What Separates Us From the Lizards

The oldest reptilian brain is the survival brain. It controls our vital functions such as heart rate, breathing, body temperature and balance. It also controls our four major instincts: the four F’s: fight, flight, feed and...

Paul MacLean first proposed the idea of the “lizard brain” in 1957 theorizing that the human brain supposedly consists of three nested sections according to their evolutionary age. The survival brain, the emotional brain, and the thinking brain.

The oldest reptilian brain is the survival brain. It controls our vital functions such as heart rate, breathing, body temperature and balance. It also controls four major instincts: the four F’s: fight, flight, feed, and fornicate. 

Because the reptilian brain is designed to keep us alive, it allows us to react to a threat in an immediate and automatic way, without the rest of the brain processing information, thus gaining a split second that has allowing us to survive for millions of years. 

Check out the Neuro Nugget to learn more about the reptilian brain hard at work right under your nose!

 

 

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