How Emotions Are Made - by Lisa Feldman Barrett (Paperback)

About the Book

Preeminent psychologist Lisa Barrett lays out how the brain constructs emotions in a way that could revolutionize psychology, health care, the legal system, and our understanding of the human mind.

Book Synopsis

Preeminent psychologist Lisa Barrett lays out how the brain constructs emotions in a way that could revolutionize psychology, health care, the legal system, and our understanding of the human mind.

"Fascinating . . . A thought-provoking journey into emotion science."--The Wall Street Journal

"A singular book, remarkable for the freshness of its ideas and the boldness and clarity with which they are presented."--Scientific American

"A brilliant and original book on the science of emotion, by the deepest thinker about this topic since Darwin."--Daniel Gilbert, best-selling author of Stumbling on Happiness

The science of emotion is in the midst of a revolution on par with the discovery of relativity in physics and natural selection in biology. Leading the charge is psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett, whose groundbreaking brain science research overturns the long-standing belief that emotions are automatic, universal, and hardwired in different brain regions. Instead, Barrett shows, we construct each instance of emotion through a unique interplay of brain, body, and culture.
A lucid report from the cutting edge of emotion science, this compelling work of popular psychology reveals the profound real-world consequences of this breakthrough for everything from neuroscience and medicine to the legal system and even national security, laying bare the immense implications of our latest and most intimate scientific revolution.

This paradigm-shifting book reveals:

• A New Theory of Emotion: Learn why emotions aren't reactions that are hardwired into your brain, but are instead constructed in the moment through a unique interplay of brain, body, and culture.
• Cutting-Edge Neuroscience: Go beyond long-standing beliefs with the psychologist and neuroscientist leading a revolution in emotion science comparable to the discovery of natural selection.
• Real-World Consequences: Understand the profound implications this breakthrough has for everything from health care and medicine to the legal system and our understanding of the human mind.
• The Mind and Brain Connection: Explore a lucid report from the forefront of psychology that changes not only what you know about emotions, but who you think you are.

Review Quotes

"Fascinating . . . a thought-provoking journey into emotion science." -- Wall Street Journal "I have never seen a book so devoted to understanding the nature of emotions . . . the book is down-to-earth and a delight to read. With a high level of knowledge and articulate style, Barrett delivers a prime example of modern prose in digestible chunks." --Seattle Book Review, five stars "Most of us make our way through the world without thinking a lot about what we bring to our encounters with it. Lisa Feldman Barrett does--and what she has to say about our perceptions and emotions is pretty mind-blowing." -- Elle "Prepare to have your brain twisted around as psychology professor Barrett takes it on a tour of itself . . . Her enthusiasm for her topic brightens every amazing fact and theory about where our emotions come from . . . each chapter is chockablock with startling insights . . . Barrett's figurative selfie of the brain is brilliant." -- Booklist, starred review "A well-argued, entertaining disputation of the prevailing view that emotion and reason are at odds . . . Highly informative, readable, and wide-ranging." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Barrett (psychology, Northeastern University) presents a new neuroscientific explanation of why people are more swayed by feelings than by facts. She offers an unintuitive theory that goes against not only the popular understanding but also that of traditional research: emotions don't arise; rather, we construct them on the fly. Furthermore, emotions are neither universal nor located in specific brain regions; they vary by culture and result from dynamic neuronal networks. These networks run nonstop simulations, making predictions and correcting them based on the environment rather than reacting to it. Tracing her own journey from the classical view of emotions, Barrett progressively builds her case, writing in a conversational tone and using down-to-earth metaphors, relegating the heaviest neuroscience to an appendix to keep the book accessible. Still, it is a lot to take in if one has not been exposed to these ideas before. Verdict: The theories of emotion and the human brain set forth here are revolutionary and have important implications. For readers interested in psychology and neuroscience as well as those involved in education and policy." -- Library Journal, starred review "How Emotions Are Made did what all great books do. It took a subject I thought I understood--and turned my understanding upside down." -- Malcolm Gladwell "This meticulous, well-researched, and deeply thought-out book reveals new insights about our emotions--what they are, where they come from, why we have them. For anyone who has struggled to reconcile brain and heart, this book will be a treasure; it explains the science without short-changing the humanism of its topic." -- Andrew Solomon, best-selling author of Far from the Tree and The Noonday Demon "A brilliant and original book on the science of emotion, by the deepest thinker about this topic since Darwin." -- Daniel Gilbert, best-selling author of Stumbling on Happiness "Ever wonder where your emotions come from? Lisa Barrett, a world expert in the psychology of emotion, has written the definitive field guide to feelings and the neuroscience behind them." -- Angela Duckworth, best-selling author of Grit "We all harbor an intuition about emotions: that the way you experience joy, fear or anger happens automatically and is pretty much the same in a Kalahari hunter-gatherer. In this excellent new book, Lisa Barrett draws on contemporary research to offer a radically different picture: that the experience of emotion is highly individualized, neurobiologically idiosyncratic, and inseparable from cognition. This is a provocative, accessible, important book." -- Robert Sapolsky, author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers and A Primate's Memoir "Everything you thought you knew about what you feel and why you feel it turns out to be stunningly wrong. Lisa Barrett illuminates the fascinating new science of our emotions, offering real-world examples of why it matters in realms as diverse as health, parenting, romantic relationships and national security." -- Peggy Orenstein, author of Girls & Sex "After reading How Emotions Are Made, I will never think about emotions the same way again. Lisa Barrett opens up a whole new terrain for fighting gender stereotypes and making better policy." -- Anne-Marie Slaughter, author of Unfinished Business "What if everything you thought you knew about lust, anger, grief, and joy was wrong? Lisa Barrett is one of the psychology's wisest and most creative scientists and her theory of constructed emotion is radical and fascinating. Through vivid examples and sharp, clear prose, How Emotions Are Made defends a bold new vision of the most central aspects of human nature." ?-- Paul Bloom, author of Against Empathy and How Pleasure Works "Lisa Barrett writes with great clarity about how your emotions are not merely about what you're born with, but also about how your brain pieces your feelings together, and how you can contribute to the process. She tells a compelling story." -- Joseph LeDoux, author of Anxious and Synaptic Self "How Emotions Are Made offers a grand new conception of emotions--what they are, where they come from, and (most importantly) what they aren't. Brain science is the art of the counterintuitive and Lisa Barrett has a remarkable capacity to make the counterintuitive comprehensible. This book will have you smacking your forehead wondering why it took so long to think this way about the brain." -- Stuart Firestein, author of Failure: Why Science Is So Successful and Ignorance: How It Drives Science

About the Author

LISA FELDMAN BARRETT, Ph.D., is a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University, with appointments at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in psychiatry and radiology. She received an NIH Director's Pioneer Award for her research on emotion in the brain.