Are facial expressions universal indicators of emotion across cultures?

No, extensive research, including a consensus paper involving Dr. Feldman Barrett, shows no evidence for universal facial expressions of emotion. Facial movements are highly variable, and their interpretation is heavily influenced by context and culture. For example, a Western 'fear face' can be a 'war face' in Melanesian culture.

Can consciously changing my facial expression or body posture change my emotional state?

While movements provide feedback to the brain, the idea that simply smiling makes you happy or a 'power pose' directly changes hormones is an oversimplification. The brain interprets all signals in context; facial movements are rarely simple expressions of internal states but rather part of a larger, evolving ensemble of signals and learned patterns.

How good are we at truly understanding and labeling our own emotions?

Dr. Barrett suggests that we often aren't very good at knowing how we or others truly feel. Language, especially a single language like English, is insufficient to capture the complexity of internal states. We tend to use broad emotional categories (like 'sad' or 'angry') that may not accurately reflect the nuanced, high-dimensional neural processes occurring.

How does the brain construct emotional experiences, and is it a stimulus-driven process?

The brain is not just a stimulus-driven organ; it's a 'guessing machine' constantly trying to predict the causes of sensory signals from the body. It constructs categories from past experiences to create motor plans (including internal body regulations) and predicted sensations. Emotions emerge from the stories the brain tells about what these sensory signals mean, rather than existing as pre-defined states to be labeled.

What is 'emotional granularity' and how can it be used to better understand emotions?

Emotional granularity refers to the precision with which the brain constructs emotional categories. Using more fine-grained words or concepts allows the brain to create more specific 'recipes for action.' By shifting attention and learning new concepts (e.g., 'ligot' or 'gussunluk' from other cultures), one can increase the dimensionality and adaptive utility of their emotional experiences, moving beyond broad bins like 'bad'.

Should one 'feel their feelings' or use 'top-down control' to manage them?

Flexibility is key. Sometimes it's wise to 'feel' discomfort because it provides instructive prediction error for learning and adapting. Other times, shifting attention or taking action (like exercising) to change the body's physical state can be more productive. The goal is to determine when discomfort is useful information versus when it's just a sign of physical imbalance.

What is 'affect' and how does it relate to emotions and the 'body budget'?

Affect is a low-dimensional summary of the body's internal state, a general barometer of pleasantness/unpleasantness and arousal/calmness. Dr. Barrett uses the metaphor of a 'body budget' for glucose, oxygen, etc. Affect reflects whether your body budget is in surplus or deficit. Emotions are the stories your brain tells about the causes of these affective feelings when they become intense.

What is 'emotional flu' and how does it relate to physical well-being?

'Emotional flu' is a concept coined by Dr. Barrett's daughter to describe days when one feels depleted, fatigued, or distressed due to a 'bad body budgeting day' (e.g., lack of sleep, unmanaged stress, metabolic issues). Instead of labeling this as an emotion like anxiety, recognizing it as a physical state allows for addressing the root cause, like sleep or nutrition.

What are the most impactful actionable steps for improving mood and emotional states?

Prioritizing good sleep, healthy eating (real food, especially protein), and regular exercise are foundational. Additionally, social connection is paramount; human nervous systems regulate each other, so cultivating trusting relationships acts as a 'savings' for the body budget, freeing up resources for other challenges.

How do SSRIs and drugs of abuse relate to the 'body budget' concept?

Both drugs of abuse and SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) can 'juice the system,' providing a temporary boost in energy or mood by altering neurochemistry. However, they can also tax the body budget, leading to future depletion. For SSRIs, there's an emerging theory that long-term use might deplete neural systems for enhanced mood, leading to treatment resistance, especially if underlying metabolic issues aren't addressed.

Key Moments

How to Understand Emotions | Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett

Andrew Huberman

Science & Technology3 min read160 min video

Oct 16, 2023|2,224,867 views|26,131|2,005

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Key Moments

TL;DR

Emotions are not fixed states but dynamic brain-body processes shaped by context and prediction.

Key Insights

Emotions are not discrete, universal states with specific physiological markers; they are constructed by the brain based on internal predictions and bodily signals.

Facial expressions are not universal indicators of emotion but are culturally and situationally variable movements that require contextual interpretation.

Language is insufficient to fully capture the complexity of emotional experience; other cultures have words for emotional states not covered in English.

Affect is a broad, low-dimensional summary of the body's metabolic state, a 'barometer' of well-being, distinct from specific emotions.

Emotions are the brain's narrative or 'story' about what caused affect and what action to take, not simply a label applied to a feeling.

Effective emotional regulation involves understanding and working with these dynamic processes, not just trying to suppress or amplify feelings, and requires flexibility.

THE CONSTRUCTED NATURE OF EMOTIONS

Emotions are not pre-programmed, distinct states with universal physiological signatures. Instead, they are actively constructed by the brain in real-time. The brain constantly predicts and interprets incoming sensory signals from the body and environment, weaving them into a coherent experience. This perspective challenges the traditional view of discrete emotions like fear or anger having fixed biological markers, arguing that these states are highly variable and context-dependent.

THE MYTH OF UNIVERSAL FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

The idea that specific facial configurations universally signal particular emotions is largely unsupported by scientific evidence. While facial muscles move, their meaning as 'expressions' is interpreted through context, culture, and individual experience. Research indicates that even common expressions like scowling occur in anger only about 35% of the time, and many such expressions are unrelated to emotion. Therefore, relying on facial cues alone to infer someone's emotional state is unreliable.

LANGUAGE AND EMOTIONAL GRACE

Language, while a powerful tool, is insufficient on its own to fully capture the nuanced spectrum of human emotional experience. English and other languages may lack specific terms for certain feeling states that are recognized in other cultures. This 'emotional granularity' suggests that the precision with which we can categorize our feelings influences how we experience and manage them. Words are powerful summaries, but the underlying experience is far richer and more complex.

AFFECT: THE BODY'S BAROMETER

Affect refers to a general, low-dimensional summary of the body's internal state—a 'body budget' barometer. It reflects the brain's estimation of the body's metabolic and physiological condition, signaling whether things are generally pleasant, unpleasant, calm, or activated. Affect is always present and is crucial for survival, but it's distinct from specific emotions, which are the brain's narrative or interpretation of the causes of that affect and the actions to take.

EMOTIONS AS ACTION PLANS

Emotions are constructed when the brain assigns meaning to affective states, creating a 'story' that serves as a recipe or plan for action. This involves predicting sensations and preparing the body for motor responses, both visceral (heart rate, breathing) and skeletal. What we 'feel' is intimately linked to these action preparations, not just a passive response to stimuli. Understanding emotions as action plans highlights the dynamic, embodied nature of our inner lives.

REGULATING EMOTIONS THROUGH FLEXIBILITY AND NUANCE

Effective emotional regulation is not about suppressing or amplifying feelings, but about cultivating flexibility and adding nuance to our experience. This can involve shifting attention to different bodily sensations, using language more precisely, or simply attending to the physical state that underlies affect. Strategies like good sleep, healthy nutrition, exercise, and positive social connections are foundational for maintaining a healthy body budget, which in turn supports more adaptive emotional processing.

Mentioned in This Episode

●Companies

●Organizations

●Books

●People Referenced

Common Questions

There is no universal agreement among scientists on the definition of emotion, even after 150 years. Dr. Barrett explains that 'emotions' are often described by coordinated physical and brain changes, and facial expressions, but these features are present in almost every moment of life and are not unique to emotion.

Topics

Facial Expressions Body Budget Social Connection Emotional Regulation Neuroscience & the Brain Mindset & Self-Improvement Predictive Processing Mental Well-being Mental Health & Psychology Relationships & Communication Affective Science Emotion Theory Cultural Neuroscience

Mentioned in this video

Organizations

Harvard Medical School

Academic institution where Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett holds appointments.

Association for Psychological Science

Organization that tasked a panel of senior scientists, including Dr. Barrett, to review literature on facial expressions of emotion in 2016.

New Zealand

Country where Dr. Barrett was giving talks and was met by her daughter, experiencing high uncertainty about traveling before the COVID-19 borders closed.

Massachusetts General Hospital

Hospital where Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett is the chief scientific officer of the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior.

Karolinska Institutet

Institute in Sweden where Dr. Barrett gave a keynote address, and her daughter experienced what they termed 'emotional flu'.

Northeastern University

Academic institution where Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett is a distinguished professor of psychology.

Center for Law, Brain and Behavior

Center where Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett serves as chief scientific officer.

Innocence Project

Organization that intervened in a death row case where a police officer's interpretation of a woman's emotions based on her facial comportment was used to justify her sentencing.

Concepts

Cortisol

A hormone often mislabeled as a 'stress hormone' but is secreted when the brain anticipates a significant metabolic outlay, playing a role in the body's energy management.

Serotonin

A neurotransmitter often mislabeled as a 'happiness chemical' but actually evolved as a metabolic regulator, influencing resource spending and energetics.

People

Andy Clark

A philosopher who writes about the predictive brain and describes everyday experience as a 'controlled hallucination.'

Lisa Feldman Barrett

Distinguished professor of psychology at Northeastern University and chief scientific officer of the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. A world expert in emotions.

Carl Deisseroth

Stanford bioengineer and psychiatrist, a previous guest on the Huberman Lab podcast, who suggested people don't truly know how others or even themselves feel.

Charles Darwin

Scientist whose views on universal facial expressions of emotion were assumed correct for a long time but are now being challenged by modern research.

Paul Ekman

A prominent psychologist known for his work on facial expressions and emotions, often associated with the idea of universal basic emotions.

Paul Conti

Psychiatrist who was a guest on Huberman Lab, where he discussed narcissism, emphasizing their deficit of pleasure and inability to provide 'savings' in social interactions.

Bessel van der Kolk

Author of 'The Body Keeps the Score,' whose explanations for why things work are deemed scientifically incorrect by Dr. Barrett, despite his important work.

Andrew Huberman

Host of the Huberman Lab podcast and professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.

Lex Fridman

Host of a podcast on which Dr. Barrett previously appeared, where she discussed reciprocal regulation of nervous systems in social interactions.

Ted Jones

Renowned neuroanatomist who made the poignant statement, 'A drug is a substance that when injected into an animal or a person produces a scientific paper,' highlighting potential pitfalls in scientific research.

Drugs & Medications

Oxycodone

Painkiller Dr. Barrett took for a short period after back surgery to manage pain, allowing her to stay mobile and engage with the healing process.

Tylenol

An over-the-counter painkiller that, along with Ibuprofen, is shown to reduce negative feelings.

SSRIs

Antidepressant medications discussed as potentially 'juicing' the system but eventually leading to metabolic adjustments and potential long-term depletion of mood-enhancing neural systems.

Books

The Body Keeps the Score

A book mentioned by Andrew Huberman, noting its catchy title but challenging its scientific oversimplification of trauma embodiment.

Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain

Another book by Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett that extends beyond emotions to broader aspects of the brain.

How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain

One of Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett's books that explains her scientific approach to emotions and the brain.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Journal where research showing that people scowl ~35% of the time when angry might be published, despite not being the dominant expression.

Locations

Stockholm

City in Sweden where Dr. Barrett and her daughter walked around discussing the 'emotional flu' experience.

Melanesia

Culture mentioned where the Western 'fear expression' of widened eyes and gasping is interpreted as a symbol of threat or aggression.

Sweden

Country where Dr. Barrett's daughter recovered from a depressive episode after addressing physical symptoms, leading to the concept of 'emotional flu'.

Companies

Eight Sleep

Sponsor of the podcast that makes smart mattress covers with cooling, heating, and sleep tracking capabilities, important for regulating body temperature for optimal sleep.

Levels

Sponsor of the podcast that provides a program using continuous glucose monitors to show how foods and behaviors affect blood glucose levels.

Supplements

Ibuprofen

An over-the-counter painkiller that, along with Tylenol, is shown to reduce negative feelings; also used by Dr. Barrett for her daughter's 'emotional flu'.