What happens when change happens in the brain? For most of us, change doesn't initially make us feel happy.
Are you confronted with a new or unexpected situation and don't react as calmly as you would like?
From a neuropsychological perspective, this is completely normal. Just as the sirens go off when pushing an alarm button, the alarm goes off in your head and you react mentally untrained in a “headless” way.
The signal from the alarm button goes directly to your reptile brain. The term “reptile brain” comes from Paul D. MacLean’s extremely simplified concept of the Triune Brain from the 60/70ies. Of course, our brain is much more complex than the following representation and some parts of its concept have been broadened today. This simplification of the parts that are still valid or even confirmed today should suffice for an initial basic understanding.
The reptile brain is our animal survival instinct and regulates, for example, the heartbeat or breathing. It answers the question “Am I sure?” If the answer is “No,” it reacts instinctively and automatically. It triggers escape, play dead or attack behavior in milliseconds. Seen this way, it is a good thing and has protected us from dangers since thousands of years. How would you react if you encountered a saber-toothed tiger, for example?
Nowadays there are no more saber-toothed tigers. But there are reorganizations that are poorly communicated. In a very rapidly changing world, there is also a lot of uncertainty. As soon as one change has been digested, the next one is just around the corner. It's not without reason that when we're afraid, we catch our breath or stand there paralyzed.
Behavioral patterns native to the reptilian brain are difficult, but not impossible, to change. Firefighters, emergency doctors or soldiers cannot simply play dead in dangerous situations, but have trained a helpful reaction.
How do these people manage to deal better with fear and all the other “hindering” feelings?
This is where what MacLean calls the “limbic system” and the neocortex come into play. He places the amygdala and the hippocampus into the limbic system. (Other researchers consider it part of the reptilian brain.) The limbic system constantly asks itself: “Am I happy?” It is the emotional heart of our brain. This is fed with the experiences and encounters in our lives, which are stored here as memories and learned behavioral patterns. This is also where most of the “self-produced” blockages and inner conflicts are located. These learned behavioral patterns can be replaced by the constant repetition of a new pattern and blockages can be released.
Our brain is an absolute supercomputer. It can even solve highly complex problems better than any AI. We have the prefrontal cortex to thank for this. Thanks to this we can, for example, speak or plan our future. External stimuli are also analyzed and filtered here.
In English it is called the TRIUNE brain. The three parts do not operate independently of one another, but are in constant exchange with one another. Since the 1960s we have gained many more insights from research. You can find more articles about this here: https://www.move-development.com/karriere-beruf-unternehmen-strategie-team-blog/categories/psychologie
In the meantime, psychologists have developed methods by which we can use these findings for our personal, team or even corporate development. These have different effects depending on the person, context and topic.
Let's look together at what could help you and feel free to contact me for an online meet & greet: https://de.move-development.com/
Finally, a short excursion into the animal world: Contrary to MacLean's assumptions, we now know that even the earliest mammals, birds and reptiles have brain regions similar to the neocortex. They have language and can often use tools.
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Picture: Unsplash Triune Brain
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