Freedom Begins in the Brain

Georgina Brown (hershe)
Jul 16
5 min read

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”— Goethe

It’s a provocative quote. But one that feels deeply relevant in the age of organisational "freedom," flexible working, and EDI strategies written in slick fonts but rarely felt in the nervous system.

Here’s the truth: most of us are not as free as we think.

Not because of legislation or rules. But because of the neural coding that shapes what we perceive as possible, permissible, or worth pursuing.

Mirror Neurons: Freedom Is Contagious (or Not)

Discovered in the 1990s, mirror neurons are a class of brain cells that fire both when we act and when we observe others taking the same action. They help us learn through imitation, develop empathy, and build a sense of social belonging.

But here’s the rub: you can only mirror what you’ve seen.

If you’ve never witnessed compassion, courage, or inclusive leadership modelled, you won’t have the neural circuits to mirror them.

Which means someone might say, "Be brave, be kind, be inclusive," but if those behaviours weren’t modelled or rewarded in your early neural development, your brain draws a blank. You want to perform those actions, but you literally don’t have the wiring.

Freedom, in this sense, isn’t about willpower. It’s about exposure, modelling, and reinforcement.

In-Groups, Out-Groups and the Brain’s Default Wiring

Your brain is a pattern detector and a shortcut junkie. One of its most ancient algorithms? Us vs Them.

Studies using fMRI scans show that we process in-group members differently to out-group members. The medial prefrontal cortex, involved in empathy and social reasoning, is more active when we see someone from our in-group in pain. Out-groups? Not so much.

So when someone says, "I treat everyone the same" or "appropriate to their needs" — the intention might be there, but the neuroscience would beg to differ. Our brains are wired to differentiate, sort, and favour.

This is where inclusion becomes a neurobiological intervention. It’s not about just policy or intent — it’s about retraining the brain to expand its circle of care.

Trauma Loops and the Myth of Choice

Neuroscience shows that trauma (small t) isn’t just an event. It’s the way an experience imprints onto the nervous system and primes the brain for hypervigilance, avoidance, or shutdown.

In organisational life, trauma might look like:

Avoiding meetings after being undermined
Freezing in feedback sessions
Feeling like an imposter despite high performance

These are protective loops, not personal failings.

If a person grew up never being affirmed, never being allowed to speak up, or always having to hide parts of their identity, the brain wires around protection, not possibility.

And what’s coded early often feels like choice later. But it’s not. It’s adaptation.

Inclusion Is Rewiring

This is why the NeuroInclusive Maturity Model (NIMM) exists.

It’s not a checklist or a campaign. It’s a growth architecture designed to:

Break old neural patterns shaped by bias, fear, and hierarchy
Create psychologically safe cultures where new behaviours can be practised repeatedly
Use neuroplasticity to turn conscious effort into automatic inclusion

Because just like trauma wires the brain to survive, inclusion wires it to thrive.

Growth Mindsets Are Grown, Not Bought

Carol Dweck's research on growth mindset is often quoted, rarely embodied. It's not just about believing you can grow. It's about having environments that make growth neurologically possible.

If failure is punished, risk will never feel safe. If voices are dismissed, contribution won’t feel optional — it will feel dangerous.

To create change, we must design workplaces where the brain feels free to explore, connect, speak up, and stretch.

That’s what NIMM supports. A cultural and cognitive shift — from fixed to flourishing.

Free Speech vs. Hate Speech: What the Brain Hears

“I’m just exercising my right to free speech.”

We’ve all heard it. And yes — freedom of speech is a foundational principle of democracy. But neuroscience tells us that how we speak, what we hear, and how we process language is never neutral.

The brain doesn’t treat all speech equally.

When someone uses speech to dehumanise, threaten, or belittle, the listener’s amygdala — the brain’s fear centre — can become hyperactive. This triggers a cascade of stress hormones, reduces access to the prefrontal cortex (our reasoning and decision-making hub), and pulls people into fight, flight or freeze.

That’s not debate. That’s neurological harm.

Research from Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk shows that chronic exposure to hostile or discriminatory language can actually change how the brain functions over time — increasing anxiety, reducing cognitive flexibility, and impairing memory and executive functioning.

This means hate speech isn’t just offensive. It’s biologically corrosive.

It wires the speaker for dominance and disconnection.

And it wires the listener for vigilance and self-protection — not collaboration, creativity, or growth.

So yes, we have the right to speak. But we also have the responsibility to understand how our words shape brains, cultures, and futures.

A real-world example?

Consider the polarising public discourse surrounding J.K. Rowling and the trans community. For Rowling and her supporters, challenges to their viewpoint may register as threats to identity, freedom, and safety, activating the amygdala and narrowing empathy toward out-groups.

Meanwhile, for trans individuals and allies, Rowling’s words often trigger neural responses rooted in lived experiences of rejection, marginalisation, or trauma, reinforcing vigilance and withdrawal, and further hardening the boundaries between groups.

The brain, under threat, doesn’t engage in reasoned debate. It retreats to tribalism.

This is where psychological safety matters. Spaces where people can pause, regulate, reflect — and build new neuropathways — are essential. And that takes design, not chance.

NIMM fosters these environments by helping organisations:

Recognise how fear and defensiveness show up neurologically
Replace blame with curiosity
Introduce micro-practices (NeuroNudges) that calm the nervous system and enable genuine connection

At BARDO, we believe freedom of speech should never come at the cost of another person’s neural safety.

Because inclusion isn't censorship.

It's co-regulation.

So… is Psychological Safety Even Possible?

We’ve just said the brain, under threat, retreats to tribalism, a state of protection, not perspective. So where does that leave psychological safety?

Let’s be clear: safety isn’t the absence of threat. It’s the presence of trust, predictability, and co-regulation.

When the nervous system perceives safety, through consistent cues like fairness, voice, agency, and relational repair, it begins to down-regulate the amygdala and up-regulate the prefrontal cortex. This isn’t a metaphor. This is neuroscience. (See the work of Dr. Stephen Porges on the polyvagal theory or Amy Edmondson on psychological safety.)

In other words, the brain can rewire out of tribalism. But only if the environment supports it. That means:

Leaders who model humility, not hierarchy.
Teams where curiosity is rewarded, not punished.
Cultures that tolerate discomfort in service of growth.

Psychological safety isn’t just a vibe. It’s a neurobiological condition, and a responsibility.

And this is why NIMM doesn’t just name the problem. It creates the conditions for rewiring. Domain by domain, moment by moment, organisation by organisation.

Because when the brain feels safe, people show up differently. Not in fight-or-flight. But in connection, creativity, and courage.