The key idea of episode 209 is captured by the title of Luiz Pessoa’s new book, The Entangled Brain: How Perception, Cognition, and Emotion Are Woven Together.

If you are a regular listener, you may not find this idea surprising, but Pessoa reminds us that the mainstream view of brain function remains largely modular and reductionistic. In fact, these two ideas are entangled in their own way.

The evidence against this viewpoint began accumulating before I started this podcast back in 2006, and we have talked with many guests about this evidence.

One key discovery was the realization that individual neurons can participate in multiple networks, and that even areas of the brain largely devoted to particular activities such as sensory or motor functions can contain neurons that do other things.

Back when I first talked with Dr. Pessoa about his book, The Cognitive-Emotional Brain in 2014, I was surprised to learn that the amygdala is involved not just in emotion, but also, decision-making. But this actuallymakes sense if you consider the fact that animals without a cortex still have to make decisions such as when to approach and when to flee.

One outdated idea that just won't go away is the idea of the limbic system as the emotional system of the brain. Pessoa addressed this eloquently in The Entangled Brain, and he told me that he was actually reluctant to mention this in the book for fear of helping to perpetuate the problem.

The main reason that the idea of the limbic system is outdated is the very fact that emotion is not tightly segregated in the brain. Sure, the amygdala is involved as well as the anatomical locations that spawn the name, limbic system, but as we have emphasized emotion and cognition (think decision-making) are deeply entangled at every level of the brain.

Just try to remember that every part of the brain that is involved in emotion does other things as well. This is what it means to move from a modular reductionist view of brain function, to one that encompasses the emerging evidence.

One challenge that Pessoa emphasized was the need for new tools and techniques that allow us to study the true complexity and dynamic nature of brain function. These techniques are being developed in other fields, which highlights the interdisciplinary nature of modern neuroscience.

Pessoa emphasized that this also means that there are opportunities for those from a wide variety of fields to contribute to neuroscience. He also emphasized the importance of humility and admitting how much we still don't know.

The Entangled Brain: How Perception, Cognition, and Emotion Are Woven Together by Luiz Pessoa is his first book written for a general audience, but I highly recommend it to listeners of all backgrounds.

Best of all, this is a great book to share with someone who's just getting interested in how the brain works. If you are new to Brain Science, this book will give you an excellent overview.

Brain Science is an unusual podcast in that our listeners are very diverse, and my goal is to provide content that you can all enjoy. That's the reason why the technical level of the show varies from month to month.

If you want more technical details about Luiz Pessoa's work, be sure to go back to episode 207. Also, don't forget to visit brainsciencepodcast.com for complete show notes and episode transcripts. You can send me feedback at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com, and I would love to hear from you.