This week, we take a close look at the brain mechanisms of emotion and memory. With as many as 25% of adult women taking some form of antidepressants, emotional health has become a huge problem in the US - and around the world. On today’s episode, Lucas Rockwood and Joseph LeDoux talk about why our emotions are constantly being spun off balance, and what it is that we can do to get in better emotional health.

Joseph LeDoux is a professor and a member of the Center for Neural Science and Department of Psychology at NYU. His work is focused on the brain mechanisms of emotion and memory.

In addition to articles in scholarly journals, he is author of the books, The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life and Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a fellow of the New York Academy of Science, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science, and the recipient of the 2005 Fyssen International Prize in Cognitive Science.

In this Show, You'll learn:

• The amygdala’s role in our emotional life
• Fear, pain, and danger as motivators vs. positive goals
• How social media and the internet age affects our consciousness
• How the emotional landscape of animals differ from our own

Nutritional Tip of the Week:

Fresh and vibrant: the health benefits of wheatgrass!

Links & References from the Show:

http://www.cns.nyu.edu/home/ledoux

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