How Emotions Hijack Your Brain: Understanding Prefrontal Cortex Shutdown and Emotional Responses
Our emotions are powerful, they guide our decisions, influence our relationships, and impact how we navigate daily life. But did you know that intense emotional states can actually shut down the part of your brain responsible for reasoning, decision-making, and self-control? That part is called the prefrontal cortex (PFC), and understanding how it works is crucial for managing emotions and optimizing mental performance.
The prefrontal cortex is located at the front of the brain and is responsible for higher-order cognitive processes such as decision making, problem solving, prioritization, impulse control and self regulation. Think of it as the “CEO” of your brain. When your prefrontal cortex is fully active, you can think clearly, make rational choices, and manage complex tasks. But when it’s overwhelmed by strong emotions, this critical executive center can temporarily go offline. When this happens you are more susceptible to conflict escalation, poor decision-making and chronic stress.
The prefrontal cortex going offline can come from your body feeling intense emotions. When we experience strong emotions such as anger, fear, anxiety, or even extreme excitement, our brain’s amygdala, the emotional center, becomes hyperactive. This triggers the fight-or-flight response, flooding the brain with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.
Intense emotions can override our rational thinking, making it difficult to plan, solve problems, or regulate behavior effectively. The thing that most people try and do when realizing the debilitation that intense emotions can cause is to try and stop from feeling them before they reach the brink of causing chaos. There couldn’t be anything further away from a healthy response than attempting to halt your emotions. Emotions hit before logic even has a chance. They’re visceral, automatic reactions, hardwired into the limbic system, triggering changes in your heart, muscles, and hormones. Trying to control them like a switch rarely works. The real power comes from learning to manage your response, letting your thinking brain regain control so you can act instead of reacting.
Gaining control of this power takes training your brain to regulate emotions and keep your PFC intact even when feeling. We’ve discussed some of these resolutions in previous blog posts and although they seem simple in concept, their impact is so profound that they can never be overstated. Mindfulness practice strengthens the prefrontal cortex and reduces amygdala hyperactivity. Simple breathing exercises can quickly downregulate stress and bring back rational thinking. Naming your emotions, which industry term is emotion labeling, activates the PFC and helps you regain cognitive control.Studies have shown that simple labeling such as “I feel anxious” or “I feel frustrated” reduces amygdala activity and improves rational decision-making. Cognitive reappraisal helps in reframing your perspective on stressful situations. Instead of thinking, “This is impossible,” try, “This is challenging, but I can handle it step by step.” This engages the prefrontal cortex and prevents emotional hijacking. Lastly and arguably most effective are executive functioning exercises.Strengthening your PFC through task management, planning, and working memory exercises can make it more resilient to emotional shutdown.
At Neuro Nurture, we integrate executive function coaching with emotional regulation strategies to help clients maintain optimal prefrontal cortex activity. By combining cognitive exercises to strengthen reasoning and decision-making, mindfulness and emotional awareness practices, personalized coaching on real-life stressors. We teach neurodivergent individuals, professionals, and students how to stay calm under pressure, make rational decisions, and maximize focus, even in high-stress situations.