Emotions and the Brain

Neuropsychology and neurophysiology research has made the compelling case that, as humans, we feel before we think. It has been shown that success in life and can be attributed or related to emotional wellbeing.

The Limbic System is the emotional part of the brain; the Neocortex is the technical highly efficient learning part of the brain which relates to thinking, IQ, analytical technical skills,

Recent neurological studies have shown that human emotions relies on connections with other people. Studies have repeatedly shown that emotions spread irresistibly whenever people are near each other, even when contact is completely nonverbal. This contagious quality of emotions has particular implications for the perceived leader in a given situation. In studies where leaders were observed in groups, the other individuals in the room watched the leader more closely, concurred most readily with the leader’s ideas, and ultimately “caught” the leader’s mood.

We’re able to empathize with a person who needs understanding and help.
The ability to empathize, stems from neurons in extended circuitry connected to and in the emotional brain that read another person’s face and voice for emotion. These neurons continually attune us to how someone else feels when we speak to them, and the circuitry sends out a steady stream of information which the emotional brain areas use to fine-tune what we say or do next. We feel like we’re “on the same wavelength” with someone.

Circuitry in the emotional brain attunes our own biology to the dominant range of feelings of the person we are with, so that our emotional states tend to converge. Scientists call this neural attunement “limbic resonance.” But it’s essentially what we mean when we say we’re “in synch” or “on the same wavelength.”

We get a “gut feeling” about something. When we face a complex decision that goes beyond the data at hand, the emotional brain activates circuitry that runs from the limbic centers into the gut—giving us the compelling sense that “this feels right.” A section of the brain called the amygdala lets us know its conclusions primarily through circuitry extending into the gastrointestinal tract that literally creates a “gut feeling.”

The thinking brain evolved from the limbic brain and continues to take orders from it when we perceive a threat or are under stress. Emotional impulses follow extensive circuitry that goes from the amygdala up to the thinking brain, just behind the forehead. This prefrontal area receives and analyzes information from all parts of the brain, then makes a decision about what to do. When this circuitry is working correctly, when a person has emotional wellbeing, the prefrontal area can make a more effective response. But when emotions have not been handled, our decisions or actions can be detrimental.

Whenever we face decisions, we actually draw on a lifetime of silent learning, often without realizing we’re doing it. Cumulative learning takes place in a primitive part of the emotional brain called the basal ganglia—it’s where our “life wisdom” is extracted and stored via experience. In addition, the circuitry involved in puzzling decisions involves the amygdala,where the brain stores the emotions associated with our memories. So when a course of action suddenly “occurs” to us—it is delivered by the part of the brain that wields our feelings.
We feel motivated to accomplish a difficult goal.

There is a neural pathway in the emotional brain that is responsible for reminding us how satisfied we’ll feel when we accomplish a goal, helping to keep us motivated and moving in a positive direction. This neural pathway pumps out a stream of good feelings as we do work we feel passion for. It’s also responsible for quieting the feelings of frustration or worry that might discourage us from continuing toward a goal, helping us to take setbacks, frustrations, and failures in stride.