What Happens To Our Brain When We Get Angry?

What happens to our brain when we get angry? Why are there people who deal so badly with anger and reveal their worst side? It seems that this emotional state is one of the hardest for us to understand and manage. What’s more, something that you undoubtedly know is that it is the one that leaves the most collateral effects, both at a relational level and in terms of psychological well-being.

We say the latter for a fairly common fact. There are those who, far from openly showing their anger and disagreements, internalize them. They do this in order to avoid direct confrontation and therefore reduce the intensity of their anger through strong self-control. However, this strategy also leaves consequences in the long run, because it is another way of ineffectively managing all that underlying accumulation of emotions.

The brain undergoes in these situations a whole series of changes that affect not only our mood and behavior. This biological spring, orchestrated by very specific neuronal structures, also has an imprint at the hormonal level. Our entire body tenses as an effect of cortisol, thus shaping a very striking physiological response pattern in some cases.

Thus, and although we almost always focus our attention on children when teaching them to handle their anger and tantrums much better, we forget something very specific. It is also difficult for adults to control these situations. Understanding that emotion is brewing at the brain level can help us get to know ourselves a little better.

This is what happens to our brain when we get angry

The Greek philosopher Epictetus said that suffering arises when we try to control what is uncontrollable or when we neglect what is within our reach. All these situations are also the origin of our anger and each of us channel these realities with less or more success. There will be those who will release their inner Hulk and there will be those who, as we have pointed out, are more temperate and diplomatic and choose to swallow their anger and frustration by pretending that nothing is wrong.

Be that as it may, one thing is obvious: we all know what it feels like when anger grips us. It is not pleasant, it is not easy to handle and, what is more striking, its effect can last for days, hours or in the most severe (and sad) cases a lifetime. It all depends, of course, on the trigger, on what has offended, hurt or upset us.

Now, something that most of us do not know is what happens to our brain when we get angry. The origin of everything we feel, think and experience underlies that universe and, therefore, it is interesting to understand it a little more. Let’s go deeper, therefore.

When the emotional brain takes over

When we get angry, the first thing that happens at the brain level is, at least, striking. Areas, such as the prefrontal cortex, that region related to executive functions, analytical, logical and reflective thinking, reduce their activity. That is to say, the moment the jab of anger arises, of that rage that burns when we get angry, all these functions become opaque.

It is the emotional center, located in the limbic system, that assumes much of the control. Furthermore, studies such as those carried out at the University of California by Dr. Thomas F. Denson point out something interesting.

It has been seen – through MRIs – that people who experience greater anger during anger show higher activity in the insula, hippocampus and amygdala area . However, behaviors such as behavioral adjustment and social cognition are reduced because the temporal cortex and the precuneus are less active.

The brain amygdala, the structure that regulates the anger response

The amygdala is that small, primitive structure that, when it senses a threat, prepares the rest of the brain to react. It does it mainly, unleashing an emotional response and for this, it tries to “turn off” areas such as the prefrontal cortex, preventing, for a moment, from being able to assess the situation objectively and calmly.

It also activates other areas such as the following:

• The locus coeruleus : an area that is responsible for sending more norepinephrine to the brain and thus achieving greater activation.
• The periaqueductal gray matter : this region activates two responses, the fight and also the one to remain paralyzed.
• The pituitary, responsible for secreting corticotropin, necessary to release cortisol in the blood, better known as the stress hormone.

conclusion

What happens to our brain when we get angry is very complex. We suffer, as it were, an emotional hijacking when we let our neurotransmitters orchestrate a whole series of processes with which to cloud our objectivity and capacity for reflection.

Something we must understand is that getting angry is far from negative; do it in the worst possible way yes. Plutarco said that anger is an intense emotion that arises when people suffer or perceive that an offense, an insult or an injury falls on them. Therefore, when faced with these types of situations, it is legitimate and logical to react and show our protest and outrage.

Now, we must do it with balance and assertiveness. That is the real key: whoever manages their anger well, who channels it and makes use of adequate communication and adequate respect, always ends up winning in health. It’s worth a try.