Neuroimage
April 30, 2016
Melissa Ellamil, Kieran C. R. Fox, Matthew L. Dixon et al.
150 citations
By studying experienced mindfulness practitioners who can closely observe when a thought first arises, researchers identified distinct brain regions that activate before versus after a thought emerges. Activity in the medial temporal lobe and inferior parietal lobule peaked before the thought began, suggesting these areas help generate spontaneous thoughts. In contrast, regions including the medial prefrontal, temporopolar, mid-insular, lateral prefrontal, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortices activated at or just after the thought's onset, indicating a role in elaborating or reflecting on the thought. These timing differences may explain why spontaneous thoughts are so varied and how they connect to memory and attention.
November 13, 2025
S. Sheth, Matthew L. Dixon, Lawrence M Ward et al.
1 citation
preprint
Human consciousness typically produces an ongoing, seemingly continuous stream of thought. Prior work has examined the neural correlates of thought content, but less is known about thought dynamics—how thoughts change over time. The Dynamic Framework of Thought proposes a neural model of how large-scale brain networks contribute to freely moving (spontaneous) versus deliberately constrained thought. In a neurophenomenological study, participants reported their thought stream in real time during fMRI scanning. Freely-moving thought was associated with greater activation of the default network (especially the medial-temporal subcomponent) than the frontoparietal control network, while deliberately constrained thought showed the opposite pattern. Distinct thought dynamics were also reflected in changes in functional coupling within and between these networks.
Neuroscience of Consciousness
January 1, 2026
Sneha K S Sheth, Mike Doswell, Kalina Christoff Hadjiilieva et al.
Over the past 25 years, neuroscience has focused on perceptual consciousness, but the dynamic experience of the stream of thought—first described by William James—has received less attention. The Dynamic Framework of Thought (DFT) provides a taxonomy of thought dynamics. This study used four experiments, including laboratory, online, and fMRI-based settings, to test whether people can introspectively access and distinguish two thought dimensions: freely moving and deliberately directed. In all experiments, participants reported their thought dynamics during a probed resting period with eyes open. Using mixed methods, the findings suggest that individuals have some introspective access to these dynamics.
Neuroscience of Consciousness
January 1, 2026
María del Carmen Tejada, Antonia Zepeda, Alejandro Troncoso et al.
Empathy relies on bodily processes, but how Parkinson's disease (PD) disrupts this is unclear. Using a neurophenomenological approach, 42 people with PD watched pain-related videos while their self-reports, postural movement, heart rate, and electrodermal activity were recorded. Phenomenological interviews after exposure revealed two distinct empathic modes: Resonance Bodyssence, where emotions tightly couple with bodily sensations and movement, and Marginal Resonance Bodyssence, a more observational, cognitively mediated response with reduced bodily resonance. Integrating first-person data with quantitative measures shows that interindividual variability in motor and physiological responses in PD reflects distinct embodied empathic engagements, advancing an embodied account of empathy as a heterogeneous, dynamically enacted phenomenon.