How the Brain Works
Neuropsychology for Dummies.
A Complex System
The human brain is a complex organ, made up of around 100 billion interconnected neurons. To paint it with a broad brush, their job is recognizing stimuli. How they work in concert to do this is complicated and still not wholly understood. However, one way to explain the process is to follow neuroscientist Paul D. MacLean and break it down into three basic parts, the so-called triune brain: the brain stem, the limbic system, and the cortex. (Note: this model of the brain is no longer accepted as being scientifically accurate, but it still serves well as an introduction to neuropsychology.)
The Reptilian Brain
The brain stem is often regarded by neuroscientists as the simplest of the brain structures. Simple life forms, such as reptiles, have brains consisting almost completely of structures resembling the human brain stem, which extends down to the spinal cord. Consequently, this is sometimes called the “reptilian brain”.
In all animals, it is this part of the brain that maintains basic life and motor functions, e.g. heart rate, breathing, sleeping, eating, etc.
The Emotional Brain
The limbic system is located in the central region of the human brain — just above the brainstem and below the cortex. Often referred to as the “emotional brain,” this grouping of brain structures is involved in regulating motivation, emotion, learning, and memory. Make note there: this is the seat of motivation. If you’re interested in how to motivate change — be it as part of a social movement or simply in order to get people to buy more — this is something you should study more.
The Logical Brain
The cortex, in particular the prefrontal cortex, is especially developed in humans. As such, it is implicated in planning complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision making, and moderating social behavior. In other words: attention and logic. That’s why it’s often referred to as the “logical brain.” Important to note in that list is the word “expression” — it is in the prefrontal cortex that the structures associated with communication, e.g. language (speaking, reading, comprehension) are to be found.
Beyond communication, the prefrontal cortex is also implicated in giving us our sense of self:
There’s a region of the brain called “medial prefrontal cortex” that essentially sits between your eyes. This region has been shown again and again to be activated the more a person is reflecting on themselves. It is the region that most clearly and unambiguously is associated with “self-processing.” If you think about your favorite flavor of ice-cream, precious personal memories, or consider aspects of your personality (e.g. Are you generous? Are you messy?) you are likely to recruit this brain region.
This is an important observation for any organization wanting to motivate others to do something. That’s because imposing on people to change who they are or how they act has the potential to invoke in them an acute stress response. Why is this? Follow the energy cycle.
Energy Consumption
The brain is a “selfish” organ in that it strives to reserve as much energy as possible. Within the brain, the prefrontal cortex requires far more energy than the limbic system and the brain stem. It’s difficult — even impossible — to engage both systems at the same time.
Evolution has designed us to conserve energy. Survival has often meant having energy reserves to overcome some difficulty in the environment. Today, we have inherited bodies that maintain this habit.
Under normal circumstances, a person makes decisions first based on emotion, and only then do they rationalize their decision with logic. That is, when confronting new information, people tend to revert to activities associated with the limbic system, and only occasionally engage their prefrontal cortex. We’ve all experienced this: just think about the last time you argued with someone who you thought was being illogical. Why were they acting that way? Simply put, it’s more energy efficient to do so.
That explains how people form opinions from direct observation. When it comes to indirect observation, e.g. someone telling you something — as happens in a classroom or from reading a book, etc. — the process works in reverse. That is, words are perceived first in the prefrontal cortex then passed down to the limbic system. If the listener is tired (i.e., wants to conserve energy), they will be less willing to activate the areas of their brain needed for comprehending what we’re trying to tell them. As a result, our message will never get past the listener’s prefrontal cortex and into the limbic system. Instead, their limbic system might activate to signal annoyance, and the listener’s motivation works against us. This is potentially a huge problem.
So What?
Why is it such a huge problem?
Because, later, after they’ve managed to calm down, they’ll activate their prefrontal cortex to justify their annoyance. That will result in an ingrained opinion that we — the messenger — are annoying. From now on, the listener no longer has to engage their “logical brain” to decide whether or not to listen to us; any future attempts will create stress for them — just like Pavlov’s dogs. As a result, we will be met with an immediate fight-or-flight reaction — an involuntary engagement of the “reptilian brain”: our intended audience will either avoid us or lash out at us. What they won’t do is listen to us. Not good if we’re trying to get someone to change. In effect, we’ve just shot ourselves in the foot.
Now, where this has already happened, we bear the cost of creating new experiences that engage the listener in a new decision-making experiment. That is, something challenges the listener to consider us in a new way, thereby opening up the pathway to the prefrontal cortex anew.
On the other hand, where our audience is not yet aware of us, it behooves us to get started on the right foot. Right?
But how?
Now What?
An effective way at getting past the logical brain and into the emotional brain is narrative.
Doing narrative right is part message, part timing, and part presentation. But while these are all necessary, they are not sufficient. What else do you need? Relevance.
Relevance has even more power than either timing or presentation to soften the most reticent mind. But how can you even start to build relevance with an audience who knows nothing about you? I’ll be writing future posts that delve into this. For now, consider reading the next article in my series, “What Narrative Is (and What It Isn’t).”
For this, timing and presentation of the message is important. But while these are necessary, they are not sufficient. Relevance has even more power than either timing or presentation to soften the most reticent mind.
But where does relevance come from? Here’s a good place to start: “The Power of Narrative: Why POV Stories Work (and Why You Should Care).”
