Steven Stosny

Most of us will turn on an electrical device—TV, radio, smartphone—when coming home to an empty house or apartment, but not necessarily because we’re lonely. Our brains have associated quiet in the home with an impulse to seek passive stimulation, lest we fall into stupor.

Almost everyone reacts automatically to the physiological signs and emotional displays of others

Our experience tells us that justified behavior is likely to be repeated.

judgment, calculation, and regulation of impulses and emotions. It appraises environmental cues and organizes information to reconcile those appraisals with internal experience—thoughts, sensations, emotions, and impulses—in a process known as reality-testing. It then decides on behavior consistent with learned preferences, prejudices, or deeper values.

The strongest internal signals to which the PFC must apply reality-testing are emotions. Consistent regulation of emotions requires continually: