According to the Triune Brain Model which was popularized by a physician and neuroscientist by the name of Paul MacLean in the 1960's, there are 3 major regions to the brain:

The Reptilian Complex - Also known as the R-complex or the "reptilian brain" is the oldest part of the brain and is what MacLean believed was the first brain that humans developed over 100 million years ago. The reptilian brain is responsible for our survival instincts and processes like breathing, circulation, digestion and fight/flight responses.

The Limbic System - This region supports functions which include long term memory, emotion and behaviors like finding food and self preservation.

The Neo Cortex - The youngest (or most recently developed) region of the brain is the area that most people refer to when they speak of the left and right hemispheres of the brain. This region in responsible for planning, logic, creativity, imagination and dreaming.

I'm not a psychologist and I don't pretend to be one but based on the research and study that I have done, I subscribe to MacLean's theories because they explain much of why people react the way they do to certain stimuli.

The reptilian brain in particular is a subject that I find to be particularly interesting because it provides a better understanding of why the influential tactics that have been shown to be effective actually work.

You see, in a perfect world we would be functioning in a fully conscious state using mostly the Neo Cortex but the truth is that doing so involves amounts of mental work and energy that most people are simply not willing to invest.

Instead, they function primarily on "autopilot" in a survivalist state of mind most of the time. Many marketing experts speak to the reptilian brain when designing campaigns because they know how most people will react to them.

There are many people who believe that these mind control tactics are unethical and are pushing for a movement for people to become more thought conscious and thereby less susceptible to these attempts to become programmed to buy.

I'm a big believer in people becoming more thought conscious. I think anyone who is truly fascinated by the human mind would be.

But the truth of the matter is that such a thing just isn't realistic at this point. This is the way that the majority of people function mentally. This information serves us immensely in the world of influence and persuasion because it gives us a better understanding of how the mind works.

How you choose to use this information is completely up to you. My hope is that you use it ethically and for reasons that will provide "win win" solutions for those you are trying to gain compliance from.

Clotaire Rapaille is a psychologist turned marketing specialist whose work I admire very much.

Rapaille is the guy who all the big companies call in when their sales are plummeting to turn things around because of his ability to understand the unconscious "codes" that each of us assign to different things.

According to Rapaille, mental imprints which are based on experience, emotion and cultural norms are formed in the minds of people when they are very young causing them to make subconcious associations with things that they can't even identify on conscious levels.

He also believes that in a three way battle between the limbic, cortical and reptilian brain, the reptilian brain always wins because surveil always comes first. Therefore, he contends that all buying decisions from people are the result of what's happening in the reptilian brain.

If you ask me, results always speak louder than any other voice. And Rapaille's results are very impressive. He's helped companies like Jeep, Chrysler and L'oreal drastically increase their bottom lines using his expertise.

The key to remember here is the role of the reptilian brain in the way people behave. The more you know and understand about how people are wried for survival, the better you can taylor your influence and persuasion tactics.