Molecules of Emotion

Why You Feel the Way You Feel

By: Candace B. Pert Ph.D.

Narrated by: Candace B. Pert Ph.D.

Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

How do our thoughts and emotions affect our health? Are our bodies and minds distinct from one another or do they function together as parts of an interconnected system? Candace Pert - a neuroscientist whose extraordinary career began with her 1972 discovery of the opiate receptor - provides startling and decisive answers to these and other challenging questions that scientists and philosophers have pondered for centuries. From explaining the scientific basis of popular wisdom and phenomena like "gut feelings" to making comprehensible recent discoveries in cancer and AIDS research, Molecules of Emotion is an intellectual adventure of the highest order.

©1997 Candace B. Pert, Ph.D., All Rights Reserved (P)1997 Simon & Schuster Inc., All Rights Reserved

Critic reviews

"Finally, here is a Western scientist who has done the work to explain the unity of mind and matter, body and soul." (Deepak Chopra)

More autobiography than science

I got this as a free audiobook from audible.com. I am a chemical engineer/chemist by trade and thought this sounded like an interesting read. The book is narrated by the author Candace Pert.

The very first thing I noticed is that the author is incredibly conceited, she spends a lot of time bragging about her accomplishments right away. This book is more of an autobiography than an actually book behind the science of emotion.

There are some interesting theories in this book, that I think many people would agree with. The main theory is that emotional state is caused by a variety of chemicals, particularly peptids. These molecules not only have an influence on your emotions but on your overall physical health as well, you can't really separate the two. I think this theory was groundbreaking at the time, but much more widely accepted now.

There is a also a lot of discussion about the male domination of science and how hard the author had to work to get recognized. I think maybe this might have been more true in the 70's than today. The author also comes to the realization by the end that maybe it was her aggressive attitude and combativeness that caused some of her issues with her male cohorts and I couldn't agree more.

Working as a female in a male dominated field I have found that the opinion of those around you (male or otherwise) is fed by your attitude towards them. I have never had a ton of issue with my male coworkers respecting me and treating me as an equal. I had some issues in college, but now that I am working with the people I want to work with and in a field I am comfortable in it just hasn't been an issue. If you have an attitude of competence, but aren't completely arrogant, I don't think you will have much of an issue.

Okay stepping off my soapbox now...

Overall this was an interesting read, but not exactly what I was hoping for or expecting. It is more an autobiography of Pert’s work and a treatise on the struggles of female scientists than an explanation behind the chemicals that guide our emotional and physical health. It was free so I can’t really complain, but I wouldn’t really recommend it either.

Unbelievable Discoveries

I was amazed to find out how much autonomy the body and it's various systems have and how they are affected by our very thoughts...much like our appetites. This could be ground-breaking self-healing or self-improving information for people who carry a lot of stress in their lives. It certainly leaves you with a different perspective about who you and your body are and how you both function together.

Abridged version disappointment

Candace Pert ' s brilliance should never be abridged! The shortened version left me sad and wanting more. I will need to reread the full book. I am sorry she didn't write more before she had to leave this world.

Molecules of Emotion

Very Interesting! It definitely helps connect the dots! Dr. Pert has such an elegant way of taking such complex concepts and making it understandable and useful to lay people. Thank You, Dr. Pert.

interesting story I like the narration

I listen to it in one night tells how emotion is a part of science

An enlightening story of scientific discovery and a path to body/mind wholeness

An enlightening story of scientific discovery and a path to body/mind wholeness. Ann excellent book!

I want the UNabridged version!

Love Candace! It was such fun to hear her voice since she was the reader! I miss her. And the world will never be the same.
However there should be an audible version of the entire book. Every wording hatbox was important. Now I must go read the physical book again, because I miss the parts left out of the Audible book.

An interesting look at the science of emotion

Candace Pert, a neuroscientist and discoveror of the opiate receptor, recounts both the intricate relationship between mind, body, and emotions, and her own career uncovering those connections and the neurochemical basis of them. Beginning her career in the early 1970s, gender was an even bigger obstacle than it is now, which no cultural or legal expectation that it shouldn't be. Sometimes she had to fight for recognition of her contributions; other times she had to fight to be able to do the work at all.

But along the way, she made major discoveries, and had life-changing experiences. The mind-body dichotomy was still unquestioned scientific orthodoxy in her early days. She doesn't say, but I will: Rene Descartes has a lot to answer for. Pert's work with neuropeptides and their receptors helps to rebuild the essential unity of the person, mind, body, and emotions, and uncover the connections between our emotional health and our physical health.

There are times when this goes right up to edge of woo-woo, but it doesn't cross over. Pert is spiritual, religious, and very much a scientist. No, that's not a contradiction or a paradox. She's quite open about her beliefs, and the interrelations among the different aspects. Her central, guiding principle is a commitment to truth.

It's a fascinating story. There are times when I find it quite frustrating. It is, however, well worth reading if you are interested in the topic.

I bought this audiobook.

is what it is!

I had read the book about the time it may have appeared at Audible,(2003?) though my download of the Audible version is just last month.

From the title, one would expect it, the book or audiobook, to be more biochemically oriented and less about the various politics associated with biomedical discovery and how discoveries come into the public's knowledge. However, I already knew about this. maybe it could have been called "The Politics of Emotion" maybe an allusion to RD Laing's famous book.

On a positive note, I think it is very valuable to have a document with the actual author doing the narration as in this case. Whatever limitation may appear in the diction etc. is more than compensated by delivering the listener (and in my case) or former reader to very much the "soul" of the matter, because the voice nuances maybe most definitely represent the author's soul!

life changing

I work in this field, integrating body mind and soul for healing. I love knowing some of what science discovers that touches on the beginning of a clue as to what is occurring in the body. thank you Dr. Pert.