Do I eat it or does it eat me?

Do any of you remember during the 2006 World Cup final when Zinadine Zidane headbutts another player (I forgot who)? It was a bit much, don’t you think? I know Seth Macfarlane of Family Guy fame thought so. Point is, Zidane overreacted…and we humans seem to do that a lot, so what is the physiology behind it?

Daniel Goleman, in his 1996 book on Emotional Intelligence, coined the term “amygdala hijack” to refer to disproportionate emotional responses to a perceived [emotional] threat.

Let’s first discuss the facts:

• Biologically speaking, our emotions are there to make us “pay attention”.
• Our brains process sensory information in a very linear fashion: thalamus -> neocortex (where the thoughts happen) -> amygdala (where the emotions happen).
• When a potential threat is perceived, the brain bypasses the cortex (no thinking) and goes straight to the amygdala (where the emotional response is formed).
• This emotional response can overpower the brain in mere milliseconds.

And how to control it? Or, rather, why should you even try? Well, at best, a 5-second emotional outburst of anger makes you look like an idiot in front of your peers. At worst, it’ll cost you your job or your relationship. So much like you try to flex a muscle, work on improving your EI (emotional intelligence).

• Identify your triggers. Dr. Nadler, CEO of True North Leadership (a firm specialising in applying Emotional Intelligence in business) discusses the “5-second rule” in one of his articles. Wait 5 seconds. Ask yourself what set you off, ask yourself what emotion it made you feel, ask yourself what you want now, and figure out what you need to do to get it. There’s a slight difference between what set you off and what emotion it makes you feel. You may find that several different triggers will lead you to the exact same emotion, which then leads you to overreact.
• Identify their emotional state, then proceed with caution. The unknown is scary; so make it known. Studies showed that when participants viewed pictures of people expressing various emotions, they processed the information in entirely different parts of their brains once they identified the picture’s emotional state. Labeling = more cognitive control.

And finally, remember that more IQ = less EI and vice versa. When the amygdala (the heart of your brain) is filled with increased blood flow and oxygen, the prefrontal cortex (the brains of your brain) is less activated. What does this mean? You lose some IQ points when your amygdala is supercharged. This leads to a deficit in problem solving ability and rational thought. You can’t change that, and you wouldn’t want to because the amygdala is crucial for our fight-or-flight response, but you don’t want to be “that guy” wondering “what did I just do?” (Yes, Kanye West, I’m talking about you and your stupid move during the Music Video Awards…what the hell was wrong with you, man?)