How your brain creates your emotions

Are you at the mercy of your emotions? Not so much. [Open in browser]( [TED]( This week on TED.com January 6, 2018 [Talk of the week]( [Lisa Feldman Barrett: You aren't at the mercy of your emotions -- your brain creates them]( 18:15 minutes · Filmed Dec 2017 · Posted Jan 2018 · TED@IBM Can you look at someone's face and know what they're feeling? Does everyone experience happiness, sadness and anxiety the same way? What are emotions anyway? For the past 25 years, psychology professor Lisa Feldman Barrett has mapped facial expressions, scanned brains and analyzed hundreds of physiology studies to understand what emotions really are. She shares the results of her exhaustive research -- and explains how we may have more control over our emotions than we think. [Watch now »]( [Playlist of the week]( [Secrets to understanding life]( From work and happiness, to love and success (and everything else in between), these talks offer insights on some of life's biggest secrets. 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What is wrong with my life? (Laughter) Your brain is searching to find an explanation for those sensations in your body that you experience as wretchedness. But those sensations might not be an indication that anything is wrong with your life. They might have a purely physical cause. Maybe you're tired. Maybe you didn't sleep enough. Maybe you're hungry. Maybe you're dehydrated. The next time that you feel intense distress, ask yourself: Could this have a purely physical cause?" [Lisa Feldman Barrett You aren't at the mercy of your emotions — your brain creates them]( [ted radio hour: solve for x]( Math intimidates a lot of us, but it can deliver surprising answers to life's pressing questions. In this episode, TED speakers discuss the elegant simplicity, and giddy complexity, of solving for X. Get TED Radio Hour [on Apple Podcasts]( or through the [TED App for Android](. 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