The Neuroscience Behind The Emotional Brain And The Thinking Brain

A doctor looking at TV screen with MRI scan with brain images Can you talk about the neuroscience behind the emotional brain and the thinking brain? originally appeared on Quora : the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Karena Kilcoyne, Author, on Quora : Learning the science of what your brain does in the presence of trauma was a powerful part of my healing journey.

The brain is so complex—so I keep it really simple in my book Rise Above the Story because I want people to understand the basics of what their brain does when it experiences trauma and how it protects them. First and foremost, the brain prioritizes survival. Not love, not connection, not success.

Survival. That’s the default setting. I want everyone to lean into this with me. In my distillation of the science, there are two parts to the brain––the emotional brain and the thinking brain. The “emotional brain” is where the reptilian and limbic parts reside on autopilot. There’s no real thinking going on here.

It’s all automatic (think breathing, heartbeat, body temperature). It’s all about survival in this part of the brain. When we we’re in danger or experience trauma, our emotional brain shifts into survival mode and initiates the fight or flight response. Our body is then flooded with cortisol, adrenaline, and cytokines.

Then there’s what I call the “thinking brain.” This is the cortex, frontal cortex, and prefrontal cortex This is where we house thinking and reasoning. This is where our conscious mind and self awareness exist. This is where we find compassion and empathy. In normal brain formation, these two parts of the brain are integrated and they work together to process information.

But here’s where things can go awry. When we’re exposed to trauma or ongoing trauma and don’t process the emotions around it, our emotional brain sets out on a course to keep us “safe.” It doesn’t want us to get hurt again, so it creates fear loops in our mind. It doesn’t send information to the thinking brain.

Instead, it goes ROGUE. It floods us with fear and limitation. We don’t trust. We’re skeptical. We live a small life. We don’t take risks. We think we’re worthless and that no one could ever love us. It takes mindfulness and self awareness to shift out of emotional brain subconscious storytelling and into thinking brain conscious processing.

That’s where we need to get if we want to heal. In this space of conscious, self awareness we will find compassion and empathy for ourselves, which will give way to unconditional self love. This question originally appeared on Quora the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world..