The creation of emotionsThe creation of emotions
All In The Mind
Are the emotions we experience the same as everyone else's? New research shows that emotions are not 'hard-wired', and are developed by our brains and our bodies as we go through life.
28:51•9 Jul 2017
Building Your Feelings: How the Brain Creates Emotion
Episode Overview
- Emotions are constructed by the brain and body using past experience, not fixed, hard-wired circuits.
- Fear, anger and other emotions show wide variety in expression, meaning there is no single universal emotional signature.
- Cultural research in Namibia and Tanzania suggests emotion categories and expressions differ significantly across societies.
- Keeping the body's "budget" balanced through sleep, food and movement can stabilise basic feelings that feed into emotions.
- Learning more emotion words can increase emotional flexibility, social functioning and overall health.
“So next time you feel overwhelmed by feelings, especially negative ones, it may just be worth thinking about yourself as the architect of your own emotions.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? One surprising tool might be understanding how emotions are actually made. This episode of *All In The Mind* looks at feelings in a way that flips a lot of common beliefs on their head, and it’s especially relevant if you’re trying to change your relationship with alcohol or other habits. Psychology professor Lisa Feldman Barrett explains that emotions aren’t hard-wired reactions buried deep in the brain.
Instead, your brain builds them from past experiences, body sensations and context – like mixing flour, water and salt into different recipes. She shares the funny family emotion "chiplessness" to show how the brain can invent new feelings: that swirl of pleasure, regret, guilt and relief after finishing a packet of crisps. You’ll hear why fear doesn’t have one set pattern and why a smile, a scream or tears don’t map neatly onto single emotions.
Barrett’s research with communities in Namibia and Tanzania shows that emotional expressions and even emotion words can vary hugely across cultures, challenging the idea that there’s one universal emotional code. Host Lynne Malcolm guides the conversation into big questions about rational thought, gender stereotypes and how much control people might have over their emotional lives.
Barrett suggests practical steps: keeping your “body budget” in good shape with sleep, food and movement, and expanding your emotion vocabulary so your brain has more options for shaping experiences in useful ways. For anyone dealing with addiction, relapse, or intense shame, this fresh view of emotions offers a way to see feelings as something you can influence, rather than as an inner beast that takes over.
It raises a gentle but powerful question: if your brain is the architect of your emotions, what kind of emotional life do you want to start building today?
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