3 Brains Intelligence™ is a neuroscience-based model developed by Christoffel Sneijders that identifies three functional brains — the Head, Heart, and Gut — each with its own memory, intelligence, and motivation. The model shows how aligning these 3 brains improves decision-making, leadership, relationships, and personal well-being.
3 Brains Intelligence is grounded in neuroscience, biology, and decades of clinical observation.
Some aspects are well established in research. Others are emerging and not yet fully explained by current scientific models.
Throughout history, science has often explained reality after people were already living it.
This work sits at that intersection, where biology, experience, and evidence meet.
There are crucial new scientific insights into human thinking and feeling, connecting the dots of 100,000 million body cells. Current research has upended the notion that we have a single, powerful mind home for thoughts, emotions, and reactions (the neocortex, limbic brain, and cerebellum). Science now tells us we have two other brains comprising thought, memory, and action!
In addition to our well-known 'thinking' brain (which we will call the 'Head-Brain'), we have the 'social' brain (which we will call the 'Heart-Brain'), and the 'self-preservation' brain (which we will call the ‘Gut-Brain’). More importantly, all 3 Brains perceive, interpret, and react to the world in a distinctly different way. Although the brains have the same objective of keeping us alive, healthy, and happy, the critical functions are the opposite.
Before now, if Heart and Gut Brains were thought to exist at all, they were considered separate entities that existed and reacted independently and were not capable of communicating or collaborating with one another. We have come to know differently.
The Gut Brain – Our Survival and Drive Center
First identified by neurobiologist Dr. Michael Gershon in The Second Brain (1998), the Gut Brain is a vast neural network containing more than 500 million neurons. It communicates continuously with the rest of the body through the vagus nerve and regulates our most primal instincts of survival and safety.
The Gut Brain’s core motivation is self-preservation. It triggers instinctive emotions like fear, anger, desire, and courage — driving the “fight, flight, or freeze” responses. When the Gut Brain dominates, our decisions are fast, reactive, and focused on me — on staying safe and in control.
Yet this survival drive also fuels achievement, risk-taking, and perseverance. Leaders with a strong Gut Brain often act decisively under pressure and follow through on goals. The challenge arises when it overrides the Heart and Head Brains, creating defensiveness, aggression, or burnout.
Our Gut Brain is the real survivor; when push comes to shove, it tells us how to survive.
Traits of the Gut Brain:
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Pro: Drives action, courage, and results
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Con: May dismiss collaboration or empathy when under threat
When aligned with the Heart and Head Brains, the Gut becomes our source of grounded confidence and authentic power.
The Heart Brain – Our Connection and Compassion Center
In 1991, neurocardiologist Dr. J. Andrew Armour discovered a complex neural network within the heart, capable of learning, remembering, and making independent decisions — a true “Heart Brain.” It communicates with the Head and Gut through electrical, hormonal, and energetic pathways.
The Heart Brain’s primary motivation is connection and belonging. It governs emotions such as love, empathy, joy, guilt, and compassion — everything related to us rather than me. It shapes our ability to build trust, create psychological safety, and lead with emotional intelligence.
When balanced, the Heart Brain allows authentic connection and empathy; when overactive, it can lead to people-pleasing or over-caretaking at the expense of one’s own needs.
Our Heart is our relationship radar, it is the center of values and is good or wrong.
Traits of the Heart Brain:
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Pro: Builds empathy, collaboration, and relational trust
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Con: Can suppress boundaries or self-prioritisation
In leadership, the Heart Brain is the bridge between performance and humanity — translating intention into authentic influence.
Curious how your 3 brains dominate your life
do the free 3 Brains Preference Test
The Head Brain – Our Logic and Prediction Center
The place where three parts are connected ad are actually one braind : Reptile Brain, Mammal (limbic) Brain and Primate (neocortex) Brain.
The Head Brain integrates three major evolutionary layers — the reptilian, mammalian (limbic), and primate (neocortex) systems. It is our thinking, planning, and predicting center, responsible for reasoning, language, and foresight.
Its core motivation is to make sense of the world — to analyze data, understand patterns, and design intelligent solutions. The Head Brain works with intellectual emotions like curiosity, anticipation, and wonder. It is what allows us to learn, innovate, and envision the future.
However, when disconnected from the Heart and Gut, the Head Brain can become over-analytical, detached, or paralyzed by overthinking. True intelligence emerges when rational analysis (Head) collaborates with emotional wisdom (Heart) and instinctive intuition (Gut).
Our Head is focused on providing the right prediction, and therefore understand, analyses and creates scenarios.
Traits of the Head Brain:
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Pro: Brings clarity, logic, and strategic foresight
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Con: Risks emotional disconnection or analysis paralysis
Aligned with the other brains, the Head becomes the visionary leader’s compass, transforming insight into purpose-driven action.
Aligning Your Three Brains
When your Head, Heart, and Gut Brains work in harmony, decisions become balanced — rationally sound, emotionally wise, and instinctively confident. This alignment is at the core of 3 Brains Intelligence™, a model created by Christoffel Sneijders to help leaders, coaches, and individuals reconnect with their biological intelligence and make choices that create lasting success and well-being.
Applying 3 Brains Intelligence in Daily Life and Leadership
True mastery of 3 Brains Intelligence™ begins when you use it consciously in everyday moments.
Every decision, conversation, and challenge invites you to ask: Which brain is leading right now — my Head, my Heart, or my Gut?
When you pause and realign the three, you shift from reaction to intention.
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In leadership, this means balancing clarity with compassion and courage — making choices that are logical, empathetic, and grounded.
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In coaching or teamwork, it allows you to listen beyond words, sense unspoken emotions, and respond from alignment rather than ego.
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In personal life, it cultivates self-awareness, emotional resilience, and peace between your mind, emotions, and instincts.
Leading and living with Head–Heart–Gut alignment builds integrity, trust, and purpose.
It transforms the way you think, connect, and act — empowering you to become the kind of leader who inspires from wholeness, not hierarchy.
Explore how to apply 3 Brains Intelligence™ in real life through our
Coach and Leadership Trainings.
Understanding the 3 Brains Dominance Test
The 3 Brains Dominance Test helps you understand how you make decisions, especially when something matters.
Rather than describing personality traits or preferences, it reveals which brain you tend to use first when deciding, and how the other two brains are included, delayed, or ignored.
Each brain brings distinct strengths to decision-making.
When the Head Brain leads, decisions are driven by thinking, analysing, weighing options, and seeking clarity and logic.
When balanced, this creates structure and insight. When overused, it can lead to overthinking, doubt, or delay.
When the Heart Brain leads, decisions are guided by values, meaning, impact on others, and emotional connection.
When balanced, this supports empathy and alignment. When overused, it can lead to pleasing others, hesitating, or prioritising others at the expense of oneself.
When the Gut Brain leads, decisions arise from instinct, drive, protection, and action.
When balanced, this creates courage and momentum. When overused, it can become impulsive, controlling, or reactive.
The test clarifies your decision-making sequence: which brain leads, which ones follow, and which ones are often bypassed when pressure increases.
This insight makes change easier because it allows you to work with the brain that is actually driving behaviour, rather than trying to force change from a brain that is not in charge.
The test does not label who you are.
It shows how decisions are made, moment by moment, and where balance between Head, Heart, and Gut can be restored.
Understanding the 12 Protectors Test
The 12 Protectors Test goes one step deeper.
While the Dominance Test shows how you decide, the 12 Protectors Test helps you understand which internal protection pattern is shaping your behaviour, especially when situations feel challenging, uncertain, or demanding.
Each Protector is a learned strategy that developed to help you function, cope, perform, belong, or stay safe.
These strategies are not only about avoiding pain. They also contain real strengths, such as focus, care, endurance, clarity, drive, responsibility, or leadership.
Every Protector has two sides:
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a functional side, which supports you and helps you navigate life
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and a limiting side, which can take over automatically when pressure increases
The test does not judge or pathologise these patterns.
It makes visible how a strength can turn into a limitation when it runs without awareness or balance.
How Protectors influence behaviour and potential
When a Protector is active, it influences how you:
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respond to stress
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communicate with others
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set boundaries
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take responsibility
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push forward or hold back
In balanced situations, a Protector expresses its resourceful qualities.
Under pressure, the same Protector can become rigid, overactive, or dominant, leading to repetitive behaviour patterns.
The 12 Protectors Test helps you recognise which Protector is leading, so you can:
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keep its strengths
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reduce its limitations
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and create more choice in how you respond
Not personality, not pathology
The 12 Protectors are not personality traits and they are not psychological diagnoses.
They are behavioural patterns that express themselves through the Head, Heart, or Gut brain.
Because they are learned responses, they are trainable and adjustable, not fixed labels.
The goal is not to remove Protectors, but to work with them consciously, allowing their strengths to remain available without letting them run your behaviour automatically.
How the 12 Protectors Test relates to the 3 Brains Dominance Test
Key distinctions
The 3 Brains Dominance Test focuses on decision-making processes.
The 12 Protectors Test focuses on behavioural protection patterns.
Together, they explain how decisions are made and why behaviour repeats under pressure.
The 3 Brains Dominance Test shows how you tend to make decisions: which brain leads, which ones follow, and which ones are often ignored.
The 12 Protectors Test explains how that decision-making process is coloured by a specific protection strategy.
Together, the two tests help you understand:
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how you decide
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which strengths you rely on
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where behaviour becomes automatic
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and how to restore balance between Head, Heart, and Gut
This creates the foundation for sustainable change, grounded in how you actually function, rather than how you think you should.
How the Two Tests Work Together
The 3 Brains Dominance Test shows:
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how you make decisions
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which brain you use first
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how the other brains are integrated or ignored
The 12 Protectors Test reveals:
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what protection strategy is active
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why certain reactions appear under pressure
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what keeps behaviour repeating
Together, they provide a clear map of:
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how you decide
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and why you react the way you do
This combination allows you to move from automatic reaction to conscious choice, both in daily life and in moments that truly matter.
This synopsis of the 3 Brains - Head, Heart, and Gut - the path for long-lasting change a webinar that I did for ICF International Coaching Week will definitely provide you with some interesting insights, beautiful people, and some meat on the bones.
This spotify interview by executive coach Mireia Mujika Irusta about the 3 Brains - Head, Heart, and Gut - coaching
will definitely provide you with some interesting insights, beautiful people, and some meat on the bones.
