The Reptilian Brain And Rage

• Triggers create behavioural responses.
• Some triggers can take over your mind!
• Road rage is a reptilian brain behaviour.

Triggers Of The Reptilian Brain

In this article we are going to be briefly taking a look at how external triggers can generate internal behavioural responses.

This is an extremely important topic when it comes to understanding the brain and behaviour, as certain triggers can cause you to do things, or think in a certain way, without you even being consciously aware of it.

In case you don’t know what a trigger is, it is anything outside of you that changes your behaviour or thought pattern.

For example, a red light will cause you to stop your car, a green light will cause you to go.

Depending on the type of trigger you are exposed to, will determine the resulting behavioural response. Some triggers may cause reptilian brain responses, resulting in aggressive, territorial and domineering behaviour. 

Whilst other triggers may target the emotional brain, resulting in feelings of pleasure or pain and memories associated with those emotions.

Understanding the triggers you are exposed to, and their resulting effects, is therefore extremely important if you want to live a conscious life, where you consciously choose what to do and how to feel.

Without this understanding, the triggers you are exposed to will covertly influence your thoughts and your behaviour, giving you the false illusion that you are in control. In other words, they will cause you to live an unconscious life.

The use of triggers is widely used in the media and advertising, and something we shall touch upon in another article.

But for now, let’s start by introducing you to a pre-programmed reptilian brain behavioural response.

Road Rage

A good example of how an external trigger can result in an automatic pre-programmed reptilian behavioural response, is road rage.

Road rage is a term used to describe an outburst of moderate to extreme rage in response to another road users actions, and shows just how easily the reptilian brain can take over your conscious brain.

When another road user cuts in front of you, the reptilian brain considers this act a threat, and an invasion of your personal space.

Without even thinking about it, you react aggressively by swearing or beeping your horn, trying to re-establish your dominance over the other road user.

A thinking brain response would not have acted this way. Instead of being aggressive, it would have tried to think of an explanation as to why this person cut in front of you.

For example, maybe there was a pregnant woman in the car, and they were rushing to the hospital?

These types of questions involving logical deductive reasoning, are classic responses of the thinking brain. They allow you to understand why something may have happened, and then come up with possible explanations for it.

However, because road rage triggers a reptilian brain response it overpowers the thinking conscious brain, causing you to automatically react like an animal trying to defend its territory.

It is only after some time has passed and the “threat” (trigger) has disappeared, does the conscious thinking brain come back “online”, allowing you to logically analyse both your behaviour, and the behaviour of the other road user.

The important point to remember about unconscious brain responses (such as the reptilian or emotional brain) is that they are both automatic and irrational, often leading to decisions and actions you later regret.

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