A voice without a mouth no more: The neurobiology of language and consciousness.
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews September 1, 2022 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104772 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Keywords | Consciousness Core-periphery Efference copy Higher-order theory Inner speech Neurobiology of language Prediction Self-talk Speech production Withnail and i |
| Key points | Proposes that inner speech generates and sustains higher-order self-awareness through a 'HOLISTIC' model involving core and peripheral brain regions. |
Abstract
Most research on the neurobiology of language ignores consciousness and vice versa. Here, language, with an emphasis on inner speech, is hypothesised to generate and sustain self-awareness, i.e., higher-order consciousness. Converging evidence supporting this hypothesis is reviewed. To account for these findings, a 'HOLISTIC' model of neurobiology of language, inner speech, and consciousness is proposed. It involves a 'core' set of inner speech production regions that initiate the experience of feeling and hearing words. These take on affective qualities, deriving from activation of associated sensory, motor, and emotional representations, involving a largely unconscious dynamic 'periphery', distributed throughout the whole brain. Responding to those words forms the basis for sustained network activity, involving 'default mode' activation and prefrontal and thalamic/brainstem selection of contextually relevant responses. Evidence for the model is reviewed, supporting neuroimaging meta-analyses conducted, and comparisons with other theories of consciousness made. The HOLISTIC model constitutes a more parsimonious and complete account of the 'neural correlates of consciousness' that has implications for a mechanistic account of mental health and wellbeing.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs | 2014 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective | 2021 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The default mode network: where the idiosyncratic self meets the shared social world | 2021 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The default-mode, ego-functions and free-energy: a neurobiological account of Freudian ideas | 2010 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Cooperation between the default mode network and the frontal–parietal network in the production of an internal train of thought | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 11
- A landscape of consciousness: Toward a taxonomy of explanations and implications. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology August 1, 2024
- Cortical structural differences following repeated ayahuasca use hold molecular signatures Frontiers in Neuroscience October 5, 2023
- Cognitive control and consciousness in open biological systems. Biosystems May 1, 2025
- Lost in Speech: Depressive Rumination and the Dynamics of Inner Silence. Inquiry November 14, 2025
- Speech markers of psychological change following a psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT retreat. Journal of Psychopharmacology May 23, 2026
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Cites 56
- Neural correlates of consciousness: progress and problems Nature Reviews Neuroscience April 20, 2016
- The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective Nature Reviews Neuroscience July 5, 2021
- Are the Neural Correlates of Consciousness in the Front or in the Back of the Cerebral Cortex? Clinical and Neuroimaging Evidence Journal of Neuroscience October 4, 2017
- Mapping the self in the brain's default mode network Neuroimage February 15, 2016
- Episodic Memory Retrieval, Parietal Cortex, and the Default Mode Network: Functional and Topographic Analyses Journal of Neuroscience March 23, 2011
and 51 more in the library