EMOTIONS AND THE BRAIN: How we feel and why it matter?
- Marcela Emilia Silva do Valle Pereira Ma Emilia
- Jul 17
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 18
🧠 Emotions and the Brain: What Are We Feeling and Why?
Have you ever wondered why we cry with joy, tremble with fear, or feel “butterflies” in our stomach when facing something new? Emotions are part of our everyday life — and they have deep roots in our brain.
Understanding how we feel, why we feel it, and what to do about it isn’t just a curiosity: it’s a powerful tool for self-knowledge, well-being, and connection with others.
In this post, we’ll explore how the brain processes emotions, how they affect our body and behavior, and what science recommends to deal with them better.
🔍 1. Why Is It Important to Understand Our Emotions?
Emotions aren’t just “feelings” — they act as internal compasses, signaling what matters, what needs attention, and what is safe or threatening.
They are also neurobiological responses: reactions from the brain and body triggered by external stimuli (like danger) or internal ones (like a thought).
According to António Damásio, emotions and feelings are a way of communicating our mental states to others, but they also guide decision-making.
Understanding emotions helps us:
Make better decisions
Deal with conflicts
Improve empathy and mental health
❤️ 2. So, What Exactly Are Emotions?
Not every feeling is an emotion. There’s a key difference between:
Emotions: a broad term referring to physiological and neural factors that initiate, sustain, and direct behavior. They’re quick and instinctive — we can’t easily hide or resist them (e.g., fear, anger).
Feelings: conscious interpretations of these emotional states. They’re mental experiences that follow emotions and are felt throughout the body (e.g., chills, racing heart).
🔹 Basic emotions, as described by Paul Ekman, include:
Joy: when something brings satisfaction or well-being
Sadness: triggered by unpleasant or disappointing experiences
Fear: the union of dread and despair
Anger: a combination of attack and protection
Disgust: a reaction of rejection toward something repulsive
Surprise: a sudden response to the unexpected
Each has an adaptive function — for instance, fear prepares the body to respond to threats.
🔸 Complex emotions, like shame, love, jealousy, or pride, are socially constructed and involve more cognitive processing. They often stem from combinations or interactions of basic emotions and are heavily influenced by culture and personal experience. These emotions can also be harder to read in others because of this variability.
🧠 3. How the Brain Processes Emotions
Emotions emerge from an integrated system of brain structures:
Amygdala: evaluates threats and activates emotional responses — especially negative ones like fear and aggression (hence the “amygdala hijack,” explained below)
Hippocampus: links emotions to memory and also helps regulate reproductive behavior, satiety, hunger, sleep, temperature, and the autonomic nervous system
Prefrontal cortex: regulates emotions and decides how to respond. It is responsible for long-term planning, ethical and moral behavior, and emotional restraint
Limbic system: a group of structures that process emotions, rewards, and motivations — helping select the best behavior based on the situation and expected outcome
🔬 Practical example: In an anxiety attack, the amygdala “fires” an alarm response even without real danger. The prefrontal cortex tries to regulate this reaction but may be “overruled” by the emotional intensity — known as the amygdala hijack, where all neural activity gets redirected to the emotional trigger.
🧬 4. Emotions and the Body: The Neurobiology of Feeling
Emotions aren’t just felt in the brain — they’re felt in the body:
Racing heart (fear, anger)
Dry mouth, sweating, “butterflies” in the stomach
Digestive and hormonal changes
These responses involve the HPA axis (hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal), which controls stress regulation.
Additionally, the gut and heart have their own neurons, which also influence how we feel.
📌 Chronic emotional states affect:
Sleep quality
Immune function
Memory
Cardiovascular health
🌍 5. Emotions in Everyday Life
Our emotions shape:
Decisions (e.g., impulsive purchases vs. rational choices)
Relationships (empathy, trust, conflict resolution)
Productivity (motivation, focus)
Creativity (facilitated by emotional openness)
🔎 Example: Reacting with anger to a comment might spark conflict; responding with emotional awareness might preserve the dialogue.
🧘 6. Emotional Regulation: What Science Recommends
The good news is that we can learn to regulate emotions, based on neuroscience:
Mindfulness: activates the prefrontal cortex and reduces amygdala reactivity
🔗 Studies from Harvard
Deep breathing: stimulates the vagus nerve, reducing hyperarousal
Cognitive restructuring: changes how we interpret situations
Gradual exposure: facing fears safely to reduce their power
All of this is possible thanks to neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to adapt and rewire.
🔍 Experts Daniel Goleman and Peter Senge highlight three emotional challenges for children and teens in today’s world:
Attention: increasingly at risk due to technology, which competes with reality. This skill needs early training.
Compassion and kindness: in a disconnected, lonely digital world, fostering positive empathy is essential.
Systems thinking: understanding how economics, technology, and culture interact to make better decisions and shape the future.
Goleman also emphasizes the importance of life-cycle awareness — knowing the full cost of a product’s existence and its impact on the environment will be a key differentiator in the near future.
📚 7. Resources for Deeper Exploration
TED Talks:
The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage – Susan David
How Emotions Are Made – Lisa Feldman Barrett
Books:
How Emotions Are Made – Lisa Feldman Barrett
Emotional Intelligence – Daniel Goleman
Permission to Feel – Marc Brackett
✅ Conclusion
Emotions are not enemies — they are powerful allies when we understand them.
They shape how we live, relate, and make decisions. Knowing how the brain and body work together in emotional processes empowers us to live with more clarity, empathy, and intention.
Because feeling isn’t a flaw — it’s part of being human.
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