3 in 1 - How Our Brain Works?

Do you love lizards, mice and monkeys? All right, wait for it...

I'm not a neuroscience expert but I'm fascinated about how our brain works and read a lot about it. Today I want to share the "Triune Brain" concept which was introduced in '60s and still helps a lot to explain why, what and how about what is going on inside our brains.

Take 1 liter of water and mix it with 160 grams of fat and 110 gr of protein. Add 15 grams of sugar and 10 grams of salt on top of it. Finally add the secret, magical unique sauce of the mother-nature….

Behold the human brain.. Probably the most amazing, most fascinating compound in the universe...

In many ways, the brain is considered the most complex of human organs. But complex does not necessarily means it is complicated to explain. 

According the Paul D. MacLean who developed the concept of the “Triune Brain” in his book “The Trinue Brain in Evolution” our brain structure can be divided into three layers. – the brain stem, the subcortical region and the cortex.

Each layer can be loosely associated with the reptile, mammal and primate/human phases of evolution, respectively. So, if you think about it, it’s almost as we are carrying a little lizard, a little mouse and a little monkey inside our brains.

Now, let’s have a deep dive on each layers and trying to understand how each layer functions.

The first and the most ancient layer is often termed the “reptilian brain,”

It does all the regulatory stuff, the routine work and it is responsible for “Survival and Maintenance”. Regulating the heartbeat, breathing, digesting and all other vital organs. The basic need of this layer is “Safety and Avoiding Harm”, when this need is met we feel PEACE and when not, we experience FEAR. Remember the famous fight or flight response?

Sitting on top of that is the limbic system. The emotional part of the brain.

This is the part having to do with fear, arousal, anxieties, sexual longings, all those sorts of things – very mammalian specialty.

In other words, this part is responsible for feelings and memory formation and core functions are emotions, learning and memory, reward and motivation. The basic need of this layer is "Satisfaction and approaching rewards". Think about your pet! When the need is met we feel CONTENTMENT and when not, we feel FRUSTRATION.

Then sitting on the top is the layer three, the cortex. Our primate/human part of the brain.

The cortex, most recently evolved part of the brain and more sophisticated than the other two layers thus researchers link this part of the brain to primate and human evolution. Just a note, the human cortex has roughly tripled in volume over the last three million years of evolution.

This part is responsible for higher mental functions. The core functions are regulating attention, feelings and desires, complex reasoning, abstract thoughts, imagination, language and empathy. The basic need of this part is “Connection” and “Attachment to Others”. When this need is met we feel LOVE and when not, we feel HEARTACHE.

This is in general how those three layers work and here comes the fascinating multi-directional interaction between all these layers. Layer 3 to 2, 2 to 1, 2 to 3 even 1 to 3!

2 to 1. You get on the stage for public speaking. You see lot of people looking at you and get nervous. that emotional state causes your limbic system to activate the reptilian brain and your heart beats faster. You sweat. You have a stress response but not because a regulatory change happened in your body but for an emotional reason.

2 to 3. When we’re under stress or when we’re in an emotionally aroused state, we can make stupid impulsive decisions that could seem brilliant at the time or something we would not normally do but can not understand how we did it. Yes emotions can easily beat complex reasoning!

3 to 2. You see the guy sacrificing his life for his lover and you burst into tears or a killer with a knife in hand coming directly to you and you are scared to the death. Well, it's just a movie and these are not real characters after all, however it’s your cortex that’s turning that abstract cognitive state into an emotional response. 

For 1 to 3, remarkable finding as per the article “"The Effect of Hunger and Satiety in the Judgment of Ethical Violations. When we’re hungry we make harsher moral judgments about people’s transgressions. We’re less charitable. We have the tendency to cheat more in economy related issues.

Did you hear about the advice to not to go to shopping when you are hungry? Oh yes, there is a lot of for reptilian part to do with the cortex.

Once we better understand how our brains work, we can also get better understanding other people, friends, families, peers, managers, etc. It is the key to have better performing teams, better relationships, happiness and success in business as well

I hope with this information, you will be able to better figure out the reasons of what is going on with your physical, emotional and cognitive state and find it beneficial in your pursuit of life.

I wish you all the best with the little lizard, little mouse and little monkey in your brains!