#413 ‒ The neuroscience of emotion: challenging conventional theories of emotion, how the brain predicts and constructs our experiences, and gaining greater control over how we feel | Lisa Feldman Barrett, Ph.D.

Emotions are not hardwired, universal neurological states but rather constructed experiences emerging from the brain’s constant prediction of the body’s metabolic needs. The brain functions as a predictive system rather than a reactive one, utilizing past experiences to anticipate and regulate the body's energy requirements through allostasis. Scientific averages often obscure meaningful individual variation, which is the norm in emotional states. Because the brain relies on memory to construct reality, changing behavior and practicing new patterns of response can physically rewire the brain’s predictive models, providing individuals with greater agency over their emotional lives. Psychologist and neuroscientist Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett argues that since memories are reconstructions rather than static files, deliberate practice in meaning-making—such as cultivating awe—can help individuals manage distress and reduce suffering by altering how the brain predicts and interprets sensory signals.