Gator Brain

Posted on March 08, 2010 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

We all have a reptile living in our brain. And that reptile is an… Alligator!

You see, our most basic survival behaviors originate from our brainstem. This part of our brain is often called the “gator brain” because this part of the brain is similar to the ENTIRE brain of an alligator.

An alligator is driven by a set of very primitive instincts. To find food, defend their territory, protect themselves, and reproduce… When something new, or unfamiliar, approaches a gator, they tend to revert to one of these four primitive choices in terms of how they respond to what is confronting, or unknown to them: Kill it, eat it, run from it (or mate with it… we will ignore that for now).

So what does this mean for you and I?

When you and I are confronted with something new or unfamiliar, our brainstem will many times try to take over and make our conscious mind respond much like an alligator in the wild - to do whatever it takes to maintain our security, or protect us from making any type of uncomfortable change.

Fortunately, we have another section in our brain (not present in an alligator’s brain) called the neo-cortex, which has the ability to override the primitive instincts of our brainstem. This other part of the brain competes with our “gator brain”, drawing us to treat newness with curiosity and intrigue - encouraging us to defer judgment and look for the exciting possibilities that may exist in a new idea or circumstance.

So when we face a new or difficult situation, which part of our brain is going to win… our gator brain, or our innovative brain? We always have the power to choose our response. Innovative individuals (and teams) do not allow the instincts of the “gator within” to prevent them from seeing the possibilities that can be realized. Creative individuals (and teams) have re-habituated themselves - so that their first response to a new idea, or even an opposing force, is to look for a pathway that leads out of the swampy waters.