Topic
17 facts from 1 episode, in date order. These are what speakers said on the shows, each linked to the moment it was said. They aren't independently verified.
2016
In about 2016 the Association for Psychological Science asked Lisa Feldman Barrett and other senior scientists to write a consensus paper on facial expressions.
“So in 2016, I think the Association for Psychological Science, um, tasked me and some other senior scientists, uh, with a attempting to write a white paper, a consensus paper on what the literature actually shows.”
2020
Shortly before the COVID pandemic was officially announced, Barrett was in New Zealand giving talks and reinterpreted her arousal as uncertainty.
“right before co- the COVID pandemic was announced, officially, I was in New Zealand giving talks”
Undated
Meta-analyses of many studies, even in Western samples, find people scowl about 35% of the time when angry.
“Meta analyses, so statistical summaries of many, many, many studies, even in the West, show that people scowl about 35% of the time when they're angry, which is more than chance.”
Undated
The five-scientist panel met over Zoom for two and a half years before COVID and read over a thousand papers.
“we met over Zoom for two and a half years. This is pre-COVID, cause people were all over the world, right? And we a we read over a thousand papers.”
Undated
Barrett describes 'ligut' as an emotion word from a Polynesian headhunting culture meaning exuberant aggression in a group.
“it's a Polynesian, um, headhunting, um, uh, emotion word, and it means, um, exuberant aggression in a group, like soccer or h or headhunting, right?”
Undated
Barrett says she coined the phrase 'emotional granularity' almost thirty years before the interview.
“I coined that phrase almost thirty years ago, and now people study it like it's a phenomenon”
Undated
Barrett says that social stress within two hours of a meal makes the body metabolize it as if it were about 104 more calories.
“If you are stressed, socially stressed. Within 2 hours of eating a meal, that same meal will cost you a hun- the equivalent of 104 more calories.”
Undated
Barrett says that 104 extra calories per meal under stress would add up to about eleven pounds over a year.
“And so over the course of a year, that's eleven pounds.”
Undated
Barrett's twelve-year-old daughter was told by her karate sensei to 'get your butterflies flying in formation' before a black belt test.
“her sensei, who was a ten-stripe black belt, didn't say to her, don't be afraid. He said, Get your butterflies flying in formation.”
Undated
Barrett had major back surgery and chose to feel the pain after the first weeks to give her brain prediction-error signals.
“I had major back surgery a couple years ago and I know something about chronic pain.”
Undated
Barrett notes her husband can read her well because they have known each other for thirty years, as of the interview day.
“But he's, you know, brains are pattern learners, so I'm not saying that everything is random”
Undated
Barrett's daughter coined the concept of the 'emotional flu' after a trip to Sweden where Barrett took her to a keynote at the Karolinska Institute.
“my daughter came up with this, um, after we had this very interesting thing that happened to us on another trip.”
Undated
Barrett says research in creative and innovation work finds trust in one's team and managers is the best predictor of job performance after accounting for basics like sleep.
“the best predictor is the amount of trust that you have in your team and in your managers.”
Undated
Barrett defines affect as a low-dimensional summary of the body's state, a general barometer of pleasant or unpleasant and calm or worked up.
“Instead, the brain creates a low-dimensional summary, this gross kind of like barometer, which is feeling, affective feeling, we call it, or you could call it mood, but scientists call it affect, with an a.”
Undated
Barrett calls the brain's predictive regulation of the body allostasis, which she explains with a body-budget metaphor.
“the technical term is allostasis. But when I'm explaining this to the public, I use a metaphor”
Undated
Barrett cites a German word for the feeling that someone has a face that deserves a punch.
“There's a German word, which I can't remember the name of the word, but it's like, um, the experience of someone having a face that deserves a punch.”
Undated
Barrett cites a Turkish concept she describes as anger and sadness combined, felt when you lose something and are angry about it.
“There's a concept gusken look, which I probably just butchered, so if you speak Turkish, I'm sorry.”
Episodes