How The Triune Brain Theory Can Improve Your Self-Awareness

The metaphor of the three brains

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

The metaphor of the three brains appeared when American physician and neuroscientist Paul D. MacLean came up with the concept of the Triune Brain in the 60s and brought it in the spotlight in his 90s book The Triune Brain in Evolution.

Still covered in many textbooks and course lectures in biological psychology, his theory states that you have three cortical structures that belong to very different evolutionary eras.

This model was associated with Freud’s tripartite view of the mind which includes the conflicting superego, ego, and id. The theory’s conceptual beauty and intuitive appeal gave it enormous staying power.

Let’s dive deeper into these three components:

Reptilian brain (old brain/lizard brain)

• This is the oldest cortical structure: it appeared in fish nearly 500 million years ago, continued to develop in amphibians, and reached its most advanced stage in reptiles roughly 250 million years ago
• Its main role is to control the body’s vital functions: heart rate, breathing, body temperature, balance, etc., basically to keep you alive and safe
• It routes the information up and down…