The Daily Circuit

How brain chemistry controls your emotions

9:20 AM, June 15, 2012

LISTEN

In "The Emotional Life of Your Brain," psychologist, psychiatrist and brain researcher Dr. Richard Davidson looks at how our brains emotionally respond to events in our lives. He and science writer Sharon Begley explain how your brain chemistry controls your emotions and, ultimately, your personality.

Davidson will join The Daily Circuit Friday to discuss his book and how we can better understand our emotions through brain science.

From the Chicago Tribune review:

Davidson argues that our response to such events -- and even to full-on tragedies, such as the death of a loved one -- is as much a part of our identity as our fingerprints.

"Each of us is a color-wheel combination of the resilience, outlook, social intuition, self-awareness, context and attention dimensions of emotional style," he writes in his new book, "The Emotional Life of Your Brain" (Hudson Street Press), "a unique blend that describes how you perceive the world and react to it, how you engage with others and how you navigate the obstacle course of life..."

"It's best to regard your emotional well-being as a skill that can be trained," he says. "In many ways, it's no different than learning to play the violin. If you practice, you'll get better."

VIDEO: Emotional Life of Your Brain

Join the conversation on Facebook.

comments powered by Disqus
Listen Now

MPR News Radio

Hourly Newscast

The Daily Circuit Blog

Politics & Government:

Three perspectives on bridging the marriage opinion gap

Now that Gov. Mark Dayton has signed the same-sex marriage bill into law, we asked the participants on this week’s Roundtable for advice on how to bridge gaps between Minnesotans who support same-sex marriage and those who oppose it. Jim Wallis, author of “On God’s Side,” thinks we are on the cusp of a nationwide Read more

Arts & Culture:

Temple Grandin helps explain the autistic brain and inspire those who have one

Kerri Miller offers a look inside the thoughts of an autism pioneer. Read more