The Ultimate Body Language Book

Chapter 1 - Why The Study Of Body Language Is Important
How And Why The Body Reveals Emotions: The
Brain-Body Interplay
Many theories exist
about the human emotional brain. They range from more inward brain centered origins to more reflex
or environmental oriented origins. That is, one theory says that emotions come from the inside whereas
others say that emotions are created by reacting to what happens in the outside world. Which of the two
is correct? Where do our emotions actually come from? How do these related to our body language?
We cover these next.
Our amygdala is a part of the brain that has been shown to be the core structure of our emotions and it
is closely tied to our body function. The amygdala decodes the information received from our senses
and initiates adaptive behaviours through connections to the motor system (our body). Plenty of
research shows how this area of the brain is particularly adept at reading facial emotions and decoding
them. Other research has identified a structure called the “mirror neuron” found in the brain that
triggers a mirror response and causes us to imitate facial expressions. Mirror neurons work regardless
of our consciously awareness and in so doing induces us to imitate other people’s expressions. This
partially explains why we are negatively affected by people in our company whom persistently scowl
or frown. In the long term, negativity usually grates on us to the extent that we often feel a need to
actively address others who hold these positions, and if that address proves impossible, we resort to
isolating ourselves from them. We do so to protect ourselves from negative and destructive emotions
that can permeate our thoughts. Attitudes exempted, even facial expressions of the people we surround
ourselves with play a big role on how we tend to see the world. The contagion of negative emotions,
thoughts and body language is probably a large player in the recent success of the positive thinking
movement. Here, a reverse tact is used to “think” positive, and so be positive, and promises that
success and riches will follow.
The brain and body are closely linked and it is difficult to “untie” them from one another. Telling a lie
is difficult when holding honest gestures, such as palms exposed, and similarly, it is difficult to have a
negative attitude while dancing spryly. The actions the body performs tends to bleed through into the