Lessons from Lisa Feldman Barrett

Lisa Feldman Barrett, a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University, is a leading neuroscientist whose groundbreaking research has revolutionized our understanding of emotions. Her work challenges the classical view of emotions as innate and universal, proposing instead the theory of constructed emotion. This theory suggests that emotions are not reactions to the world, but rather constructions of it, created by our brains in the moment.

Below is a compilation of insightful quotes and key learnings from her celebrated books, "How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain" and "Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain," as well as from various interviews and scientific papers. These selections offer a glimpse into her transformative ideas on the nature of the mind, the brain, and what it means to be human.

On the Nature of Emotions

"An emotion is your brain's creation of what your bodily sensations mean, in relation to what is going on around you in the world." [1][2]
"Emotions are not reactions to the world; they are your constructions of the world." [1][3]
"The classical view of emotion holds that we have many such emotion circuits in our brains, and each is said to cause a distinct set of changes, a fingerprint. ... But... no one has ever found a brain circuit for any single emotion."
"Emotions are not universal, biologically determined reactions; they are cultural inventions." [4]
"A mental event — such as fear — is not only created by one set of neurons. Instead, combinations of different neurons can create instances of fear. Many combinations of neurons can produce the same outcome." [2]
"The theory of constructed emotion, in contrast, tells a story that doesn't match your daily life – your brain invisibly constructs everything you experience, including emotions." [1]
"There is a vast spectrum of emotional states, and each one is unique to the individual and the context in which it emerges." [4]
"The concept of 'Emotion' itself is an invention of the seventeenth century." [1]
"Facial muscle movements do not reliably indicate when someone is angry, sad, or fearful; they don't form predictable fingerprints for each emotion." [5]
"The way you experience joy, fear or anger happens automatically and is pretty much the same as a Kalahari hunter-gatherer. In this excellent new book, Lisa Barrett draws on contemporary research to offer a radically different picture: that the experience of emotion is highly individualized, neurobiologically idiosyncratic, and inseparable from cognition." [6]

On the Brain and Prediction

"Your brain's most important job is not thinking; it's running a budget for your body." [7]
"Through prediction and correction, your brain continually creates and revises your mental model of the world. It's a huge, ongoing simulation that constructs everything you perceive while determining how you act." [1]
"Simulations are your brain's guess of what's happening in the world. In every waking moment, you're faced with ambiguous, noisy information. Your brain uses your past experiences to construct a hypothesis — the simulation — and compares it to the cacophony arriving from your senses." [2][3]
"What we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell are largely simulations of the world, not reactions to it." [2]
"Your brain is not more evolved than a rat brain or a lizard. brain. it's just differently evolved." [7]
"Your brain is not for thinking. Its main purpose is to run your body efficiently to help you survive and pass on your genes." [8][9]
"The brain does not have a fixed emotional blueprint; instead, it creates emotions in real time." [4]
"Your actions today become your brain's predictions for tomorrow, and those predictions automatically drive your future actions." [10]
"The human brain is a cultural artifact. We don't load culture into a virgin brain like software loading into a computer; rather, culture helps to wire the brain." [3][10]
"It takes more than one human brain to create a human mind." [1][10]

On Personal Responsibility and Control

"Human beings are not at the mercy of mythical emotion circuits buried deep within animalistic parts of our highly evolved brain: we are architects of our own experience." [1]
"We have more control over reality than we might think. We also have more responsibility for reality than we might realize." [1]
"You are an active constructor of your emotions. From sensory input and past experiences, your brain constructs meaning and prescribes action." [2]
"Sometimes we're responsible for things not because they're our fault, but because we're the only ones who can change them." [1][11]
"A superpower works best when you know you have it." [1]
"When emotions feel difficult to handle, move your body; it changes your predictions and therefore your experience. Also change your location or recategorize how you feel." [2]
"You can challenge the beliefs that you were swaddled in as a child. You can change your own niche." [10]
"If you want to gain mastery at perceiving other people's emotional experiences, you must let go of this essentialist assumption." [1]
"Deconstruct a negative feeling into its metaphysical sensations, rather than letting those sensations be a filter through which you view the world." [2]
"We are not slaves to our emotions; we are architects of our emotional experiences." [4]

"Just get a couple of people to agree that something is real and give it a name, and they create reality." [1][3]
"The best thing for your nervous system is another human." [1]
"Social reality is not just about words—it gets under your skin. If you perceive the same baked good as a decadent 'cupcake' or a healthful 'muffin,' research suggests that your body metabolizes it differently." [12]
"Our words allow us to enter each other's affective niches, even at extremely long distances." [3]
"The word 'smile' doesn't even exist in Latin or Ancient Greek. Smiling was an invention of the Middle Ages, and broad, toothy-mouthed smiles... became popular only in the eighteenth century as dentistry became more accessible and affordable." [10][12]
"Genes allow each generation to wire the brains of the next one, helping to create and perpetuate emotion concepts. Concepts are a biological reality that is wired into your brain by culture." [2]
"People raised in Russia are taught that light and dark blue are distinct colors with different names." [2]
"When you categorize something as 'Not About Me,' it exits your affective niche and has less impact on your body budget." [1]
"Being curious about your friend's experience is more important than being right." [10]
"But when you try, really try, to embody someone else's point of view, you can change your future predictions about the people who hold those different views." [1]

Key Learnings from Lisa Feldman Barrett's Work

Emotions are constructed, not triggered. Your brain actively constructs your emotional experiences in the moment based on sensory input, your past experiences, and your cultural context. [6][13]
The brain is a predictive organ. Rather than reacting to the world, your brain is constantly making predictions about what will happen next and then correcting those predictions based on sensory feedback. This predictive process is fundamental to how we experience everything, including emotions. [1][2]
You are an architect of your own experience. Because emotions are constructed, you have more agency in your emotional life than you might think. By changing your concepts, curating your experiences, and managing your body budget, you can influence the emotions you construct. [1][4]
The "lizard brain" is a myth. The idea of a triune brain with a primal, emotional part constantly at odds with a rational part is not supported by neuroscience. Your brain is a single, complex network. [8][14]
Emotional granularity is a skill. The ability to construct more precise and nuanced emotional experiences is linked to better emotional regulation and well-being. Expanding your emotional vocabulary can help you develop this skill. [15]
Your body budget is crucial. Your brain's primary job is to manage your body's energy resources (your "body budget"). When your body budget is out of balance, you are more likely to experience negative affect. [1][3]
Culture shapes your brain. The concepts you learn from your culture, including emotion concepts, are wired into your brain and influence how you perceive and experience the world. [3][10]
Facial expressions are not a universal language of emotion. The way people move their faces to express emotion varies across cultures and even within the same individual across different situations. [5][16]
Social connection is a biological necessity. Our nervous systems are regulated by our interactions with others. Positive social relationships are essential for maintaining a healthy body budget. [1]
Responsibility without blame. We are responsible for our actions and, to some extent, our emotions, not because we are to blame for how we were wired by our past, but because we are the only ones who can change our future predictions and behaviors. [1][10]

Learn more:

Lessons from Lisa Feldman Barrett

On the Nature of Emotions

On the Brain and Prediction

On Personal Responsibility and Control

Key Learnings from Lisa Feldman Barrett's Work

Written by Antoine Buteau

Lessons from Chris Bakke

Lessons from Michael Sandel

Lessons from Lisa Feldman Barrett

On the Nature of Emotions

On the Brain and Prediction

On Personal Responsibility and Control

On Social Reality and Culture

Key Learnings from Lisa Feldman Barrett's Work

Written by Antoine Buteau

Lessons from Chris Bakke

Lessons from Michael Sandel