Name: This Is Your Brain and Body on Power
Uploaded: undefined
Duration: undefined

NOVA

Carlisle Companies

Viking

NOVA Science Trust Logo

Some people hunger for power, others are corrupted by it, and some are defined by it. But what does power do to our brains and bodies? Individuals with less power are more reliant on other people to meet their needs— so their brain pathways activate to help them understand the people they’re relying on. In contrast, those that feel powerful have a more adaptive way of handling stress.

Are you a Thanos, Voldemort, Frodo, or none of the above? Discover how power influences your body and brain.

Some people hunger for power, others are corrupted by it, and some are defined by it. But what does power do to our brains and bodies? Individuals with less power are more reliant on other people to meet their needs— so their brain pathways activate to help them understand the people they’re relying on. In contrast, those that feel powerful have a more adaptive way of handling stress.

Discover how power influences your body and brain.

This Is Your Brain and Body on Power

Are you a Thanos, Voldemort, Frodo, or none of the above? Discover how power influences your body and brain.

Body & Brain

This Is Your Brain and Body on PowerPublished: April 5, 2019Onscreen: Power. Some hunger for it. Some are corrupted by it. And some are defined by it.But what does power do to our brains and bodies? A lot.Dacher Keltner: Once you have power, our whole neurophysiological makeup changes.Onscreen: There are areas in our brains attuned to other people. These regions light up when we complete an action and when we watch somebody else complete do that same action. This is called mirroring.In one study that used transcranial magnetic stimulation, when people who felt powerful watched others’ actions, the “powerful” brains showed less mirroring.This is consistent with observations that powerful people may exhibit less compassion and effort in understanding others.The brain mechanism remains unclear, but the medial prefrontal cortex may play a role.Keltner: The empathy networks in your brain in the prefrontal cortex are less active when you’re listening to other people. You’re less interested in what people have to say. Empathy drops, compassion drops, basic civility drops.Onscreen: The prefrontal cortex is part of a larger network in the brain that’s active when we think about others. The more power you have, the less active these brain regions are likely to be.Keltner: Once we have power, our sense that we are interdependent drops.Onscreen: And vice versa.Keely Muscatell: What we think is going on—for individuals who have less power, they’re more reliant on other people to meet their needs.Onscreen: So the brain pathways activate that help them understand the people they’re relying on.Power courses through our bodies as well.Pranjal Mehta: I see the mind and the body as inextricably linked.Onscreen: Pranjal Mehta is interested in two hormones—cortisol, which enters our blood in response to stress, and testosterone, which affects both men and women.Mehta: There’s a hormonal profile associated with attaining higher status—high testosterone and low cortisol. It really predicted you coming across as more leaderlike.Onscreen: This has health consequences for those who lack power.Muscatell: The tendency to think about others could come at a physiological cost that can kickstart stress responses in the body.Onscreen: Including more inflammation and greater immune activity. Chronic lack of power may lead to a long-term buildup of these costs.Muscatell: That can cause wear and tear on our organs, which could potentially put people at risk for illness and disease.Onscreen: For those with power, it’s a different story.Modupe Akinola: Those that feel powerful have a more adaptive way of addressing or dealing with stress.Onscreen: Their heart rate increases. And their blood vessels expand, which makes blood flow more efficiently.Akinola: To get to all the parts of your body that it needs to get to…Onscreen: …which helps them more effectively tackle stressful situations.We know that power inhabits our brains and our bodies. So how can we use this information?Akinola: If you just remind people of a situation where they had power, that can make them feel more powerful, and that can then have a positive cascade on some of the physiological responses.Keltner: Enabling all people to have voice at the table. Listening, empathizing, practicing humility, welcoming social criticism that allows for the free flow of ideas. If we do that, I think we’ll avoid this very powerful law of human behavior, which is that power can corrupt.

United States

Northern Mariana Islands

Puerto Rico

American Samoa

Guam

U.S. Virgin Islands

U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

US & Territories

Colossal explosions shake a remote corner of the Siberian tundra, leaving behind massive craters. In Alaska, a huge lake erupts with bubbles of inflammable gas. Scientists are discovering that these mystifying phenomena add up to a ticking time bomb, as long-frozen permafrost melts and releases vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. What are the implications of these dramatic developments in the Arctic? Scientists and local communities alike are struggling to grasp the scale of the methane threat and what it means for our climate future. (Premiered February 2, 2022)

In the Arctic, enormous releases of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, threaten the climate.

Arctic Sinkholes

The top half of Jupiter in blue and green against a night sky

A composite image of Jupiter using images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy Schmidt.

Explore the cosmos, delve into ancient history, and follow an extreme rescue with NOVA’s most-watched documentaries released in 2022.

NOVA’s most popular science documentaries of 2022

Four bright orange loops brand off of a dark blue blob

A transmission electron micrograph of HIV-1 virus particles (orange) replicating from the plasma membrane of an infected H9 T cell. Credit: NIAID, Flickr

Scientists have cured a handful of people of HIV by piggybacking on treatments they received for blood cancer. But does that bring a widespread cure any closer?

This Is Your Brain and Body on Power

Support Provided By

Explore More

Amy Cuddy: Turning the Power Back On

Amy Cuddy: 30 Seconds on Power Poses

More Candidates Don't Produce Better Leaders, At Least for Pigeons

Transcript

Credits

Support Provided By

Explore More

Amy Cuddy: Turning the Power Back On

Amy Cuddy: 30 Seconds on Power Poses

More Candidates Don't Produce Better Leaders, At Least for Pigeons