Does the brain create emotions?
The answer is YES! Ground breaking research came from Candace Pert, Ph.D., who discovered that the creation of emotions is done by the neural networks that are ‘hardwired’ in the brain. This means certain ways of thinking that are or have become habitual. Based on these thoughts, the brain, specifically the Hypothalamus, produces a matching chemical (peptide) and sends this to the body so the body can experience the feeling of that specific thought, be it happiness, envy, delight, anger, pain, excitement, lack, etc. Now, the importance of this discovery is that our fixed thinking patterns keep creating the same chemicals and therefore we keep experiencing the same emotions. But maybe more importantly, the body that receives these chemicals has become addicted to them and any imbalance results in a bodily discomfort. Basically the body starts asking for certain chemicals to restore the imbalance when it occurs by sending a signal to the brain asking for more. This ‘asking for more’ resu