Much as I love Robert Sapolsky's work in general, "The triune brain idea is one of the most successful and widespread errors in all of science” (Lisa Feldman Barrett 2020 - references below). When it was first described by Paul MacLean, as Robert says, in "The Triune Brain in Evolution. Role in Paleocerebral Functions" (1990) it was immediately and robustly critiqued (Reiner 1990). The "neo-cortex" is not new, is not unique to modern humans and does not "regulate" the mythic "emotional brain". Evolutionary neurobiology showed, as long ago as the early 1970s, that human brain development is simply a scaled-up version of all mammalian brain development and that all vertebrates possess the same basic brain regions (Cesario et al 2020). Including reptiles. Despite being ubiquitous, continued use of the triune brain fallacy is not supported by the data - and has important implications for how emotions and agency are conceptualised. For example, the idea that rationality = thinking = the absence of emotion when, in practice, thinking can be profoundly irrational and emotion profoundly rational. Law, economics and much of daily discourse assumes there is a sharp distinction between the rational and the emotional, but this is a story, without foundation in how the brain actually evolved, works and is structured. For those still teaching or otherwise engaging with the triune brain fallacy, I urge you to explore more current neuroscience by research scientists rather than commentators (this is NOT a pop at Robert Sapolsky. It's just that many, maybe most proponeents of the triune brain fallacy are not involved with directly testing the hypothesis). The papers below (and especially Lisa Feldman Barrett's books and UA-cam interviews) centre a whole-brain view of our construction of reality. And is supported by ample evidence, unlike the 90's neo-Platonic theory. • Your Brain's Most Important Functions - Dan Pink in Conversation with Lisa Feldman Barrett (2023) ua-cam.com/video/Ndm06nZJrBA/v-deo.htmlsi=G7O2nLEnmJOV-aQB • Cesario J, Johnson DJ & Eisthen HL (2020) Your Brain Is Not an Onion With a Tiny Reptile Inside. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29(3), 255-260. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0963721420917687#bibr34-0963721420917687 • Feldman Barrett, L (2018) How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain. Pan. lisafeldmanbarrett.com/books/how-emotions-are-made/ • Feldman Barrett, L (2020) Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain. Picador. lisafeldmanbarrett.com/books/seven-and-a-half-lessons-about-the-brain/ • Reiner A (1990) An explanation of behavior: Review of The Triune Brain in Evolution. Role in Paleocerebral Functions. Paul D. MacLean. Plenum, New York, 1990. Science, 250:4978, 303-305. DOI:10.1126/science.250.4978.303-b www.researchgate.net/publication/6043837_The_Triune_Brain_in_Evolution_Role_in_Paleocerebral_Functions_Paul_D_MacLean_Plenum_New_York_1990_xxiv_672_pp_illus_75 • Steffen PR, Hedges D and Matheson R (2022) The Brain Is Adaptive Not Triune: How the Brain Responds to Threat, Challenge, and Change. Frontiers in Psychiatry 13:802606. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.802606 www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.802606/full
The criticism is simply based on (sometimes quite dishonest) misinterpretation of MacLean's ideas. For instance, the very idea that thought is not independent for emotion was actually the origin of his theory. It's called the triune brain, not the tripartite brain. He never said these "parts" were independent, or that they were successively added to one another during evolution without prior basis or that the "reptilian brain" in mammals was the same as in reptiles.
0:34 Thank you for the references. "schematic" -good reason for lifelong ongoing educational renewal Disparities in generational educational opportunities create generations of disparities in common working knowledge and communication.
wow! thank you for this detailed answer! I love it when people provide nuance, context and citations for their criticisms! A rare and valuable comment indeed.
this guy is my favourite kind of celebrity cos of his great ability to communicate complicated + relevant info in interesting and accessible ways, absolute legend
So many ppl in the comments saying that this is not real... in 0:40 he litterally addresses that this is just schematic, the brain is not like this, its just a simple way of analysing how it works
I admire this man so much. I have heard many people speak. Most of the intellectual ones I've heard, I did so on the internet. But this man manages to stand out. Among the great ones, this man is truly an exception.
“The subconscious mind is ruled by suggestion, it accepts all suggestions - it does not argue with you - it fulfils your wishes.” “Your subconscious mind does not argue with you. It accepts what your conscious mind decrees. If you say, 'I can't afford it,' your subconscious mind works to make it true.
Thank you for not cluttering this video with a cut rate Philip Glass-like soundtrack and corny stock footage as in some of the other entries in this series.
Nowhere is this more strikingly obvious than in people with mental illnesses, and I think those of us with anxiety have an intrinsic awareness of how our mental and emotional state affects our bodies, because damn if I'm not sitting here in a buttload of pain that I learned to tune out when I was a teenager because my cortisol flooded brain makes the muscles in my body tense 24/7, and I don't remember the last time I didn't have a headache! I can't get rid of the anxiety completely, so I can't get rid of the pain completely either, and the pain often makes my emotional state worse, que the vicious circle 🤷♀️
I understand, as someone that also suffers a lot of daily anxiety (1 of my symptoms of my autism), I strongly recommend trying out cbd, thc and even tripping, because it helped and helps me a lot.
Used to have a lot of anxiety and panic attacks, but fixed them for good with breathe work. It's kinda almost stupid and tragic how much pain and loss I could've prevented just by breathing in spesific ways for like 10-15 minutes a day.
I’ll jump on the advice wagon and say if you haven’t already done so look into how nutrition can help you. The food we eat has a lot of impact on our brain and and rest of our body. I’m glad you learned to control your state of mind and I hope you’re able to conquer this challenge entirely 🙏🏼
Thinking about something totally different from our present external situation isn't as easy as it is being said. But with practice it can be done. Practice to think. Take 30 mins of lone time and spend it to think, various scenarios, not fictitious, past, present and future, and when in stress, this will help you think better. Great video.
I mastered this in mid 80s And you can as well. Well not really most people are too far gone. They are easily identified and avoided. Everything flows from your mental health, nurture and protect it as though your life depended on it cuz it sure as hell does!
What about the contrast between the Default Mode Network and the Task Positige Network. They seem to be in Part 3 in the description given above. For most people the DMN is default mode (hence the name) of perception and response, while the mind shifts into the TPN unconsciously depending on the focus of attention and action. But training (meditation) can allow the person to select greater involvement of the TPN to guide attention and action.
In my darker moments I judge the world for ignorance, but essentially it is a form of guiding the mind away from certain problems in order to survive, that all of us engage in, sometimes without knowing it.
Very informative and perspective shifting! As for the last part: he coul call it meditation. People call it praying, yoga or positive thinking as well.
Consciously focusing your attention on something positive, exciting or relaxing just before you go to bed and when you wake up in the morning is really helpful.
Every time I listen to him my brain gets excited evidently I’ve been doing biofeedback for a couple decades now I just didn’t know that’s what it was called God bless everybody happy Fourth of July
You have many areas in the brain with specialized functions. The three brain perspective is just one perspective, only a partial truth (since any object has many partial truths from different perspectives). The question is, how useful is your partial perspective, which depends on what you are doing.
Those “many areas” are specific to certain functions, eyes, ears etc. Robert is talking of how our mental/ emotional/ autonomic systems and how they interrelated, and control your behaviour, dispute having the largest neocortex of species
Going by your excellent advice, it looks to me that hypnosis sessions to achieve, say weight loss or learning the piano easier and in less time spent is a big win win. Your book Determined is also a very thought provoking read. I wonder that you do not put that all to a video format. In general folks seem to lack social science guiding them in early and later educational years. Professor Sapolsky saves the world.
I'm reminded of therapies, or potential ones, for folks with PTSD. How can we out-think the trauma we've through? How can we get our limbic systems past those ingrain associations? Please correct me if I'm not on the right track - Am also reminded of Bernie Siegel's work to help cancer patients heal - Seems he's been able to help people reach past the surface with regard to these systems. Thank you for sharing.
I've been waiting for this kind of explanation of how the brain communicates my entire life! I wish our educational system would teach this as it's most basic level starting in elementary school. It makes sense why meditation works, and how athletes and soldiers overcome their physical and mental obstacles when they are deemed, 'in the zone', and how some people have survived seemingly insurmountable circumstances. I feel like I just had the entire history of humanity's behavior summed up in an a matter of minutes.
Robert ! Professor !! Nice . Great user manual for the / my brain(s) . I am really enjoying the increased awareness of and fascination with the stuff in my scull . Just one question please: ¿ what was your favorite Talmudic tractate when you were growing up , or now ? Just curious, plus I would love to learn / chavrusa with you holy dude ! Thanks
Thank you Dr. Sapolsky for this info. But what I would like to understand is whether or not our subconscious mind and its thought generation are totally controlled by the limbic area. For instance, when people attempt to meditate we observe "mind chatter". Unwanted thoughts that annoyingly get injected over and over again into our consciousness and temporarily interrupt our focus. Such thoughts seem to be emanating from our subconscious, but are they actually originating in our conscious mind? But the real bottom line question here is, "What is the most efficient method for stopping them?"
Gurdjieff covered this idea back in 1900ish. Been a while since I read Ouspendsky’s “In Search” but I think he outlines it in that book. So the ancients knew about this far back in millennia. 🤷♀️🙏
So for those afflicted with PTSD, the limbic layer is influence the lower layer and upper layers? Is trauma merely a memory that needs to be reevaluated in a way that is 'healthy' for the individual?
Real Trauma is locked behind a DREAD of neurons, that the cortex will only show you when the cortex believes your imagined self is ready that the thought process is a REAL as it can get to deal with the coming reality In other words complete disassociation with the words whirling around Muruguns finger And you are like Kumar :)
@ 6:32 OK but if you have serious damage to your peripheral blood vessels, some kind of chronic sodium imbalance, or some other kind of disease that's caused damage to your blood vessels or your autonomic nervous system's ability to regulate their diameter and tone, you can't just "think" your way out of hypertension. As far as I know, the approach he's describing would only work if the primary cause of hypertension is psychosomatic.
8f u have a healthy liver u have self control , its the largest organ it matters its the seat of good health it filters everything u eat its not only the brain that thinks the liver is the planner .
It is perfectly acceptable to speak of the "3 Brains" schema. What we currently understand about the evolution of the brain, specifically the human brain, the hind, limbic, and forebrain are stratified and came about through evolutionary pressures that had no single end-goal in mind.
@@jamaalrichardson4966 I'm not a doctor, but that would be like title a video: "learn to use your 4 hearts" (just because the human heart has four chambers), I just criticized the title of the video, of course my absolute high respects for the professor Robert Sapolsky.
Dear Robert, I have been following your lectures with pleasure for years and I find them very interesting, but I have a question. What is your diagnosis?
Great. So, there are theories like James-lange, Cannon-Bard and Schachter-singer which explain initiation of emotions through brain "one" (physiological response) to brain "three" (Cognitive response) but what are the theories explaining about the reverse...!
@@JustWojtek definitely he is, but why do we find very less about the Cognitive initiation of emotional experience..! What named theories are there to explain the same...
@@shrihari4788 my guess would be: time and westcentrism - seemingly for the longest time the bottom-up approach has been favoured and now it take a while for the field to "re-adjust". On the other hand most of the theories around emotions have been based on the western perception and philosophy of emotions. What do you think?
@@JustWojtek Indeed predominantly western perspective over emotions is one reason and the only recent development of cognitive science might be another I think...
I'm surprised he doesn't mind referring to it as the Lizard Brain. I like to call it the Nematode Brain, since that's about the time we split off on the evolution arc, prior to the reptiles coming around. It just shows how confident he is with his knowledge, since he clearly sidesteps any of the issues of referring to it as literally a reptilian brain.
Everything he says after 5:33 assumes we have some control, some free will..But recently Sapolsky came out with a new book that pretty much says we have no free will. How to reconcile the somewhat contradictory messages?
Sapolaky simply means the things that came before shaped our personalities. If you're here those things that shaped you make you willing to learn and accept the findings in these studies I've wondered this myself as there are certain peoples that change- drug addicts, criminals and even just emotionally disturbed people. But we can make choices along our path. It's not out of character to choose life over demise which is sometimes the case with addicts. It comes down to which program is stronger. Do you choose to be arrogant, abusive or retaliatory? No. That program was initiated when you were born or even before. Epigenetics speaks to this. So strong upheaval of the 3 brain systems can in fact cause a change, but is our executive system in charge there? No. Not really
This deciding to think about certain memories, images to modify lesser level systems, I was wondering how to do this geninely and on time etc, if I am totally determined, without free will? Your power of explanation is excellent and very helpful. It is wonderful to see in an academic because sometimes it doen't always follow. Thank you very much. But I am not convinced of your interpretation about no free will at all. We make a decision about our experienced thoughts, the result of all this complexity at unseen layers. If a deeper "decision" is already indicated at neural level, is it not possible that it is the proposed projection for our consideration and conscious decsion? If we decide yes , it looks like the decision was made before, but do you have data that show NOT deciding "Yes" when the proposal is presented to our conscious free will decisions happen? I accept many things/influences are detrmined or not known by us conciously but I cannot see absolutley no power of decision at all. A real active effective decision is a point of free will. 🙏
I'm not sure I caught how I can choose to use them differently other than the bio-feedback part. I'm currently reading his book "Determined" and find his views parallel mine. The book is giving me more details to support what I think is true about free-will.
I'm dealing with a pain condition caused by mind body syndrome. The Lizard brain is creating pain to distract from the emotions the limbic system is feeling. The Lizard brain sees the emotions as just as dangerous as a bear, but instead of hiding pain like it usually does when it aroused temporarily, it creates pain because the limbic is aroused chronically, thus the pain becomes a chronic response like a stuck open neurological valve. It becomes chronic and I have to unlearn it. Dr. John Sarno pioneered this theory.
I'm convinced that the lizard brain was created by actual reptilian extraterrestrials there are civilizations that have lived before us we were not the first ones on the planet I'm sure we our DNA manipulated
Oh my overflowing GOURD! Thankyou Robert, you have given me an understanding of yet another TRIAD to help dispel the tension and contention that DUALISTIC thinking causes! I've been stuck contemplating how communication between the AMYGDALA (the older, 'lower', impulsive brain region) and the CORTEX (the younger, 'higher', cognitive region) results in my perceptions and responses to life events. Now, I have the 'missing third', the LIMBIC system (the 'middle aged', neither 'high' nor 'low', instinctive) to factor into the equation, and a formula for a more balanced perspective on life.
Thanks Henk. I need to keep learning, obviously! Im trying to understand interactions between the "head, heart & hands", or mental, emotional, physical aspects of my being, and am missing something regarding the differences between sensation & perception ('feelings' & emotions), cognition & conception (intentional thinking & intuitive inspiration).
@@tonyarmstrong8291 Terence McKenna. Jung. Nietzsche. CTMU. Psilocybin. I am releasing information on such topics soon. Not sure why but UA-cam is trying to censor me. I have uploaded shorts about NS-TMT, what I believe may save humankind.
@@tonyarmstrong8291 Know this: The Truth of the Matter lies where Representative instants of categories Functional variable categories Proper accurate code/coding Ranked causal value All meet in the middle
Please, help me to understand, I thought this model of three brains was criticised a long time ago and cancelled as not correct one? Or something changed since then?.. so much confused!
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"You don’t have an inner lizard or an emotional beast-brain. There is no such thing as a limbic system dedicated to emotions. And your misnamed neocortex is not a new part; many other vertebrates grow the same neurons that, in some animals, organize into a cerebral cortex if key stages run for long enough. Anything you read or hear that proclaims the human neocortex, cerebral cortex, or prefrontal cortex to be the root of rationality, or says that the frontal lobe regulates so-called emotional brain areas to keep irrational behavior in check, is simply outdated or woefully incomplete. The triune brain idea and its epic battle between emotion, instinct, and rationality is a modern myth." Excerpt From Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain Lisa Feldman Barrett
Look here, somebody needs to figure this out cause I just saw another video uploaded 3 days ago from Big Think , she says no the brain isn't made up of 3 systems, that that is the old thinking, that it's ridiculous. I wanna know what's really how it is..
To me in the blockchain of events of us humans, that has internal (other layers) and external validators (friends, mentors, psichologists,etc) there is a layer 4 that goes over space time when we are able to understand each other in the present moment thanks of experience from the past, which make us look into a brighter future. It’s like a forth dimension that unites us. Like doors between kids rooms in monsters SA would.
I would love to have a better understanding about this, included with the two brain half's and the systems 1 and 2 out of psychology :3 Guess I'm into training myself in that way for quite some time..
I wonder if this three brain scheme relates to our ability to conceive of time in terms of past, present and future. Reptilian thinking seems to be present mindedness. The emotional limbic brain seems to associate with memory and learning and therefore the past. The neocortex seems associated with the future, being able to think logically about outcomes and consequences.
That’s not new, already was written many years ago! but he can’t differentiate between consciousness type one and type two and the generating of both consciousness type one and personal identity (being awake). to concise both limbic system and cortex are processed by self concept, which its location is the brainstem (always there in awake and sleep).
Much as I love Robert Sapolsky's work in general, "The triune brain idea is one of the most successful and widespread errors in all of science” (Lisa Feldman Barrett 2020 - references below). When it was first described by Paul MacLean, as Robert says, in "The Triune Brain in Evolution. Role in Paleocerebral Functions" (1990) it was immediately and robustly critiqued (Reiner 1990).
The "neo-cortex" is not new, is not unique to modern humans and does not "regulate" the mythic "emotional brain".
Evolutionary neurobiology showed, as long ago as the early 1970s, that human brain development is simply a scaled-up version of all mammalian brain development and that all vertebrates possess the same basic brain regions (Cesario et al 2020). Including reptiles.
Despite being ubiquitous, continued use of the triune brain fallacy is not supported by the data - and has important implications for how emotions and agency are conceptualised. For example, the idea that rationality = thinking = the absence of emotion when, in practice, thinking can be profoundly irrational and emotion profoundly rational. Law, economics and much of daily discourse assumes there is a sharp distinction between the rational and the emotional, but this is a story, without foundation in how the brain actually evolved, works and is structured.
For those still teaching or otherwise engaging with the triune brain fallacy, I urge you to explore more current neuroscience by research scientists rather than commentators (this is NOT a pop at Robert Sapolsky. It's just that many, maybe most proponeents of the triune brain fallacy are not involved with directly testing the hypothesis). The papers below (and especially Lisa Feldman Barrett's books and UA-cam interviews) centre a whole-brain view of our construction of reality. And is supported by ample evidence, unlike the 90's neo-Platonic theory.
• Your Brain's Most Important Functions - Dan Pink in Conversation with Lisa Feldman Barrett (2023) ua-cam.com/video/Ndm06nZJrBA/v-deo.htmlsi=G7O2nLEnmJOV-aQB
• Cesario J, Johnson DJ & Eisthen HL (2020) Your Brain Is Not an Onion With a Tiny Reptile Inside. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29(3), 255-260. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0963721420917687#bibr34-0963721420917687
• Feldman Barrett, L (2018) How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain. Pan. lisafeldmanbarrett.com/books/how-emotions-are-made/
• Feldman Barrett, L (2020) Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain. Picador. lisafeldmanbarrett.com/books/seven-and-a-half-lessons-about-the-brain/
• Reiner A (1990) An explanation of behavior: Review of The Triune Brain in Evolution. Role in Paleocerebral Functions. Paul D. MacLean. Plenum, New York, 1990. Science, 250:4978, 303-305. DOI:10.1126/science.250.4978.303-b
www.researchgate.net/publication/6043837_The_Triune_Brain_in_Evolution_Role_in_Paleocerebral_Functions_Paul_D_MacLean_Plenum_New_York_1990_xxiv_672_pp_illus_75
• Steffen PR, Hedges D and Matheson R (2022) The Brain Is Adaptive Not Triune: How the Brain Responds to Threat, Challenge, and Change. Frontiers in Psychiatry 13:802606. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.802606 www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.802606/full
Thank you both for the detailed comment and the additional sources of information to explore. Lots to chew on.
The criticism is simply based on (sometimes quite dishonest) misinterpretation of MacLean's ideas. For instance, the very idea that thought is not independent for emotion was actually the origin of his theory. It's called the triune brain, not the tripartite brain. He never said these "parts" were independent, or that they were successively added to one another during evolution without prior basis or that the "reptilian brain" in mammals was the same as in reptiles.
0:34 Thank you for the references. "schematic"
-good reason for lifelong ongoing educational renewal
Disparities in generational educational opportunities create generations of disparities in common working knowledge and communication.
Thanks!
wow! thank you for this detailed answer! I love it when people provide nuance, context and citations for their criticisms! A rare and valuable comment indeed.
Bro said all that in a single sentence 😂 I absolutely love this man, his Stanford lectures are phenomenal 🙏
Agreed 😊
Watch his lecture on religion.
Bro has four brains.
Always a pleasure as well as an education to hear the eminent Robert Sapolsky.
this guy is my favourite kind of celebrity cos of his great ability to communicate complicated + relevant info in interesting and accessible ways, absolute legend
This guy is definitively my favourite neurobiologist! His work is a real treasure trove for my work as a self-employed neuropsychological clinician!
So many ppl in the comments saying that this is not real... in 0:40 he litterally addresses that this is just schematic, the brain is not like this, its just a simple way of analysing how it works
I admire this man so much. I have heard many people speak. Most of the intellectual ones I've heard, I did so on the internet. But this man manages to stand out. Among the great ones, this man is truly an exception.
Explanations without solutions
a meso potamian fossil
going extinct
@@TNT-km2eg Solution TLDW: When SHTF, go to your happy place.
“The subconscious mind is ruled by suggestion, it accepts all suggestions - it does not argue with you - it fulfils your wishes.” “Your subconscious mind does not argue with you. It accepts what your conscious mind decrees. If you say, 'I can't afford it,' your subconscious mind works to make it true.
thank you for this justin 🙏🏽🖤
what is this from?
@@user-kj2gf1cn1pSounds like Napoleon Hill or even Robert Anton Wilson to me
No, often the subconscious mind sends signals to the conscious mind.
What the thinker thinks the prover proves
Thank you for not cluttering this video with a cut rate Philip Glass-like soundtrack and corny stock footage as in some of the other entries in this series.
Nowhere is this more strikingly obvious than in people with mental illnesses, and I think those of us with anxiety have an intrinsic awareness of how our mental and emotional state affects our bodies, because damn if I'm not sitting here in a buttload of pain that I learned to tune out when I was a teenager because my cortisol flooded brain makes the muscles in my body tense 24/7, and I don't remember the last time I didn't have a headache! I can't get rid of the anxiety completely, so I can't get rid of the pain completely either, and the pain often makes my emotional state worse, que the vicious circle 🤷♀️
I understand, as someone that also suffers a lot of daily anxiety (1 of my symptoms of my autism), I strongly recommend trying out cbd, thc and even tripping, because it helped and helps me a lot.
Used to have a lot of anxiety and panic attacks, but fixed them for good with breathe work. It's kinda almost stupid and tragic how much pain and loss I could've prevented just by breathing in spesific ways for like 10-15 minutes a day.
Read Psychocybernetics. You'll understand.
I highly recommend you check out Dr. Russell Kennedy's work, and his approach to healing anxiety
I’ll jump on the advice wagon and say if you haven’t already done so look into how nutrition can help you. The food we eat has a lot of impact on our brain and and rest of our body.
I’m glad you learned to control your state of mind and I hope you’re able to conquer this challenge entirely 🙏🏼
Listening to Mr Saplsky talk lowers my blood pressure :)
Genius. How I love these series. The science of thinking. Thank you for sharing your decades of knowledge. Powerful.
He is ICONIC, and the way he explains things 🙌🏼 thank you sir
Fascinating! Very informative. I’ve known many of these concepts separately but Rob connects the dots for us, creating another wonderful Aha moment.
Thinking about something totally different from our present external situation isn't as easy as it is being said. But with practice it can be done. Practice to think. Take 30 mins of lone time and spend it to think, various scenarios, not fictitious, past, present and future, and when in stress, this will help you think better. Great video.
Thank you. I was looking for a TLDR.
But why not fictitious? I've heard that large parts of the brain can't tell the diff.
So nice! Seems to explain how practicing gratitude for the good things in your day or your life are good for your well being 😊
I read Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers around 20 years ago and I've been a huge fan ever since. Loved this video.
Explaining so much in such a short period of time is an incredible expression of human altruism or love! Wow!
Wonderful, thank you, Dr. Sapolsky
Thank you again, Dr. Saplosky, you are a genius among many.
🙏❤️🌎🌿🕊🎵🎶🎵
I love it even more, that this genius is so appreciated
I mastered this in mid 80s
And you can as well.
Well not really most people are too far gone.
They are easily identified and avoided.
Everything flows from your mental health, nurture and protect it as though your life depended on it cuz it sure as hell does!
You sound pretty ego driven though.
What about the contrast between the Default Mode Network and the Task Positige Network. They seem to be in Part 3 in the description given above. For most people the DMN is default mode (hence the name) of perception and response, while the mind shifts into the TPN unconsciously depending on the focus of attention and action. But training (meditation) can allow the person to select greater involvement of the TPN to guide attention and action.
In my darker moments I judge the world for ignorance, but essentially it is a form of guiding the mind away from certain problems in order to survive, that all of us engage in, sometimes without knowing it.
Very informative and perspective shifting!
As for the last part: he coul call it meditation. People call it praying, yoga or positive thinking as well.
So true!
Consciously focusing your attention on something positive, exciting or relaxing just before you go to bed and when you wake up in the morning is really helpful.
He's the beast in explaining and storytelling 🎉
Every time I listen to him my brain gets excited evidently I’ve been doing biofeedback for a couple decades now I just didn’t know that’s what it was called God bless everybody happy Fourth of July
You have many areas in the brain with specialized functions. The three brain perspective is just one perspective, only a partial truth (since any object has many partial truths from different perspectives). The question is, how useful is your partial perspective, which depends on what you are doing.
Those “many areas” are specific to certain functions, eyes, ears etc. Robert is talking of how our mental/ emotional/ autonomic systems and how they interrelated, and control your behaviour, dispute having the largest neocortex of species
It's like a calming rap.
Gifted narrator.
Would love to hear his thoughts on using breath as a communication channel between layer 1 and 3. Conscious means to influence the reptile
Going by your excellent advice, it looks to me that hypnosis sessions to achieve, say weight loss or learning the piano easier and in less time spent is a big win win. Your book Determined is also a very thought provoking read. I wonder that you do not put that all to a video format. In general folks seem to lack social science guiding them in early and later educational years. Professor Sapolsky saves the world.
the man is ahead of his time. although old, his courses from Stanford and " the great courses" are life changing.
Each time I listen to him, my hope for humanity goes up ...!
I'm more positive.
Ahead of his time? This model of the brain was obsolete years ago. He's far behind.
@@neildutoit5177 obviously you know nothing about him or read any of his books..take care.
How is he ahead oh his time? We’ve always had brains and people attempting to explain them. He’s quite brilliant though.
Wow! Robert really did a great job on explaining the brain(s) and its dynamics.
Thanks for spending the time to create and share this content awareness/perspective
Is there a longer video on the same subject with the same guy?
I admire your creativity and the unique perspective you bring to your videos🌟🌟
Cheers. I needed that: to think about listening to a schematic talk on thinking about what motivates me; Three talks to two who talks to one.
Thanks Odin, I'll do my best to use this information practically to improve my life 🥰
If you like this, I urge you to seek out his classroom lectures here on yt -- great stuff!
I'm reminded of therapies, or potential ones, for folks with PTSD. How can we out-think the trauma we've through? How can we get our limbic systems past those ingrain associations? Please correct me if I'm not on the right track -
Am also reminded of Bernie Siegel's work to help cancer patients heal -
Seems he's been able to help people reach past the surface with regard to these systems.
Thank you for sharing.
Very well explained.
Thanks
Thanks for watching, we're glad you're here!
The great Robert Sapolsky!
I've been waiting for this kind of explanation of how the brain communicates my entire life! I wish our educational system would teach this as it's most basic level starting in elementary school. It makes sense why meditation works, and how athletes and soldiers overcome their physical and mental obstacles when they are deemed, 'in the zone', and how some people have survived seemingly insurmountable circumstances. I feel like I just had the entire history of humanity's behavior summed up in an a matter of minutes.
Freud talked about the diff parts of the brain, Timothy Leary talked about the diff parts of the brain, Jung also. He just adds to it.
I do this for chronic pain all the time!!
you make everything so logical, it really helps me to parse my emotional life, which right now is overwhelming me. (i think it matters , i’m 78 :) 🌷🌱
Robert ! Professor !! Nice . Great user manual for the / my brain(s) . I am really enjoying the increased awareness of and fascination with the stuff in my scull .
Just one question please:
¿ what was your favorite Talmudic tractate when you were growing up , or now ? Just curious, plus I would love to learn / chavrusa with you holy dude !
Thanks
What a pleasure to stumble upon a video by this amazing mind.
Thank you Dr. Sapolsky for this info. But what I would like to understand is whether or not our subconscious mind and its thought generation are totally controlled by the limbic area. For instance, when people attempt to meditate we observe "mind chatter". Unwanted thoughts that annoyingly get injected over and over again into our consciousness and temporarily interrupt our focus. Such thoughts seem to be emanating from our subconscious, but are they actually originating in our conscious mind? But the real bottom line question here is, "What is the most efficient method for stopping them?"
Gurdjieff covered this idea back in 1900ish. Been a while since I read Ouspendsky’s “In Search” but I think he outlines it in that book. So the ancients knew about this far back in millennia. 🤷♀️🙏
😍❤️ The most kind man to explain madly complected things so,
that even such a 'paramecium' like me can understand something! /🙏🏻👍🏻❤✌🏻
Yes. We can learn and practice self-regulation skills to improve health and happiness. No drugs or equipment necessary.
So for those afflicted with PTSD, the limbic layer is influence the lower layer and upper layers? Is trauma merely a memory that needs to be reevaluated in a way that is 'healthy' for the individual?
Real Trauma is locked behind a DREAD of neurons, that the cortex will only show you when the cortex believes your imagined self is ready
that the thought process is a REAL as it can get to deal with the coming reality
In other words complete disassociation with the words whirling around Muruguns finger
And you are like Kumar
:)
He was the best in very bad trip, didn't know he was that smart. Very interesting.
Love the way this has been simplified
The Tao does as well.
@ 6:32
OK but if you have serious damage to your peripheral blood vessels, some kind of chronic sodium imbalance, or some other kind of disease that's caused damage to your blood vessels or your autonomic nervous system's ability to regulate their diameter and tone, you can't just "think" your way out of hypertension. As far as I know, the approach he's describing would only work if the primary cause of hypertension is psychosomatic.
Very insightful, thank you
so is the decision to think about something to get a limbic response, is that a choice? or an inevitability?
We don’t use our brain; it uses us.
First there is a mountain then there is not, then there is
Why create the division? Did you or your brain create that hierarchy?
8f u have a healthy liver u have self control , its the largest organ it matters its the seat of good health it filters everything u eat its not only the brain that thinks the liver is the planner .
The professor mentioned three functional layers of the brain, the same brain, NOT 3 BRAINS!.
It is perfectly acceptable to speak of the "3 Brains" schema. What we currently understand about the evolution of the brain, specifically the human brain, the hind, limbic, and forebrain are stratified and came about through evolutionary pressures that had no single end-goal in mind.
Its just meant s y m b o l i c !
@@jamaalrichardson4966 I'm not a doctor, but that would be like title a video: "learn to use your 4 hearts" (just because the human heart has four chambers), I just criticized the title of the video, of course my absolute high respects for the professor Robert Sapolsky.
this guy is a certified genius .... recipient of the macarthur genius grant for his work on neuroscience
Dr Robert, un humano excepcional en su campo, admirable
Good hair, good beard and good brain
Good comment! 😉
Frfr❤
Dear Robert, I have been following your lectures with pleasure for years and I find them very interesting, but I have a question. What is your diagnosis?
Great. So, there are theories like James-lange, Cannon-Bard and Schachter-singer which explain initiation of emotions through brain "one" (physiological response) to brain "three" (Cognitive response) but what are the theories explaining about the reverse...!
isn't he speaking about that in the second half? and isn't basically the whole predictive brain theory about that?
@@JustWojtek definitely he is, but why do we find very less about the Cognitive initiation of emotional experience..! What named theories are there to explain the same...
@@shrihari4788 my guess would be: time and westcentrism - seemingly for the longest time the bottom-up approach has been favoured and now it take a while for the field to "re-adjust". On the other hand most of the theories around emotions have been based on the western perception and philosophy of emotions. What do you think?
@@JustWojtek Indeed predominantly western perspective over emotions is one reason and the only recent development of cognitive science might be another I think...
Explains the Snickers TV commercials. Explains method acting and sense memory.
I'm surprised he doesn't mind referring to it as the Lizard Brain. I like to call it the Nematode Brain, since that's about the time we split off on the evolution arc, prior to the reptiles coming around. It just shows how confident he is with his knowledge, since he clearly sidesteps any of the issues of referring to it as literally a reptilian brain.
Curious how this translates to our brain vs. body. Does vais nerve play a role in later 1 only? How about microbiome?
Everything he says after 5:33 assumes we have some control, some free will..But recently Sapolsky came out with a new book that pretty much says we have no free will. How to reconcile the somewhat contradictory messages?
Sapolaky simply means the things that came before shaped our personalities. If you're here those things that shaped you make you willing to learn and accept the findings in these studies
I've wondered this myself as there are certain peoples that change- drug addicts, criminals and even just emotionally disturbed people. But we can make choices along our path. It's not out of character to choose life over demise which is sometimes the case with addicts. It comes down to which program is stronger. Do you choose to be arrogant, abusive or retaliatory? No. That program was initiated when you were born or even before. Epigenetics speaks to this.
So strong upheaval of the 3 brain systems can in fact cause a change, but is our executive system in charge there? No. Not really
This deciding to think about certain memories, images to modify lesser level systems, I was wondering how to do this geninely and on time etc, if I am totally determined, without free will? Your power of explanation is excellent and very helpful. It is wonderful to see in an academic because sometimes it doen't always follow.
Thank you very much. But I am not convinced of your interpretation about no free will at all. We make a decision about our experienced thoughts, the result of all this complexity at unseen layers. If a deeper "decision" is already indicated at neural level, is it not possible that it is the proposed projection for our consideration and conscious decsion? If we decide yes , it looks like the decision was made before, but do you have data that show NOT deciding "Yes" when the proposal is presented to our conscious free will decisions happen? I accept many things/influences are detrmined or not known by us conciously but I cannot see absolutley no power of decision at all. A real active effective decision is a point of free will. 🙏
Im just here for his hair routine. Those curls are moisturized and healthy ✌️✨
I'm not sure I caught how I can choose to use them differently other than the bio-feedback part. I'm currently reading his book "Determined" and find his views parallel mine. The book is giving me more details to support what I think is true about free-will.
This name is familiar. Did he write a book about animals? It was a book i read decades ago. off to Google now!
He is a professor at stanford.
I'm dealing with a pain condition caused by mind body syndrome. The Lizard brain is creating pain to distract from the emotions the limbic system is feeling. The Lizard brain sees the emotions as just as dangerous as a bear, but instead of hiding pain like it usually does when it aroused temporarily, it creates pain because the limbic is aroused chronically, thus the pain becomes a chronic response like a stuck open neurological valve. It becomes chronic and I have to unlearn it. Dr. John Sarno pioneered this theory.
I'm convinced that the lizard brain was created by actual reptilian extraterrestrials there are civilizations that have lived before us we were not the first ones on the planet I'm sure we our DNA manipulated
Oh my overflowing GOURD! Thankyou Robert, you have given me an understanding of yet another TRIAD to help dispel the tension and contention that DUALISTIC thinking causes! I've been stuck contemplating how communication between the AMYGDALA (the older, 'lower', impulsive brain region) and the CORTEX (the younger, 'higher', cognitive region) results in my perceptions and responses to life events. Now, I have the 'missing third', the LIMBIC system (the 'middle aged', neither 'high' nor 'low', instinctive) to factor into the equation, and a formula for a more balanced perspective on life.
the amygala is part of the limbic system though
Thanks Henk. I need to keep learning, obviously! Im trying to understand interactions between the "head, heart & hands", or mental, emotional, physical aspects of my being, and am missing something regarding the differences between sensation & perception ('feelings' & emotions), cognition & conception (intentional thinking & intuitive inspiration).
@@tonyarmstrong8291 Terence McKenna. Jung. Nietzsche. CTMU. Psilocybin. I am releasing information on such topics soon. Not sure why but UA-cam is trying to censor me. I have uploaded shorts about NS-TMT, what I believe may save humankind.
@@tonyarmstrong8291 Know this:
The Truth of the Matter lies where
Representative instants of categories
Functional variable categories
Proper accurate code/coding
Ranked causal value
All meet in the middle
I wonder what Robert thinks about hypnotherapy and helping change stuck thinking patterns?
google reveri by Dr. Spiegel
I love these videos.
Same!
I find it fascinating that we just came out of a couple of strong dieting decades and a lot of us were raised by starving parents who were cruel
Please, help me to understand, I thought this model of three brains was criticised a long time ago and cancelled as not correct one? Or something changed since then?.. so much confused!
Such a legend, thank you.
Not just the beard but the knowledge.
Fascinating.
thoughts interact with affect interact with behavior interact with motivational states, and not necessarily in that order
Outstanding Lecture!
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"You don’t have an inner lizard or an emotional beast-brain. There is no such thing as a limbic system dedicated to emotions. And your misnamed neocortex is not a new part; many other vertebrates grow the same neurons that, in some animals, organize into a cerebral cortex if key stages run for long enough. Anything you read or hear that proclaims the human neocortex, cerebral cortex, or prefrontal cortex to be the root of rationality, or says that the frontal lobe regulates so-called emotional brain areas to keep irrational behavior in check, is simply outdated or woefully incomplete. The triune brain idea and its epic battle between emotion, instinct, and rationality is a modern myth."
Excerpt From
Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain
Lisa Feldman Barrett
Look here, somebody needs to figure this out cause I just saw another video uploaded 3 days ago from Big Think , she says no the brain isn't made up of 3 systems, that that is the old thinking, that it's ridiculous. I wanna know what's really how it is..
Do you remember the name of that person? Or do you have a link to that video?
What would the layer 4 progress?
To me in the blockchain of events of us humans, that has internal (other layers) and external validators (friends, mentors, psichologists,etc) there is a layer 4 that goes over space time when we are able to understand each other in the present moment thanks of experience from the past, which make us look into a brighter future. It’s like a forth dimension that unites us. Like doors between kids rooms in monsters SA would.
i really really love this!
As a 2 brainer, I highly appreciate the information given by this 4 brainer gentleman.
Perhaps more appropriate to state that we have 3 'levels' of brain, as opposed to 3 brains? Technicalities aside, loved the insights! 🧠
What do you think "une" in "triune" brain means?
Where is this footage from?
Fantastic advice. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
I would love to have a better understanding about this, included with the two brain half's and the systems 1 and 2 out of psychology :3
Guess I'm into training myself in that way for quite some time..
So insightful stuff, thanks
Fascinating! Thanks!
Fantastic content, but haven't we seen this before? 🤔
Yes we did..
Yeah we've seen it
Probably from The Big Think
@The Answer Hub yes and some people may have missed it - like me lol
Absolutely genius! 👏
I wonder if this three brain scheme relates to our ability to conceive of time in terms of past, present and future. Reptilian thinking seems to be present mindedness. The emotional limbic brain seems to associate with memory and learning and therefore the past. The neocortex seems associated with the future, being able to think logically about outcomes and consequences.
Can you talk about Biocybernaut? Thanks
That’s not new, already was written many years ago!
but he can’t differentiate between consciousness type one and type two and the generating of both consciousness type one and personal identity (being awake).
to concise both limbic system and cortex are processed by self concept, which its location is the brainstem (always there in awake and sleep).
live in present with full awareness is a success