The 3 Brains: The Triune Brain

The triune brain concept is that humans have three brains in one. It is arranged from back to front or bottom to top, similar to sedimentary rocks.

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The "triune brain" model goes back to the 60s because of the neuroscientist Paul MacLean who first introduced it.

The triune brain concept is that humans have three brains in one. It is arranged from back to front or bottom to top, similar to sedimentary rocks.

The 3 Brains

MacLean discovered that the most primitive brain— sometimes referred to as "reptilian" — the basal ganglia is at the back or the very bottom of the stack. In front of the reptilian brain is the limbic system. And at the very top is the most recently developed and advanced named the neocortex.

The basal ganglia are responsible for the most basic functions: eating enough food for survival, avoiding getting killed, and carrying on our species for survival.