The boss: In the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is our working memory, part of the brain that coordinates our awareness of what is going on at given moment. It has a sense of who we are, what we are about and what our priorities are. It is where we plan and make decisions and form our expectations for what is going to happen in our lives.

 The secretary: The anterior cingulated keeps the wheels of the operation turning and makes the routine or common-sense decisions without bothering the boss. Only when something is out of the ordinary does she need to talk to the boss about it. Brain equivalent of running “automatic”, things we do without conscious thought, such as driving, making cup of tea. When the secretary is in charge, the boss is out (when the anterior cingulated is active, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is inactive).

The personal memory store: The hippocampus is our conscious memory store, where we keep record of all our important personal experiences from the near or distant past.

The security officer: The amygdala stores our unconscious emotional memories and conditioned responses, and acts on them. Is job is to ensure our survival by alerting us to danger. Whenever we experience something, the information is flashed to the security officer to be matched to experiences we have had in the past (pattern matching). He then identifies whether it is alien or familiar and responds accordingly (security risk).