413 ‒ The neuroscience of emotion: challenging conventional theories of emotion and much more
Peter Attia talks with neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett about why emotions are not hardwired, measurable brain circuits. She argues the brain predicts rather than reacts, and that managing emotion is a skill you can practice.
The gist
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Barrett says studies show Western adults scowl only about 35% of the time when angry, so faces and brain signals cannot reliably reveal emotions.
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Barrett says group averages hide meaningful variation, citing her own Hashimoto's, where low-dose levothyroxine she found on PubMed stopped and partly reversed the damage.
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Barrett argues the brain's main job is running the body's energy budget, and that it predicts incoming signals from memory rather than reacting to them.
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Attia uses the DBT technique opposite action, playing with his kids instead of isolating when upset, and Barrett says movement comes before thoughts and feelings.
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Barrett says she practiced finding a daily moment of awe for a couple of months until she could call on it under stress.
"I found a series of studies which showed really clearly that if you give low doses of levothyroxine, which is a synthetic thyroid, you can arrest the progress... Not only did it arrest the disease, it actually reversed some of the damage... Now I'm on a low dose of levothyroxi..."
▶ Play at 28:59"I did something that I often do when I'm dealing with my own physicians. I went to PubMed and I just started to read about thyroid diseases."
▶ Play at 28:415 creators recommend it, including Cedric Roberge, Elizabeth Poynor, and Max Hodak.
See all on the PubMed page
Peter Attia uses it
"Let's use the DBT example of opposite action. This is one of my favorite personal techniques, right? When I am really upset, I 100% isolate... No, Peter, get up off this chair and go and play baseball with your son or go and play soccer. And it guarantees you're going to feel ..."
▶ Play at 1:39:42What they recommend · 3 picks
"I found a series of studies which showed really clearly that if you give low doses of levothyroxine, which is a synthetic thyroid, you can arrest the progress... Not only did it..."
"Let's use the DBT example of opposite action. This is one of my favorite personal techniques, right? When I am really upset, I 100% isolate... No, Peter, get up off this chair a..."
"I did something that I often do when I'm dealing with my own physicians. I went to PubMed and I just started to read about thyroid diseases."
Peter, Andrew, Mark and Rhonda agree on 35 things
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See what they all swear by Or pick your own peopleLisa Feldman Barrett
2 picks · guest
"I found a series of studies which showed really clearly that if you give low doses of levothyroxine, which is a synthetic thyroid, you can arrest the progress... Not only did it..."
"I did something that I often do when I'm dealing with my own physicians. I went to PubMed and I just started to read about thyroid diseases."
Peter Attia
1 pick · host
"Let's use the DBT example of opposite action. This is one of my favorite personal techniques, right? When I am really upset, I 100% isolate... No, Peter, get up off this chair a..."
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