How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain

Lisa Feldman Barrett (Handbook of Emotions) is a psychologist, neuroscientist and the director of the Interdisciplinary Affective Science Laboratory at Northeastern University. In How Emotions Are Made, she explains a new theory of emotion that may be counterintuitive for many people but has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of almost every aspect of life.

Most of us probably take for granted what Barrett calls "the classical view of emotion"--emotions as universal, irrational, reflexive responses to our experiences. However, she says, if scientists ignore the classical view and look only at the data, they find that emotions are not hardwired, or universal, or triggered by external events: "You are not a passive receiver of sensory input, but an active constructor of your emotions. From sensory input and past experience, your brain constructs meaning and prescribes action." We create our emotional realities, which means we also have the power to change them intentionally.

This is a well-structured, enjoyable book, written in a conversational style and augmented by four appendixes, thorough notes, an extensive bibliography and links to more information online. Barrett summarizes the history of emotional science and the current state of the field, and explains how biology and culture work together to form the concepts that create our emotions. She also describes how this new understanding of emotion may be practically applied to balance our emotional health, rewire our emotional responses and transform our approaches to social issues, health care, other species and law enforcement. --Sara Catterall

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