The trans-species core SELF: The emergence of active cultural and neuro-ecological agents through self-related processing within subcortical-cortical midline networks

Survival, Attachment, and Healing: An Evolutionary Lens on Interventions for Trauma-Related Dissociation

Purpose

Dissociation is a necessary part of our threat response system, common to all animal species, normally temporarily activated under conditions of extreme or inescapable threat. Pathological dissociation, however, continues to occur after the initial threat has passed, in response to reminders or inaccessibility of safety and security. Present across the spectrum of psychiatric diagnoses, recurrent dissociative symptoms are linked to severe trauma exposure, insecure attachment, treatment non-response, and maladaptive coping behaviors such as substance use, suicidality, and self-harm. However, empirical studies testing treatments specific to dissociative processes remain scarce. This narrative review summarizes existing studies and provides theoretical, neurobiological, and evolutionary perspectives on dissociative processes and treatments for pathological dissociation.

Methods

A systematic search of five databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, APA PsycINFO, CINAHL plus, Scopus) was conducted on April 13, 2023. Peer-reviewed clinical studies with adult participants, assessing intervention effects on dissociative symptoms, were included. Results were thematically analyzed and summarized.

Results

Sixty-nine studies were identified, mainly focused on posttraumatic stress disorder, trauma-exposed populations, and borderline personality disorder. Psychotherapy was studied in 72.5% of studies; other interventions included medications and neurostimulation. The majority reported positive outcomes, despite the heterogeneous spectrum of interventions. However, treatment of dissociative symptoms was the primary objective in only a minority.

Conclusion

Pathological dissociation is a complex phenomenon involving brain and body systems designed for perceiving and responding to severe threats, requiring an individualized approach. A literature is emerging regarding potentially evidence-based treatments to help those impacted by recurrent dissociative symptoms. When contextualized within a neurobiological and evolutionary perspective, these treatments can be understood as facilitating an internal and/or relational sense of safety, resulting in symptom reduction. Further studies are needed to explore effective treatments for dissociative symptoms.

The self and conscious experience

The primary determinant of the self (S) is the conscious experience (CE) we have of it. Therefore, it does not come as a surprise that empirical research on S mainly resorts to the CE (or lack of CE) that subjects have of their S. What comes as a surprise is that empirical research on S does not tackle the problem of how CE contributes to building S. Empirical research investigates how S either biases the cognitive processing of stimuli or is altered through a wide range of means (meditation, hypnosis, etc.). In either case, even for different reasons, considerations of how CE contributes to building S are left unspecified in empirical research. This article analyzes these reasons and proposes a theoretical model of how CE contributes to building S. According to the proposed model, the phenomenal aspect of consciousness is produced by the modulation-engendered by attentional activity-of the energy level of the neural substrate (that is, the organ of attention) that underpins attentional activity. The phenomenal aspect of consciousness supplies the agent with a sense of S and informs the agent on how its S is affected by the agent's own operations. The phenomenal aspect of consciousness performs its functions through its five main dimensions: qualitative, quantitative, hedonic, temporal, and spatial. Each dimension of the phenomenal aspect of consciousness can be explained by a specific aspect of the modulation of the energy level of the organ of attention. Among other advantages, the model explains the various forms of S as outcomes resulting from the operations of a single mechanism and provides a unifying framework for empirical research on the neural underpinnings of S.

Body as First Teacher: The Role of Rhythmic Visceral Dynamics in Early Cognitive Development

Embodied cognition-the idea that mental states and processes should be understood in relation to one's bodily constitution and interactions with the world-remains a controversial topic within cognitive science. Recently, however, increasing interest in predictive processing theories among proponents and critics of embodiment alike has raised hopes of a reconciliation. This article sets out to appraise the unificatory potential of predictive processing, focusing in particular on embodied formulations of active inference. Our analysis suggests that most active-inference accounts invoke weak, potentially trivial conceptions of embodiment; those making stronger claims do so independently of the theoretical commitments of the active-inference framework. We argue that a more compelling version of embodied active inference can be motivated by adopting a diachronic perspective on the way rhythmic physiological activity shapes neural development in utero. According to this visceral afferent training hypothesis, early-emerging physiological processes are essential not only for supporting the biophysical development of neural structures but also for configuring the cognitive architecture those structures entail. Focusing in particular on the cardiovascular system, we propose three candidate mechanisms through which visceral afferent training might operate: (a) activity-dependent neuronal development, (b) periodic signal modeling, and (c) oscillatory network coordination.

The relationship of psychological health and primary emotional traits in medical students

INTRODUCTION

Several studies have called for attention to medical students' well-being. Building on the neuroevolutionary affective neuroscience perspective that views primary emotional systems as central to well-being and the foundation of personality, this study investigated the facets of medical students' psychological well-being that are challenged and the relationships between emotional traits, psychological well-being, and depression.

METHODS

In a single-center cross-sectional study, medical students' primary emotional traits (SEEKING, FEAR, ANGER, SADNESS, CARE, PLAY and Spirituality), psychological well-being dimensions (autonomy, environmental mastery, positive relations, self-acceptance, purpose in life, and personal growth), and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scale; the Psychological Well-being Scale, which provides normative data; and the Beck Depression Inventory.

RESULTS

Compared with the normative data, the medical students perceived lower psychological autonomy, positive relations, and self-acceptance but higher purpose in life. The medical students' emotional traits were related to specific psychological well-being facets and depression. SEEKING and, inversely, FEAR were related to well-being across dimensions and depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Our findings are the first to show a link between emotional traits and specific facets of psychological health in medical students. Thus, this study encourages medical teachers to set learning environments that target multiple facets of well-being that harness primary emotional traits.

The brain-body disconnect: A somatic sensory basis for trauma-related disorders

Although the manifestation of trauma in the body is a phenomenon well-endorsed by clinicians and traumatized individuals, the neurobiological underpinnings of this manifestation remain unclear. The notion of somatic sensory processing, which encompasses vestibular and somatosensory processing and relates to the sensory systems concerned with how the physical body exists in and relates to physical space, is introduced as a major contributor to overall regulatory, social-emotional, and self-referential functioning. From a phylogenetically and ontogenetically informed perspective, trauma-related symptomology is conceptualized to be grounded in brainstem-level somatic sensory processing dysfunction and its cascading influences on physiological arousal modulation, affect regulation, and higher-order capacities. Lastly, we introduce a novel hierarchical model bridging somatic sensory processes with limbic and neocortical mechanisms regulating an individual's emotional experience and sense of a relational, agentive self. This model provides a working framework for the neurobiologically informed assessment and treatment of trauma-related conditions from a somatic sensory processing perspective.

Narrative as co-regulation: A review of embodied narrative in infant development

We review evidence of non-verbal, embodied narratives in human infancy to better understand their form and function as generators of common experience, regulation, and learning. We examine their development prior to the onset of language, with a view to improve understanding of narrative as regular motifs or schemas of early experience in both solitary and social engagement. Embodied narratives are composed of regular patterns of interest, arousal, affect, and intention that yield a characteristic four-part structure of (i) introduction, (ii) development, (iii) climax, and (iv) resolution. Made with others these form co-created shared acts of meaning, and are parsed in time with discreet beginnings and endings that allow a regular pattern to frame and give predictive understanding for prospective regulation (especially important within social contexts) that safely returns to baseline again. This characteristic pattern, co-created between infant and adult from the beginning of life, allows the infant to contribute to, and learn, the patterns of its culture. We conclude with a view on commonalities and differences of co-created narrative in non-human primates, and discuss implications of disruption to narrative co-creation for developmental psychopathology.

Self-Regulation of Seat of Attention Into Various Attentional Stances Facilitates Access to Cognitive and Emotional Resources: An EEG Study

This study provides evidence supporting the operation of a novel cognitive process of a somatic seat of attention, or ego-center, whose somatic location is under voluntary control and that provides access to differential emotional resources. Attention has typically been studied in terms of what it is directed toward, but it can also be associated with a localized representation in the body image that is experienced as the source or seat of attention-an aspect that has previously only been studied by subjective techniques. Published studies of this phenomenon under terms such as egocenter or self-location suggest that the seat of attention can be situated in various ways within the experienced body, resulting in what are here referred to as different attentional stances. These studies also provide evidence that changes in attentional stance are associated with differences in cognitive skill, emotional temperament, self-construal, and social and moral attitudes, as well as with access to certain states of consciousness. In the present study, EEG results from multiple trials of each of 11 specific attentional stances confirmed that patterns of neural activity associated with the voluntarily control of attentional stances can be reliably measured, providing evidence for a differential neural substrate underlying the subjective location of the seat of attention. Additionally, brain activation patterns for the attentional stances showed strong correlations with EEG signatures associated with specific positive emotional states and with arousal, confirming that differential locations of the seat of attention can be objectively associated with different emotion states, as implied in previous literature. The ability to directly manage the seat of attention into various attentional stances holds substantial potential for facilitating access to specific cognitive and emotional resources in a new way.

Integration and Causality in Enactive Approaches to Psychiatry

In this paper I address what has been called the integration problem in psychiatry. This problem is tied to conceptions of causality and explanatory levels in our understanding of mind. I take an interdisciplinary enactive perspective to develop a 3-fold method for exploring the dynamics of integration, based on a concept of dynamical causation and a non-hierarchical (level-free) notion of gestalt. I also consider Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as a test case.

Does Implicit Self-Reference Effect Occur by the Instantaneous Own-Name?

Self-reference effect (SRE) is defined as better recall or recognition performance when the materials that are memorized refer to the self. The SRE paradigm usually requires participants to explicitly refer items to themselves, but some researchers have found that the SRE also can occur for implicitly self-referenced items. Few studies though have investigated the effect of self-related stimuli without awareness. In this study, we presented self-related (participants’ names) or other (other’s names or nouns) stimuli for a very short time between masks and then explicitly presented subsequent trait adjectives to participants. Recognition performance showed no significant differences between the own-name and the other two conditions in Experiment 1 that had random-order conditions. On the other hand, the result of Experiment 2 that had block-order conditions and greater prime stimuli suggests that SRE can occur as a result of the instantaneous stimulus: Subjects who showed better memory performance also had relatively high recognition of the trait adjectives that they viewed after their instantaneously presented own-name. This effect would show that self-representation can be activated by self-related stimuli without awareness and that subsequent items are unconsciously referenced to that self-representation.

Self, Me and I in the repertoire of spontaneously occurring altered states of Selfhood: eight neurophenomenological case study reports

This study investigates eight case reports of spontaneously emerging, brief episodes of vivid altered states of Selfhood (ASoSs) that occurred during mental exercise in six long-term meditators by using a neurophenomenological electroencephalography (EEG) approach. In agreement with the neurophenomenological methodology, first-person reports were used to identify such spontaneous ASoSs and to guide the neural analysis, which involved the estimation of three operational modules of the brain self-referential network (measured by EEG operational synchrony). The result of such analysis demonstrated that the documented ASoSs had unique neurophenomenological profiles, where several aspects or components of Selfhood (measured neurophysiologically and phenomenologically) are affected and expressed differently, but still in agreement with the neurophysiological three-dimensional construct model of the complex experiential Selfhood proposed in our earlier work (Fingelkurts et al. in Conscious Cogn 86:103031. 10.1016/j.concog.2020.103031, 2020).

Self-Face Activates the Dopamine Reward Pathway without Awareness

The self-face advantage has been demonstrated not only at the supraliminal level, but also at the subliminal level. However, it remains unclear whether subliminal self-face processing involves the same neural networks as those for supraliminal self-face processing. Here, we show that the ventral tegmental area, a center of the dopamine reward pathway, exhibited greater activation to subliminal presentations of the self-face than those of the others’ faces, whereas subliminal presentations of the others’ faces induced activation in the amygdala, which generally responds to unfamiliar information. This self-other difference in brain response was consistently observed even when the facial configuration was modified without changing the shape of the facial parts. The present findings suggest that the dopamine reward pathway is involved in automatic self-advantage in face processing, and the subliminal self-other facial discrimination does not depend on information of the precise facial configuration.

Spontaneous electrical low-frequency oscillations: a possible role in Hydra and all living systems

As one of the first model systems in biology, the basal metazoan Hydra has been revealing fundamental features of living systems since it was first discovered by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in the early eighteenth century. While it has become well-established within cell and developmental biology, this tiny freshwater polyp is only now being re-introduced to modern neuroscience where it has already produced a curious finding: the presence of low-frequency spontaneous neural oscillations at the same frequency as those found in the default mode network in the human brain. Surprisingly, increasing evidence suggests such spontaneous electrical low-frequency oscillations (SELFOs) are found across the wide diversity of life on Earth, from bacteria to humans. This paper reviews the evidence for SELFOs in diverse phyla, beginning with the importance of their discovery in Hydra, and hypothesizes a potential role as electrical organism organizers, which supports a growing literature on the role of bioelectricity as a ‘template’ for developmental memory in organism regeneration.

This article is part of the theme issue ‘Basal cognition: conceptual tools and the view from the single cell’.

Self-esteem and cultural worldview buffer mortality salience effects on responses to self-face: Distinct neural mediators

Terror management theory proposes cultural worldview and self-esteem as two buffers against death anxiety. The neural mediators of these buffering effects, however, have not been fully understood. The present work investigated neural mediation mechanisms between self-esteem/cultural trait (self-construal) and mortality salience (MS) effects on self-face processing. We found that MS (vs. NA) priming eliminated self-face advantage in behavioral judgments of face-orientation in low self-esteem individuals and reduced self-face advantage in behavioral judgments of facial-familiarity in individuals with high interdependent self-construals. Our functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) results showed that, following MS priming, insular activities mediated the relationship between self-esteem and self-face advantage in face-orientation judgments, whereas dorsal medial prefrontal activity mediated the relationship between interdependent self-construal and self-face advantage in face-familiarity judgments. Our findings suggest that distinct neural mechanisms are engaged in mediating the relationships between self-esteem/cultural trait and MS effects on the emotional and cognitive processes of self-relevant information.

Brain and behaviour in post-acute stroke: Reduction in seeking and posterior cingulate neuronal variability

INTRODUCTION

Stroke is a complex event on both behavioral and neuronal grounds. Recent investigations evidence the central role of subcortical damage on the post-stroke brain and behavior reorganization. We have conducted an exploratory study combining anatomical lesion analysis, functional analysis of resting state fMRI, and behavioral assessment with focus on exploration as represented by SEEKING.

METHOD

24 stroke inpatients were studied immediately after their clinical stabilization post-stroke; neuronal variability in fMRI along with behavioral outcomes were assessed. These outcomes were compared with a control group of 22 healthy subjects.

RESULTS

First, we observed predominant subcortical lesions in our sample with all stroke patients showing subcortical lesions and only some exhibiting additional cortical lesions. Second, we observed significantly reduced neuronal variability in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) that did not show any structural damage. Third, our stroke subjects showed reduced SEEKING which was related to reduced PCC neuronal variability in an abnormal way (compared to healthy subjects). This last outcome was assessed by considering the subset of 11 stroke subjects for which fMRI and behavioral outcomes were jointly measured.

CONCLUSIONS

Taken together, our findings suggest that damage in subcortical regions may play a central role in abnormalities in both cortical activity (PCC) and associated behavior of post-stroke reorganization. Accounting for these aspects may have significant implications to optimize multidisciplinary rehabilitation processes, particularly during the early steps of recovery, reducing the impact of stroke on the patient and caregiver quality of life.

An innate brainstem self-other system involving orienting, affective responding, and polyvalent relational seeking: Some clinical implications for a "Deep Brain Reorienting" trauma psychotherapy approach

Underlying any complex relational intersubjectivity there is an inherent urge to connect, to have proximity, to engage in an experience of interpersonal contact. The hypothesis set out here is that this most basic urge to connect is dependent on circuits based in three main components: the midbrain superior colliculi (SC), the midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG), and the mesolimbic and mesocortical dopamine systems originating in the midbrain ventral tegmental area. Firstly, there is orienting towards or away from interpersonal contact, dependent on approach and/or defensive/withdrawal areas of the SC. Secondly, there is an affective response to the contact, mediated by the PAG. Thirdly, there is an associated, affectively-loaded, seeking drive based in the mesolimbic and mesocortical dopamine systems. The neurochemical milieu of these dopaminergic systems is responsive to environmental factors, creating the possibility of multiple states of functioning with different affective valences, a polyvalent range of subjectively positive and negative experiences. The recognition of subtle tension changes in skeletal muscles when orienting to an affectively significant experience or event has clinical implications for processing of traumatic memories, including those of a relational/interpersonal nature. Sequences established at the brainstem level can underlie patterns of attachment responding that repeat over many years in different contexts. The interaction of the innate system for connection with that for alarm, through circuits based in the locus coeruleus, and that for defence, based in circuits through the PAG, can lay down deep patterns of emotional and energetic responses to relational stimuli. There may be simultaneous sequences for attachment approach and defensive aggression underlying relational styles that are so deep as to be seen as personality characteristics, for example, of borderline type. A clinical approach derived from these hypotheses, Deep Brain Reorienting, is briefly outlined as it provides a way to address the somatic residues of adverse interpersonal interactions underlying relational patterns and also the residual shock and horror of traumatic experiences. We suggest that the innate alarm system involving the SC and the locus coeruleus can generate a pre-affective shock while an affective shock can arise from excessive stimulation of the PAG. Clinically significant residues can be accessed through careful, mindful, attention to orienting-tension-affect-seeking sequences when the therapist and the client collaborate on eliciting and describing them.

The neurophysiological basis of excessive daytime sleepiness: suggestions of an altered state of consciousness

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is characterized by difficulty staying awake during daytime, though additional features may be present. EDS is a significant problem for clinical and non-clinical populations, being associated with a range of negative outcomes that also represent a burden for society. Extreme EDS is associated with sleep disorders, most notably the central hypersomnias such as narcolepsy, Kleine-Levin syndrome, and idiopathic hypersomnia (IH). Although investigation of these conditions indicates that EDS results from diminished sleep quality, the underlying cause for this impairment remains uncertain. One possibility could be that previous research has been too narrow in scope with insufficient attention paid to non-sleep-related aspects. Here, we offer a broader perspective in which findings concerning the impact of EDS on cortical functioning are interpreted in relation to current understanding about the neural basis of consciousness. Alterations in the spatial distribution of cortical activity, in particular reduced connectivity of frontal cortex, suggest that EDS is associated with an altered state of consciousness.

Psychoanalysis and Affective Neuroscience. The Motivational/Emotional System of Aggression in Human Relations

This article highlights the evolutionary biological epistemology in Freud psychoanalytic theory. The concepts of aggressive and sexual drives are cornerstones of the psychoanalytic epistemological system, concerning the motivational/emotional roots of mental functioning. These biological roots of mental functioning, especially with regard to aggressive drive, have gradually faded away from psychoanalytic epistemology, as we show in this article. Currently, however, Neurosciences, and in particular Affective Neuroscience (Panksepp, 1998), can help us to have a better understanding of the biological roots of human mental functioning. The motivational/emotional systems studied by Affective Neuroscience can give a new epistemological foundation to the aggressive drive concept in psychoanalytic theory. Over the course of human evolution, motivational/emotional systems have played a role in social relationships and also in mental functioning. In this regard, among the various types of aggression (ANGER in Panksepp taxonomy 1998) that we consider in our article, inter-male aggression, also named Dominance motivational/emotional system, is that which regulates social interactions between sexually matured adults. This type of aggression acts in complementary connection with FEAR motivational/emotional system that regulate submissive behavior and social defeat, and the latter one is of the more important stressors. The interaction between aggression and FEAR motivational/emotional systems gives rise to agonistic behavior or dominance/submission motivational/emotional system, as we propose in our article. There is now a large literature that identifies in the dynamic of Competitive behavior, which is one of the main factors of mental illness. When social interactions activate the competitive behavior, the subject can perceive himself as "destined to victory" or "destined to defeat," activating either behaviors or emotions connected to the Involuntary Defeat Strategy or Involuntary Dominant Strategy (Sloman, 2002), which we can find in many types of mental disorders, for example, mood disorders or anxiety disorders.

Contemplative neuroscience, self-awareness, and education

Accumulating research in education shows that contemplative practices contribute to and foster well-being of individuals in sustainable ways. This bears special importance for teachers, as it affects not only them but also their students. Based on accumulating behavioral and neuroscientific findings, it has been suggested that a key process by which mindfulness meditation enhances self-regulation is the altering of self-awareness. Indeed, accumulated work shows that the underlying networks supporting various types of self-awareness are malleable following meditative practice. However, the field of education has developed independently from the study of the self and its relation to contemplative neuroscience thus far, and to date there is no systematic account linking this accumulating body of knowledge to the field of education or discussing how it might be relevant to teachers. Here we show how incorporating insights from contemplative neuroscience-which are built on the conceptualization and neuroscience of the self-into contemplative pedagogy can inform the field and might even serve as a core underlying mechanism tying together different empirical evidence. This review points to potential neural mechanisms by which mindfulness meditation helps teachers manage stress and promote supportive learning environments, resulting in improved educational outcomes, and thus it has significant implications for educational policy regarding teachers.

Change in emotional self-concept following socio-cognitive training relates to structural plasticity of the prefrontal cortex

INTRODUCTION

Self-referential processing is a key component of the emotional self-concept. Previous studies have shown that emotional self-referential processing is related to structure and function of cortical midline areas such as medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and that it can be altered on a behavioral level by specific mental training practices. However, it remains unknown how behavioral training-related change in emotional self-concept content relates to structural plasticity.

METHODS

To address this issue, we examined the relationship between training-induced change in participant's emotional self-concept measured through emotional word use in the Twenty Statement Test and change in cortical thickness in the context of a large-scale longitudinal mental training study called the ReSource Project.

RESULTS

Based on prior behavioral findings showing increased emotional word use particularly after socio-cognitive training targeting perspective-taking capacities, this study extended these results by revealing that individual differences in the degree to which participants changed their emotional self-concept after training was positively related to cortical thickness change in right mPFC extending to dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC). Furthermore, increased self-related negative emotional word use after training was positively associated with cortical thickness change in left pars orbitalis and bilateral dlPFC.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings reveal training-related structural brain change in regions known to be involved in self-referential processing and cognitive control, and could indicate a relationship between restructuring of the emotional self-concept content as well as reappraisal of negative aspects and cortical thickness change. As such, our findings can guide the development of psychological interventions targeted to alter specific facets of the self-concept.

Is panic disorder a disorder of physical fitness? A heuristic proposal

Currently, panic disorder (PD) is considered a mental disorder based on the assumptions that panic attacks (PAs) are “false alarms” that arise from abnormally sensitive defense systems in the central nervous system and that PD is treated with therapies specifically acting on anxiety or fear mechanisms. This article aims to propose an alternative perspective based on the results of some experimental studies. Our heuristic proposal suggests not only that PD may be a mental disorder but also that patients with PD have real abnormal body functioning, mainly involving cardiorespiratory and balance systems, leading to a decline in global physical fitness. PAs, as well as physical symptoms or discomfort in some environmental situations, may be “real alarms” signaling that the adaptability resources of an organism are insufficient to respond appropriately to some internal or external changes, thus representing the transient conscious awareness of an imbalance in body functioning. The antipanic properties of several modern treatments for PD may include their beneficial effects on body functions. Although anxiety or fear mechanisms are evidently involved in PD, we hypothesize that a reduction of physical fitness is the “primum movens” of PD, while anxiety or fear is induced and sustained by repeated signals of impaired body functioning. We propose considering panic in a broader perspective that offers a central role to the body and to contemplate the possible role of somatic treatments in PD.

Unisensory and multisensory Self-referential stimulation of the lower limb: An exploratory fMRI study on healthy subjects

BACKGROUND

The holistic view of the person is the essence of the physiotherapy. Knowledge of approaches that develop the whole person promotes better patient outcomes. Multisensory Self-referential stimulation, more than a unisensory one, seems to produce a holistic experience of the Self ("Core-Self").

OBJECTIVES

(1) To analyze the somatotopic brain activation during unisensory and multisensorial Self-referential stimulus; and (2) to understand if the areas activated by multisensorial Self-referential stimulation are the ones responsible for the "Core-Self."

METHODS

An exploratory functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was performed with 10 healthy subjects, under the stimulation of the lower limbs with three Self-referential stimuli: unisensory auditory-verbal, unisensory tactile-manual, and multisensory, applying the unisensory stimuli simultaneously.

RESULTS

Unisensory stimulation elicits bilateral activations of the temporoparietal junction (TPJ), of the primary somatosensory cortex (S1), of the primary motor cortex (BA4), of the premotor cortex (BA6) and of BA44; multisensory stimulation also elicits activity in TPJ, BA4, and BA6, and when compared with unisensory stimuli, activations were found in: (1) Cortical and subcortical midline structures-BA7 (precuneus), BA9 (medial prefrontal cortex), BA30 (posterior cingulated), superior colliculum and posterior cerebellum; and (2) Posterior lateral cortex-TPJ, posterior BA13 (insula), BA19, and BA37. Bilateral TPJ is the one that showed the biggest activation volume.

CONCLUSION

This specific multisensory stimulation produces a brain activation map in regions that are responsible for multisensory Self-processing and may represent the Core-Self. We recommend the use of this specific multisensory stimulation as a physiotherapy intervention strategy that might promote the Self-reorganization.

The Affective Core of the Self: A Neuro-Archetypical Perspective on the Foundations of Human (and Animal) Subjectivity

Psychologists usually considered the "Self" as an object of experience appearing when the individual perceives its existence within the conscious field. In accordance with such a view, the self-representing capacity of the human mind has been related to corticolimbic learning processes taking place within individual development. On the other hand, Carl Gustav Jung considered the Self as the core of our personality, in its conscious and unconscious aspects, as well as in its actual and potential forms. According to Jung, the Self originates from an inborn dynamic structure integrating the essential drives of our "brain-mind," and leading both to instinctual behavioral actions and to archetypal psychological experiences. Interestingly, recent neuroethological studies indicate that our subjective identity rests on ancient neuropsychic processes that humans share with other animals as part of their inborn constitutional repertoire. Indeed, brain activity within subcortical midline structures (SCMSs) is intrinsically related to the emergence of prototypical affective states, that not only influence our behavior in a flexible way, but alter our conscious field, giving rise to specific feelings or moods, which constitute the first form of self-orientation in the world. Moreover, such affective dynamics play a central role in the organization of individual personality and in the evolution of all other (more sophisticated) psychological functions. Therefore, on the base of the convergence between contemporary cutting-edge scientific research and some psychological intuitions of Jung, we intend here to explore the first neuroevolutional layer of human mind, that we call the affective core of the Self.

The brain on silent: mind wandering, mindful awareness, and states of mental tranquility

Mind wandering and mindfulness are often described as divergent mental states with opposing effects on cognitive performance and mental health. Spontaneous mind wandering is typically associated with self-reflective states that contribute to negative processing of the past, worrying/fantasizing about the future, and disruption of primary task performance. On the other hand, mindful awareness is frequently described as a focus on present sensory input without cognitive elaboration or emotional reactivity, and is associated with improved task performance and decreased stress-related symptomology. Unfortunately, such distinctions fail to acknowledge similarities and interactions between the two states. Instead of an inverse relationship between mindfulness and mind wandering, a more nuanced characterization of mindfulness may involve skillful toggling back and forth between conceptual and nonconceptual processes and networks supporting each state, to meet the contextually specified demands of the situation. In this article, we present a theoretical analysis and plausible neurocognitive framework of the restful mind, in which we attempt to clarify potentially adaptive contributions of both mind wandering and mindful awareness through the lens of the extant neurocognitive literature on intrinsic network activity, meditation, and emerging descriptions of stillness and nonduality. A neurophenomenological approach to probing modality-specific forms of concentration and nonconceptual awareness is presented that may improve our understanding of the resting state. Implications for future research are discussed.

Self, cortical midline structures and the resting state: Implications for Alzheimer's disease

Different aspects of the self have been reported to be affected in many neurological or psychiatric diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), including mainly higher-level cognitive self-unawareness. This higher sense of self-awareness is most likely related to and dependent on episodic memory, due to the proper integration of ourselves in time, with a permanent conservation of ourselves (i.e., sense of continuity across time). Reviewing studies in this field, our objective is thus to raise possible explanations, especially with the help of neuroimaging studies, for where such self-awareness deficits originate in AD patients. We describe not only episodic (and autobiographical memory) impairment in patients, but also the important role of cortical midline structures, the Default Mode Network, and the resting state (intrinsic brain activity) for the processing of self-related information.

Special medical conditions associated with catatonia in the internal medicine setting: hyponatremia-inducing psychosis and subsequent catatonia

Diagnosis and treatment of catatonia in the psychiatry consultation service is not infrequent. Usually, the patient either presents to the Emergency Department or develops catatonia on the medical floor. This condition manifests with significant behavioral changes (from mildly decreased speech output to complete mutism) that interfere with the ability to communicate. After structural brain disorders are excluded, one of the diagnoses that always should be considered is catatonia. However, the causes of catatonia are numerous, ranging from psychiatric causes to a plethora of medical illnesses. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are many proposed underlying mechanisms of catatonia and that controversy persists about the etiology of specific cases.There are only 6 reports of hyponatremia-induced catatonia and psychosis in the literature. Here, we present the case of a 30-year-old woman with catatonia and psychosis induced by hyponatremia, and we use this report to exemplify the multitude of biologic causes of catatonia and to propose a new way to look at the neuroanatomical basis of processing, particularly the vertical processing systems we believe are involved in catatonia.

Evolutionary aspects of self- and world consciousness in vertebrates

Although most aspects of world and self-consciousness are inherently subjective, neuroscience studies in humans and non-human animals provide correlational and causative indices of specific links between brain activity and representation of the self and the world. In this article we review neuroanatomic, neurophysiological and neuropsychological data supporting the hypothesis that different levels of self and world representation in vertebrates rely upon (i) a “basal” subcortical system that includes brainstem, hypothalamus and central thalamic nuclei and that may underpin the primary (or anoetic) consciousness likely present in all vertebrates; and (ii) a forebrain system that include the medial and lateral structures of the cerebral hemispheres and may sustain the most sophisticated forms of consciousness [e.g., noetic (knowledge based) and autonoetic, reflective knowledge]. We posit a mutual, bidirectional functional influence between these two major brain circuits. We conclude that basic aspects of consciousness like primary self and core self (based on anoetic and noetic consciousness) are present in many species of vertebrates and that, even self-consciousness (autonoetic consciousness) does not seem to be a prerogative of humans and of some non-human primates but may, to a certain extent, be present in some other mammals and birds

Trauma-related dissociation and altered states of consciousness: a call for clinical, treatment, and neuroscience research

The primary aim of this commentary is to describe trauma-related dissociation and altered states of consciousness in the context of a four-dimensional model that has recently been proposed (Frewen & Lanius, 2015). This model categorizes symptoms of trauma-related psychopathology into (1) those that occur within normal waking consciousness and (2) those that are dissociative and are associated with trauma-related altered states of consciousness (TRASC) along four dimensions: (1) time; (2) thought; (3) body; and (4) emotion. Clinical applications and future research directions relevant to each dimension are discussed. Conceptualizing TRASC across the dimensions of time, thought, body, and emotion has transdiagnostic implications for trauma-related disorders described in both the Diagnostic Statistical Manual and the International Classifications of Diseases. The four-dimensional model provides a framework, guided by existing models of dissociation, for future research examining the phenomenological, neurobiological, and physiological underpinnings of trauma-related dissociation.

Toward a Better Understanding of Self-Construal Theory: An Agency View of the Processes of Self-Construal

This article offers a novel perspective on self-construal theory. Self-construal concerns how individuals understand who they are in relation to the broad set of cultural influences in which they live. We look at the nature and antecedents of self-construal, and characterize it as a self-process, rather than self-knowledge. Integrating work from the literature on social and evolutionary psychology, and philosophy, we suggest that the differences between independent and interdependent self-construal are best understood from a self-agency perspective. This concerns how people assess whether they are the causes of an action and, if so, whether their causal role depends on other people. We introduce and discuss the roles of 3 different modalities of agency involved in self-agency assessment: implicit (sensorimotor), intermediate (self-related affordances), and explicit (reflective) self-agency. We offer a conceptual model on how self-agency relates to power, evolutionary motivations and to social and cultural affordances, in the formation of, and interaction with, different types of dominant independent and interdependent self-construals.

Transprocessing: a proposed neurobiological mechanism of psychotherapeutic processing

How does the human brain absorb information and turn it into skills of its own in psychotherapy? In an attempt to answer this question, the authors will review the intricacies of processing channels in psychotherapy and propose the term transprocessing (as in transduction and processing combined) for the underlying mechanisms. Through transprocessing the brain processes multimodal memories and creates reparative solutions in the course of psychotherapy. Transprocessing is proposed as a stage-sequenced mechanism of deconstruction of engrained patterns of response. Through psychotherapy, emotional-cognitive reintegration and its consolidation is accomplished. This process is mediated by cellular and neural plasticity changes.

Oxytocin's role in anxiety: a critical appraisal

A growing literature suggests that the oxytocin (OT) system may play a role in human anxiety states, anxiety-related traits, and moreover, that this system may be a target for the development of novel anxiolytic treatments. However, studies of OT's acute and chronic effects on various aspects of anxiety have produced mixed results. In this forward-looking review, we discuss the myriad phenomena to which the term "anxiety" is applied in the OT literature and the problem this presents developing a coherent picture of OT's role in anxiety. We then survey several different fields of research that support the role of the OT system in human anxiety, including evolutionary perspectives, translational and neuroimaging research, genetic studies, and clinical trials of intranasal OT. As an outgrowth of this data, we propose a "bowtie" model of OT's role at the interface of social attachment and anxiety. We next direct attention to understudied brain regions and neural circuits which may be important to study in OT experiments in humans anxiety disorders. Finally, we conclude by proposing questions and priorities for studying both the clinical potential of OT in anxiety, as well as mechanisms that may underlie this potential. Crucially, these priorities include targeted proof-of-concept clinical trials of IN OT in certain anxiety disorders, including investigations of individual moderators of OT's anxiolytic effects (i.e. sex, genetic factors, and early experience). This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Oxytocin and Social Behav.

Identity in schizophrenia: a study of trait self-knowledge

Identity results from interlock of two systems which are a set of abstracted representations about oneself and a phenomenological self. Literature highlights identity disturbance in schizophrenia that affects each of both systems. In the same vein, the present study investigates the stability and the quality of traits self-knowledge, a component of abstracted representations of self, in schizophrenia patients. Sixty-eight patients with schizophrenia and 68 healthy control subjects completed a short version of a personality scale (LABEL). This scale is composed of two versions (A and B), each comprising 50 adjectives that correspond to synonymous adjectives in the alternate list. Participants indicated how these adjectives described themselves and completed both versions of the scale on two separate occasions, one month apart. The findings showed that schizophrenic patients presented an unstable identity and change in identity quality compared with healthy subjects. However, this identity disturbance was weaker than expected. These results are discussed in a part of autobiographical memory disturbances in schizophrenia, illness duration and the decompensation stage.

Transprocessing: neurobiologic mechanisms of change during psychotherapy-a proposal based on a case report

This article proposes transprocessing (as in "transduction" and "processing") as a term to denote mechanisms by which the brain processes information in psychotherapy and develops solutions that have a lasting, curative effect. The case of a woman with a history of posttraumatic conversions, who recovered after long-term psychotherapy, is presented as the basis for a discussion on psychotherapeutic changes of the brain. Psychological healing and change, in general, is seen here as a result of a large variety of neurobiologic processes that reframe complex or multimodal memories. Through transprocessing, multimodal memories are deconstructed along the different axes of the brain tissue and restored through memory mechanisms at the synaptic, cellular level. Transprocessing requires a sustained interplay between the extended projections of the "language brain" and the repeated, alternating activation and deactivation of the midline structures associated with the self, to form pathways through long-term therapeutic experiences. We propose three separate stages of transprocessing by which new implicit and explicit memories of the therapeutic narrative are internalized into a first-person experience. Those stages are 1) evaluation, 2) acquisition, and 3) contextualization.

Preserved self-awareness following extensive bilateral brain damage to the insula, anterior cingulate, and medial prefrontal cortices

It has been proposed that self-awareness (SA), a multifaceted phenomenon central to human consciousness, depends critically on specific brain regions, namely the insular cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Such a proposal predicts that damage to these regions should disrupt or even abolish SA. We tested this prediction in a rare neurological patient with extensive bilateral brain damage encompassing the insula, ACC, mPFC, and the medial temporal lobes. In spite of severe amnesia, which partially affected his “autobiographical self”, the patient's SA remained fundamentally intact. His Core SA, including basic self-recognition and sense of self-agency, was preserved. His Extended SA and Introspective SA were also largely intact, as he has a stable self-concept and intact higher-order metacognitive abilities. The results suggest that the insular cortex, ACC and mPFC are not required for most aspects of SA. Our findings are compatible with the hypothesis that SA is likely to emerge from more distributed interactions among brain networks including those in the brainstem, thalamus, and posteromedial cortices.