Extracting reliable neurobiological biomarkers for complex subjective experiences isn ' t easy

"The self is the psychological counterpart of the default mode functionality of the brain. " (Scalabrini et al., 2021).The self studying how " The Self " is represented and constructed by the brain is apex meta-neuroscience.1 We can say that the self is a manifestation (or an illusory byproduct) of activity in thedefault mode network (medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus, and angular gyrus), but what does this really mean? How do we relate specific neural states to aspects of a changeable self? In a field increasingly focused onremote control of genetically-defined microciruits, pinning down subjective internal phenomena seems presumptuous and hopelessly overambitious.But of course, the inherent challenge of studying complex subjective experiences hasn ' t stopped scientists from trying. One active area of research involves characterizing the neural correlates of internal responses to traumatic events. This is of great clinical relevance, because the long-term persistence of fear, hypervigilance, negative affect, and intrusive memories after trauma can be disabling (post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD). Alterations in one ' s sense of self (dissociation) can also occur in PTSD, and is the focus of the rest of this post. Dissociative symptoms can include:Depersonalization: Persistent or recurrent experiences of feeling detached from, and as if one were an outside observer of, one ’s mental processes or body (e.g., feeling as though one were in a dr...

Source: The Neurocritic - July 31, 2022 Category: Neuroscience Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs