3 Brain Systems That Control Your Behavior: Reptilian, Limbic, Neo Cortex | Robert Sapolsky

3 Brain Systems That Control Your Behavior: Reptilian, Limbic, Neo Cortex
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You have three brains—the triune, the limbic, and the cortex—and they're all fighting for dominance as you go about your life. The so-called lizard brain (the triune) is perhaps the one we tend to think of as instinctual and gives us our basic instincts like, for example, staying alive or not touching fire. The limbic brain controls our emotions like fear and desire, while our cortex gives us the knowledge that makes us human. Basically, the three brains talk to one another and vie for rank in certain situations... it's sort of like Three's Company except with brain systems. For instance: you're reminded of something sad by your cortex and it triggers your limbic system, or you get cut off in traffic your lizard brain can trigger the cortex and the limbic. It is a pretty fascinating subject, and Robert Sapolsky waxes poetic about the three distinct "characters" that live up inside your head.

Robert Sapolsky's most recent book is Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROBERT M SAPOLSKY:

Robert M. Sapolsky holds degrees from Harvard and Rockefeller Universities and is currently a Professor of Biology and Neurology at Stanford University and a Research Associate with the Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya. His most recent book is Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcript:

ROBERT SAPOLSKY: What’s the best way to think about the brain? It’s insanely complicated. Everything connects to everything. A gazillion little subregions.

Amid all that complexity there’s a broadly sort of simplifying way to sort of think about aspects of brain function when it comes to behavior. And this was an idea put forth by this guy Paul MacLean, a grand poohbah on the field, conceptually of thinking of the brain as coming in three functional layers.
The triune brain—and again this is highly schematic—the brain really doesn’t come in three layers, but one could think of the first most, the bottom most, the most ancient as being what’s often termed the “reptilian brain,” where basically the parts in there, we’ve got the same wiring as in a lizard, as in any ancient creature. It’s been there forever—ancient, ancient wiring at the base of the brain, most inside. And what does that region do? All the regulatory stuff. Your body temperature changes, it senses it and causes you to sweat or shiver. It’s monitoring your blood glucose levels. It’s like releasing hormones that are essential to sort of everyday shop keeping. It’s just keeping regulatory stuff in balance.

Sitting on top of that is conceptually what could be termed the limbic system, the emotional part of the brain. And this is very much a mammalian specialty. Lizards are not well known for their emotional lives. Part of the brain having to do with fear, arousal, anxieties, sexual longings, all those sorts of things – very mammalian. You’re off there in the grasslands butting heads with somebody else with antlers, and its your limbic system that’s heavily involved in that.

Then sitting on the top is the layer three, the cortex. The cortex, spanking new, most recently evolved part of the brain. Everybody’s got a little bit of cortex but it’s not until you get to primates that you’ve got tons, and then apes, and then us. So functionally it’s very easy to think of this simplistic flow of commands. Layer two, the limbic system, can make layer one, the reptilian brain, activate. When is that? Your heart beats faster not because of a regulatory reptilian thing—Ooh, you’ve been caught in something painful but oh, an emotional state. You’re a wildebeest and they’re some scary menacing wildebeest threatening you and that emotional state causes your limbic system to activate the reptilian brain and your heart beats faster. You have a stress response. Not because a regulatory change happened in your body but for an emotional reason.

Then it’s very easy to think of, layered on top, this cortical area commanding your second layer, your limbic system to have an emotional response rather than something emotional: Here’s a threatening beast right in front of you. Something emotional. You see a movie that’s emotionally upsetting. See a movie. These are not real characters. They’re pixels and it’s your cortex that’s turning that abstract cognitive state into an emotional response.

[ClassicJukeboxBand]

When it comes to survival, this is my favorite quote about instinct: "There are no bad instincts. Only bad environments." Dan Sadler

[MicahBuzanMUSIC]

I love how calmly he articulates these concepts. A lot of speakers can be really forceful or overly excited about the points they're making. This is a breath of fresh air.

[Paretozen]

A few days ago I attended a large protest. Many thousands of people angry, shouting, being irrational. It was the most horrible thing to experience.
I distanced myself from the protesters. Put on noise cancelling headphones so I didn't hear the chanting anymore. And listened to a positive ancient book, the Dhammapada. In 10 minutes all the negativity and discomfort was gone. I was more at peace than ever before.
It are moments like that when you realize how much control you can have over your feelings by thinking the right things.
Since that moment I've been listening to & reading Sapolsky non stop.
May we have some calm control over that little which we actually have control over. Such that we can be better beings. Calm. In control. Just. Wise. Rational.

[lj]

Professor Sapolski, I accidentally came upon one of your early lectures a few years ago, and watched a little, then you had me laughing and learning so much that I watched everything you've given us. I love what you do and the way you teach and I'm so glad I get to listen to you some more. I'm delighted that you keep teaching through the years. Thank you.

[johnlockhart]

Thoughs, feelings, and instincts are the three fundamentals elements of Personality and is mirrored in the brain.

[luciano.a]

I really like this guy, clear explanations, interesting subjects

[vincentdillard]

wow every 6 months- a year from now watch this video and you will realize the information you miss and now gained!! very deep

[VapidVulpes]

this guy has literally changed my life, I wish his perspective on the brain and living and biology could be given to every single person in the world, it would solve so many problems lol!

[kellyallen]

Omg I love Dr. Sapolsky!
His lectures on human behavioral biology are so witty!!!
I hope any of my professors are as engaging.

[pranakhan]

Yes, inverse (from the reptilian brain to the cortex) can also be postural. Certain physical postures can have a state-change effect on higher-order cognitive functions. Especially when engaged with a strong visualization, which can create a coherence across the brain. Prompting a State Change.

[UltraGamma]

Gen 1: Need
Gen 2: Want
Gen 3: Logic

[hobowithagun]

I’m going to tell my kids this was Socrates

[jeffersonaraujoelcristiano]

When your neuroscientist is a rockstar... XD

[johnbush]

"humans, as civilized as Vulcans when well fed, as barbaric as Klingons when hungry" - some star trek paraphrase I thought of when he mentioned that people judge transgression be more harshley when hungry

[moe.x]

Absolutely true 1000% true
This video is For those males in their 30s and under still searching their purpose in life
Are Mature in numbers but still act and think like a teenager and yet wondering why their life is spiraling downwards...
Can't focus cause your always too distracted...
Can't handle responsibilities or confrontations...
not knowing where to start or who to ask ...
This video allows you to understand your judgements of the outside world....
And helps you understand why you make certain desitions when your body is addicted to certain chems.... ( Pills, weed, Coke, etc)
Very helpful thank you
Please watch it may save your life

[scottash]

My brain is feeling more enlightened unto itself after hearing this👍 Thanks

[laughterdeb]

Best part is "think about" . He could have used the word imagination. We imagine all day long dictating what our next experience will be. The brain gathers everything in its arsenal to make you get what you imagine. The cortext has a job of making you happy even if sadness is your happiness. Become aware of the following and witness for yourself. Continuous brain imaginations: The need to be right, important, serious, criticize, stand out, special, more..more, not enough, victim, perpetrator. These imaginations or thoughts are constantly going through our brains. Ninety-nine percent of people are completely run by their imaginations and have no clue they can witness, imagine the opposite at any given time thus changing the outcome of their experience. Often it is our self telling us to imagine the exact opposite which is what we truly want. It can be used as a guidance system until we understand the brain processes, environment and the human gift we were born with. I hope you're hearing.

[nlpchannel]

Triune Brain system has been revisited... now with Brain Cartography, and MRI's we can see the brain operates as a whole - and is not relegated to certain functions in certain areas of the brain, the brain is not hard wired to certain functionality, in fact it is plastic...and ever changing.

[alandunlap]

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face." -- Mike Tyson

[jamesrussell]

At age 62, I am still performing on a high level just as I did at 47, at 27, 17, and 7 years of age. I'm still excelling at whatever I do. Out performing people half my age, showing them better ways to do a task.
Imagine, waking up without any recollection of what took place yesterday, it could have been a terrible day, it a terrific day. And it isn't present today.
So what happens when yesterday never happened, last week, last month and so on? Without a past you will not know that you exist.
It is in this state that you live in the true state of being a human being. In essence you are living as all species lives in Earth. It is through this state that without trying, without thinking, situations provokes your brain to bring out whatever hidden ability you have to tend to that situation.
This is the Mushin state.