Neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux on Anxiety and Fear

Joseph LeDoux is the world’s foremost authority on the neurobiology of anxiety and fear. The author of Anxious: Using the Brain to Understand and Treat Fear and Anxiety (2015), visited the New York State Writers Institute in 2016.
After earning degrees at Louisiana State University, LeDoux received his Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he worked with pioneering cognitive neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga. He is Director of the Emotional Brain Institute at NYU and also serves as the Henry and Lucy Moses Professor of Science at NYU’s Center for Neural Science and Department of Psychology.
LeDoux’s previous books include The Integrated Mind (with Michael Gazzaniga, 1978), The Emotional Brain (1998), and The Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become What We Are (2002).
The son of a travelling rodeo bull rider, Joseph LeDoux was born and raised in the Cajun Prairie town of Eunice, Louisiana. Steeped in the “swamp pop” and Cajun musical traditions of his youth, LeDoux has also earned a measure of renown as cofounder, guitarist, and lyricist for the band, The Amygdaloids, which explores neuroscientific subjects through music. The band’s CD, Anxious, is a companion to his book. The band’s earlier CD, Theory of My Mind, features the vocal talents of Grammy winner Roseanne Cash.
For additional information, visit the Writers Institute online at www.albany.edu/writers-inst.

[@ImadZeryouh]

U should create a device that can catch fear when people face real danger. The problem is identifyng the real cause of fear. If we can single it out and capture it then law enforcement could act more appropiate with people who are in real pain. I think your research is from the future where our world is a space faring species who can analyze a planet to find people in distress.

[@sednasix6608]

So once you get the person to the party (SSRI) - how do you then treat that conscious fear once AT the party?

[@wrinkledsleeves]

People who are feeling conscious anxiety but their body's sensory-motor experience is calm and not detecting threat need to turn their attention toward the signals in their body. Then they need to use this body awareness as a basis of creating new meaning about what is happening. In other words, lead with the body and not mind. People who stay "in their heads" analytically but don't pay attention to what is being experienced in their body can still generate secondary anxiety by ruminating.

[@davidconroy6350]

His definition of anxiety : 03:32

[@anna90p]

Thank you!

[@dhizar]

AND?… how do you treat it?

[@eddiew2325]

Coke and weed

[@brians1902]

I am smart enough to know what he said is important but I don't fully understand.

[@maxpercer7119]

you dont "fully understand it" because he is saying nothing new

[@dillonhamilton3901]

He should be saying "subconscious", instead of "non-concious".

[@gurusik]

He mentions in his book that the term “subconscious” is highly associated with the psychoanalytical definition, so he prefers non conscious

[@KaylaDaMushroom]

This was definitely a conscious decision ^

[@psicologiajoseh]

@@gurusik Thanks.