opinions — everyone has them. Thanks to the pioneering research of today’s guest, we know that it’s possible to transform our feelings by changing how we think and talk about them. Lisa Feldman Barrett is a psychologist and neuroscientist at Northeastern University and Harvard Medical School. In this episode, Lisa and Adam bust myths about how emotions are constructed in the brain and experienced in the body. They discuss the surprising evidence that language doesn’t just describe emotions — it shapes them. And they examine how managing your emotions is easier than you may realize. Transcripts for ReThinking are available at go.ted.com/RWAGscripts
ReThinking 
