A well-argued, entertaining disputation of the prevailing view that emotion and reason are at odds. Why do emotions feel automatic? Does rational thought really control emotion? How does emotion affect disease? How can you make your children more emotionally intelligent? How Emotions Are Made answers these questions and many more, revealing the latest research and intriguing practical applications of the new science of emotion, mind, and brain. Its repercussions are already shaking the foundations not only of psychology but also of medicine, the legal system, child-rearing, meditation, and even airport security. This new theory means that you play a much greater role in your emotional life than you ever thought. Instead, she has shown that emotion is constructed in the moment, by core systems that interact across the whole brain, aided by a lifetime of learning. Her research overturns the widely held belief that emotions are housed in different parts of the brain and are universally expressed and recognized.

Leading the charge is psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett, whose theory of emotion is driving a deeper understanding of the mind and brain, and shedding new light on what it means to be human. Today, however, the science of emotion is in the midst of a revolution on par with the discovery of relativity in physics and natural selection in biology - and this paradigm shift has far-reaching implications for us all. Scientists have long supported this assumption by claiming that emotions are hardwired in the body or the brain. A new theory of how the brain constructs emotions that could revolutionize psychology, health care, the legal system, and our understanding of the human mind.Įmotions feel automatic, like uncontrollable reactions to things we think and experience.

How emotions are made book review