Daniel Goleman

"Drawing on groundbreaking brain and behavioral research, Goleman shows the factors at work when people of high IQ flounder and those of modest IQ do surprisingly well. These factors, which include self-awareness, self-discipline, and empathy, add up to a different way of being smart - and they aren't fixed at birth. Although shaped by childhood experience, emotional intelligence can be nurtured and strengthened throughout adulthood - with immediate benefits to our health, our relationships, and our work."--BOOK JACKET.

Emotional Intelligence

Veerendranath

Life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel. 

In the brain's architecture, the amygdala is poised something like an alarm company where operators stand ready to send out emergency calls to the fire department, police, and a neighbor whenever a home security system signals trouble.  

urgent messages to every major part of the brain

the secretion of the body's fight-or-flight hormones

, mobilizes the centers for movement, and activates the cardio-vascular system, the muscles, and the gut. Other circuits from the amygdala signal 

the secretion of emergency dollops of the hormone norepinephrine

 to heighten the reactivity of key brain areas, including those that make the senses more alert, in effect setting the brain on edge. Additional signals from the amygdala tell the brainstem to fix the face in a 

freeze unrelated movements the muscles had underway, speed heart rate and raise blood pressure, slow breathing

. Others rivet attention on the source of the fear, and prepare the muscles to react accordingly. 

cortical memory systems are shuffled to retrieve any knowledge relevant to the emergency at hand, taking precedence over other strands of thought

 (and related limbic structures) and the 

the hub of the battles or cooperative treaties struck between head and heart, thought and feeling

. This circuitry explains why emotion is so crucial to effective thought, both in making wise decisions and in simply allowing us to think clearly.

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