Editing Triune brain (section)

== Interactions between structures ==
The triune brain model argues that these structures are relatively independent from one another, but that they are still connected to each other in some form or another.<ref name=Steffen2022 />

The model views different cognitive behaviors as caused by three different entities instead of one. The reptilian complex is said to control all of the instinctual and impulsive actions, while the neomammalian complex is responsible for keeping the primitive instincts constrained. An example is controlling the impulse of eating. It seems that if one is hungry, then that means the reptilian complex is commanding the body to eat. However, an individual has the rational choice not to eat when hungry, and this rational thought is said to be controlled by the neomammalian complex. The model thus suggest that these two (and three depending on the situation) structures are in a perpetual battle to control the body.

These interactions between the neocortex and the reptilian brain often seem competitive as the conscious thought generated by the neocortex can suppress the primitive thoughts generated by the reptilian complex. Thus, the model suggests that the interactions between structures are not constructive, but that they are conflicting due to the anatomical separation of the brain.<ref name=Butler2009>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/B978-008045046-9.00984-0 |chapter=Triune Brain Concept: A Comparative Evolutionary Perspective |title=Encyclopedia of Neuroscience |date=2009 |last1=Butler |first1=A.B. |pages=1185–1193 |isbn=978-0-08-045046-9 }}</ref> 

This separation of structures proposed an underlying difference between consciousness and unconscious behaviour and argued that the reason why humans are such intelligent and conscious species is due to the not-so-common neocortex that they possess, unlike most other animals.<ref name=Butler2009 /> This detachment contributes to the idea that the three complexes interact with each other separately rather than a single construct interacting with itself.