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Neuron Feb 2013Mental processes and their neural substrates are intimately linked to the homeostatic control of internal bodily state. There are a set of distinct interoceptive... (Review)
Review
Mental processes and their neural substrates are intimately linked to the homeostatic control of internal bodily state. There are a set of distinct interoceptive pathways that directly and indirectly influence brain functions. The anatomical organization of these pathways and the psychological/behavioral expressions of their influence appear along discrete, evolutionarily conserved dimensions that are tractable to a mechanistic understanding. Here, we review the role of these pathways as sources of biases to perception, cognition, emotion, and behavior and arguably the dynamic basis to the concept of self.
Topics: Behavior; Brain; Emotions; Humans; Mental Processes; Nervous System Physiological Phenomena; Neural Pathways
PubMed: 23439117
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.02.008 -
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Apr 2023Dreams are often viewed as fascinating but irrelevant mental epihenomena of the sleeping mind with questionable functional relevance. Despite long hours of oneiric... (Review)
Review
Dreams are often viewed as fascinating but irrelevant mental epihenomena of the sleeping mind with questionable functional relevance. Despite long hours of oneiric activity, and high individual differences in dream recall, dreams are lost into oblivion. Here, we conceptualize dreaming and dream amnesia as inherent aspects of the reactive and predictive homeostatic functions of sleep. Mental activity during sleep conforms to the interplay of restorative processes and future anticipation, and particularly during the second half of the night, it unfolds as a special form of non-constrained, self-referent, and future-oriented cognitive process. Awakening facilitates constrained, goal-directed prospection that competes for shared neural resources with dream production and dream recall, and contributes to dream amnesia. We present the neurophysiological aspects of reactive and predictive homeostasis during sleep, highlighting the putative role of cortisol in predictive homeostasis and forgetting dreams. The theoretical and methodological aspects of our proposal are discussed in relation to the study of dreaming, dream recall, and sleep-related cognitive processes.
Topics: Humans; Dreams; Sleep, REM; Sleep; Mental Processes; Amnesia; Mental Recall
PubMed: 36804397
DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105104 -
Physics of Life Reviews Mar 2018Is it possible to perceive others' mental states? Are mental states visible in others' behavior? In contrast to the traditional view that mental states are hidden and... (Review)
Review
Is it possible to perceive others' mental states? Are mental states visible in others' behavior? In contrast to the traditional view that mental states are hidden and not directly accessible to perception, in recent years a phenomenologically-motivated account of social cognition has emerged: direct social perception. However, despite numerous published articles that both defend and critique direct perception, researchers have made little progress in articulating the conditions under which direct perception of others' mental states is possible. This paper proposes an empirically anchored approach to the observability of others' mentality - not just in the weak sense of discussing relevant empirical evidence for and against the phenomenon of interest, but also, and more specifically, in the stronger sense of identifying an experimental strategy for measuring the observability of mental states and articulating the conditions under which mental states are observable. We conclude this article by reframing the problem of direct perception in terms of establishing a definable and measurable relationship between movement features and perceived mental states.
Topics: Cognition; Humans; Intention; Mental Processes; Perception
PubMed: 29066076
DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2017.10.002 -
Psychological Research Mar 2023Mind wandering is a universal phenomenon in which our attention shifts away from the task at hand toward task-unrelated thoughts. Despite it inherently involving a shift... (Review)
Review
Mind wandering is a universal phenomenon in which our attention shifts away from the task at hand toward task-unrelated thoughts. Despite it inherently involving a shift in mental set, little is known about the role of cognitive flexibility in mind wandering. In this article we consider the potential of cognitive flexibility as a mechanism for mediating and/or regulating the occurrence of mind wandering. Our review begins with a brief introduction to the prominent theories of mind wandering-the executive failure hypothesis, the decoupling hypothesis, the process-occurrence framework, and the resource-control account of sustained attention. Then, after discussing their respective merits and weaknesses, we put forward a new perspective of mind wandering focused on cognitive flexibility, which provides an account more in line with the data to date, including why older populations experience a reduction in mind wandering. After summarizing initial evidence prompting this new perspective, drawn from several mind-wandering and task-switching studies, we recommend avenues for future research aimed at further understanding the importance of cognitive flexibility in mind wandering.
Topics: Humans; Attention; Mental Processes
PubMed: 35348846
DOI: 10.1007/s00426-022-01676-w -
Psychological Research Mar 2021In this article, we address an apparent paradox in the literature on mental time travel and mind-wandering: How is it possible that future thinking is both constructive,... (Review)
Review
In this article, we address an apparent paradox in the literature on mental time travel and mind-wandering: How is it possible that future thinking is both constructive, yet often experienced as occurring spontaneously? We identify and describe two 'routes' whereby episodic future thoughts are brought to consciousness, with each of the 'routes' being associated with separable cognitive processes and functions. Voluntary future thinking relies on controlled, deliberate and slow cognitive processing. The other, termed involuntary or spontaneous future thinking, relies on automatic processes that allows 'fully-fledged' episodic future thoughts to freely come to mind, often triggered by internal or external cues. To unravel the paradox, we propose that the majority of spontaneous future thoughts are 'pre-made' (i.e., each spontaneous future thought is a re-iteration of a previously constructed future event), and therefore based on simple, well-understood, memory processes. We also propose that the pre-made hypothesis explains why spontaneous future thoughts occur rapidly, are similar to involuntary memories, and predominantly about upcoming tasks and goals. We also raise the possibility that spontaneous future thinking is the default mode of imagining the future. This dual process approach complements and extends standard theoretical approaches that emphasise constructive simulation, and outlines novel opportunities for researchers examining voluntary and spontaneous forms of future thinking.
Topics: Adult; Consciousness; Cues; Female; Forecasting; Humans; Imagination; Male; Memory; Memory, Episodic; Mental Recall; Thinking
PubMed: 31807899
DOI: 10.1007/s00426-019-01262-7 -
Science (New York, N.Y.) Nov 2008People directly experience only themselves here and now but often consider, evaluate, and plan situations that are removed in time or space, that pertain to others'... (Review)
Review
People directly experience only themselves here and now but often consider, evaluate, and plan situations that are removed in time or space, that pertain to others' experiences, and that are hypothetical rather than real. People thus transcend the present and mentally traverse temporal distance, spatial distance, social distance, and hypotheticality. We argue that this is made possible by the human capacity for abstract processing of information. We review research showing that there is considerable similarity in the way people mentally traverse different distances, that the process of abstraction underlies traversing different distances, and that this process guides the way people predict, evaluate, and plan near and distant situations.
Topics: Behavior; Distance Perception; Humans; Mental Processes; Time Perception
PubMed: 19023074
DOI: 10.1126/science.1161958 -
Science (New York, N.Y.) Nov 2008When we are anesthetized, we expect consciousness to vanish. But does it always? Although anesthesia undoubtedly induces unresponsiveness and amnesia, the extent to... (Review)
Review
When we are anesthetized, we expect consciousness to vanish. But does it always? Although anesthesia undoubtedly induces unresponsiveness and amnesia, the extent to which it causes unconsciousness is harder to establish. For instance, certain anesthetics act on areas of the brain's cortex near the midline and abolish behavioral responsiveness, but not necessarily consciousness. Unconsciousness is likely to ensue when a complex of brain regions in the posterior parietal area is inactivated. Consciousness vanishes when anesthetics produce functional disconnection in this posterior complex, interrupting cortical communication and causing a loss of integration; or when they lead to bistable, stereotypic responses, causing a loss of information capacity. Thus, anesthetics seem to cause unconsciousness when they block the brain's ability to integrate information.
Topics: Anesthesia; Anesthetics; Animals; Cerebral Cortex; Consciousness; Electroencephalography; Humans; Memory; Mental Processes; Neurons; Sleep; Thalamus; Unconsciousness
PubMed: 18988836
DOI: 10.1126/science.1149213 -
Psychopathology 2022According to phenomenological literature, the life-world of the obsessive subject is characterized by its claustrophobic closure, the attempt to stop the flow of time,... (Review)
Review
According to phenomenological literature, the life-world of the obsessive subject is characterized by its claustrophobic closure, the attempt to stop the flow of time, and the inability to accept the formlessness hidden behind the form. The obsessive obstinately tries to build defences against what he cannot tolerate of reality and this effort causes loss of spontaneity in the pre-reflective dimension of existence, resulting in the thought process being oversaturated and ending up by blocking action. Our proposal is to unpack the phenomenon of partition in the obsessive's world, analysing the similarities and differences with the schizophrenic life-world. In fact, although the mechanization and the predominance of a reflective dimension are similar in these psychopathological typologies, these phenomena are based on completely different foundations: the ontological question in the case of the schizophrenic subject, while the ontic question in the case of the obsessive subject. By decomposing reality, the obsessive tries to stem the dimension of the formless, which is hidden under the representative order of things which he cannot tolerate. Understanding the hyper-rationalizing tendency of obsessive thought offers important clinical implications by providing shareable insights into psychotherapeutic development.
Topics: Male; Humans; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Psychopathology; Mental Processes; Existentialism; Psychomotor Agitation
PubMed: 35863321
DOI: 10.1159/000525369 -
Trends in Cognitive Sciences Jul 2019Typical cognitive load tasks are now known to deactivate the brain's default-mode network (DMN). This raises the possibility that apparent effects of cognitive load... (Review)
Review
Typical cognitive load tasks are now known to deactivate the brain's default-mode network (DMN). This raises the possibility that apparent effects of cognitive load could arise from disruptions of DMN processes, including social cognition. Cognitive load studies are reconsidered, with reinterpretations of past research and implications for dual-process theory.
Topics: Brain; Cognition; Humans; Neural Pathways; Social Perception; Thinking
PubMed: 31176585
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2019.04.008 -
Neuron May 2006Mentalizing refers to our ability to read the mental states of other agents and engages many neural processes. The brain's mirror system allows us to share the emotions... (Review)
Review
Mentalizing refers to our ability to read the mental states of other agents and engages many neural processes. The brain's mirror system allows us to share the emotions of others. Through perspective taking, we can infer what a person currently believes about the world given their point of view. Finally, the human brain has the unique ability to represent the mental states of the self and the other and the relationship between these mental states, making possible the communication of ideas.
Topics: Brain; Brain Mapping; Emotions; Humans; Mental Processes; Social Behavior
PubMed: 16701204
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2006.05.001