How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain
Also known as How Emotions Are Made, How Emotions are Made
Lisa Feldman Barrett's case that the brain constructs emotions instead of triggering them
At a glance
What it argues
Emotions are built, not triggered, Against the classical view, Emotion and reason are not at war
See all 3Key ideas
Prediction, Interoception, Affect …
See all 6Criticism and limits
At odds with basic-emotion research, A lot to take in, Responsibility is arguable
See all 3Read next
Emotion, Fear memories require protein synthesis in the amygdala for reconsolidation after retrieval
See all 2Connections
Lisa Feldman Barrett and Emotion
See all 2
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Barrett argues that emotions are not hard-wired reactions set off in dedicated brain circuits.
- The brain constantly predicts, using past experience organized as concepts.
- When those concepts are emotion concepts, the brain constructs an instance of emotion.
- The raw material is affect: simple feelings of pleasant or unpleasant, calm or agitated.
- Emotions therefore vary with culture and learning, not only biology.
Why it matters
- For anyone learning therapies that work with emotion: it challenges the common idea of a few universal basic emotions, and introduces ideas such as emotional granularity.
Key facts
- Author
- Lisa Feldman Barrett1
- Published
- 20171
- Publisher
- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (US); Pan Macmillan (UK)2
- Pages
- 496 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt edition)2
- ISBN
- 0-544-13331-51
- Audience
- General readers; the heaviest neuroscience is relegated to an appendix7
- Theory
- The theory of constructed emotion, formerly the conceptual act model3
What it argues
-
Emotions are built, not triggered5
Emotion is "constructed in the moment, by core systems that interact across the whole brain, aided by a lifetime of learning."
-
Against the classical view5
It challenges the view that emotions live in specific brain regions and are expressed and recognized the same way everywhere.
-
Emotion and reason are not at war6
It disputes the old story of an internal battle between emotion and reason.
Key ideas
-
Prediction4
A guess made by the brain of what sensory input will arrive in the next moment.
-
Interoception4
The brain's representation of sensations from the body's organs, tissues, hormones and immune system.
-
Affect4
The simplest feeling, always shifting between pleasant and unpleasant, and between calm and jittery.
-
Body budget4
A metaphor for how the brain allocates energy resources within the body.
-
Emotional granularity4
The ability to construct more or less specific, finer-grained emotional experiences.
-
The theory in one sentence3
"In every waking moment, your brain uses past experience, organized as concepts, to guide your actions and give your sensations meaning."
Criticism and limits
-
At odds with basic-emotion research3
The theory rejects brain systems dedicated to particular emotions, such as the seven primary affective systems proposed by Jaak Panksepp.
-
A lot to take in7
Library Journal: even with the neuroscience in an appendix, it is a lot to take in for readers new to the ideas.
-
Responsibility is arguable6
Kirkus notes that how far people are responsible for passion-driven acts or unrecognized prejudice "may be arguable".
Read next
-
The wider debate about what emotions are.
-
Fear memories require protein synthesis in the amygdala for reconsolidation after retrieval
A landmark experiment on how emotional memories change when recalled.
Connections
Written by
- Lisa Feldman Barrett
Links
Sources
- Lisa Feldman Barrett (Wikipedia) (opens en.wikipedia.org)
- How Emotions Are Made (Open Library) (opens openlibrary.org)
- Theory of constructed emotion (Wikipedia) (opens en.wikipedia.org)
- Glossary, How Emotions Are Made companion site (opens how-emotions-are-made.com)
- How Emotions Are Made (Lisa Feldman Barrett) (opens lisafeldmanbarrett.com)
- How Emotions Are Made, review (Kirkus Reviews) (opens kirkusreviews.com)
- Reviews of How Emotions are Made (companion site) (opens how-emotions-are-made.com)
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