Selfhood triumvirate: From phenomenology to brain activity and back again.
Andrew A Fingelkurts, Alexander A Fingelkurts, Tarja Kallio-Tamminen
Consciousness and Cognition November 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.103031 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Experienced meditators |
| Intervention | body representational-emotional agency |
| Topics | Default mode network Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Agency Alpha rhythm Autobiography EEG Electroencephalogram Embodiment First-person perspective Functional connectivity Mineness Narration Operational synchrony Ownership Srn Self-consciousness Self-referential brain network |
| Citations | 41 |
| Key findings | Mental manipulation of three aspects of selfhood (witnessing agency, body-emotional agency, narrative agency) causes corresponding changes in functional integrity of the three modules of the brain's self-referential network. |
Abstract
Recently, a three-dimensional construct model for complex experiential Selfhood has been proposed (Fingelkurts, Fingelkurts, & Kallio-Tamminen, 2016b,c). According to this model, three specific subnets (or modules) of the brain self-referential network (SRN) are responsible for the manifestation of three aspects/features of the subjective sense of Selfhood. Follow up multiple studies established a tight relation between alterations in the functional integrity of the triad of SRN modules and related to them three aspects/features of the sense of self; however, the causality of this relation is yet to be shown. In this article we approached the question of causality by exploring functional integrity within the three SRN modules that are thought to underlie the three phenomenal components of Selfhood while these components were manipulated mentally by experienced meditators in a controlled and independent manner. Participants were requested, in a block-randomised manner, to mentally induce states representing either increased (up-regulation) or decreased (down-regulation) sense of (a) witnessing agency ("Self"), or (b) body representational-emotional agency ("Me"), or (c) reflective/narrative agency ("I"), while their brain activity was recorded by an electroencephalogram (EEG). This EEG-data was complemented by first-person phenomenological reports and standardised questionnaires which focused on subjective contents of three aspects of Selfhood. The results of the study strengthen the case for a direct causative relationship between three phenomenological aspects of Selfhood and related to them three modules of the brain SRN. Furthermore, the putative integrative model of the dynamic interrelations among three modules of the SRN has been proposed.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Deep-Dream Virtual Reality Platform for Studying Altered Perceptual Phenomenology | 2017 | Experimental study | |
| New World Tryptamine Hallucinogens and the Neuroscience of Ayahuasca. | 2018 | Review with original neuroimaging and neurophysiological data | |
| Differential contributions of serotonergic and dopaminergic functional connectivity to the phenomenology of LSD Healthy adults | 2022 | Secondary analysis of experimental data | n = 15 |
| TMS-EEG and resting-state EEG applied to altered states of consciousness: oscillations, complexity, and phenomenology. | 2023 | Experimental study | |
| Training novice practitioners to reliably report their meditation experience using shared phenomenological dimensions. Novice meditation practitioners | 2019 | Neurophenomenological experiment |
Citations in the library
Cited by 22
- From many to (n)one: Meditation and the plasticity of the predictive mind. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews September 1, 2021
- A landscape of consciousness: Toward a taxonomy of explanations and implications. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology August 1, 2024
- Psychedelics, Sociality, and Human Evolution Frontiers in Psychology September 29, 2021
- Implicit-explicit gradient of nondual awareness or consciousness as such. Neuroscience of Consciousness October 8, 2021
- Examination of self patterns: framing an alternative phenomenological interview for use in mental health research and clinical practice. Frontiers in Psychology 2024
and 17 more in the library
Cites 74
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Assessment January 27, 2006
- Interoceptive inference, emotion, and the embodied self Trends in Cognitive Sciences October 12, 2013
- Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 23, 2011
- Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
and 69 more in the library