You and Your Brain 4: Three Parts of Your Brain

Dear Friend,

Your brain’s most powerful catalyst for growth and change is its ability to interrupt old survival programming. This is called neuroplasticity, and it’s how your brain adapts and changes throughout life.

But what is old survival programming?

It’s the most primal part of our brain, responsible for immediate reactions to threats and instincts, such as the fight-or-flight response. However, it’s essential to balance this with higher cognitive functions.

It’s fascinating how our brain’s evolutionary history is reflected in its structure and functions.

• The brainstem, often associated with reptilian ancestors, focuses on survival.
• The limbic system, often called the “emotional brain,” evolved in mammals like foxes. It plays a key role in processing emotions, forming memories, and regulating behaviors such as feeding and reproduction. This system adds complexity to our responses, allowing for more nuanced reactions to stimuli.
• The neocortex, which evolved most prominently in primates like monkeys, is responsible for higher cognitive functions such as reasoning, language, and conscious thought. This part of the brain enables us to plan, problem-solve, and engage in abstract thinking, setting us apart from other animals.

Through practices like mindfulness, meditation, and other forms of mental training, we can indeed rewire our brains to respond more adaptively to the world around us.

The visual below is a good reminder that sometimes the most primal part of our brain, our “lizard brain”, is calling the shots and it’s up to us to change our mindset.