Concept Of Mind Research Articles

A unified understanding of the human mind — a neuroethical perspective

Abstract This article, titled “A Unified Understanding of the Human Mind - A Neuroethical Perspective,” examines the evolution of the concept of the human mind in Western thought and its integration with neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry, and relational dimensions. The author explores how the understanding of the mind has changed over time, influenced by shifts in philosophical paradigms, scientific advancements, and societal perspectives. The article traces the historical development of the mind’s concept, starting from ancient Greece, through influential thinkers like Plato and René Descartes, and progressing to contemporary perspectives. It highlights various philosophical and scientific approaches, including structuralism, functionalism, empiricism, and associationism, which have shaped our understanding of the mind. The article also delves into contemporary integration, where advancements in neuroimaging and the rise of holistic approaches offer a more nuanced understanding of the human mind. The author emphasizes the importance of the relational dimension and the interconnectedness of mental processes, the brain, and the external environment. This integrated perspective can benefit psychiatric treatment and psychological assessments by fostering a holistic approach to mental health. In conclusion, the article advocates for a multidimensional perspective that bridges subjective and objective aspects of human experience, offering promise for theoretical knowledge and practical applications in psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience.

RP, Pronunciation preference polls, dynamic synchrony and SSB Pronunciation

We first look at various aspects of RP (Received Pronunciation). One particular aspect of RP that is emphasized is its intelligibility (comprehensibility). Reproduced in this connection are results of a survey conducted by a polling organization on ‘intelligibility’ of British English pronunciation varieties. The concept of ‘dynamic synchrony’, as distinct from ‘static synchrony’, is brought in and explained at fair length. With this concept in mind, we look into the fact that many individual British English speakers show preference for different alternative pronunciations of words (e.g. absurd with [‑s‑] or [‑z‑]; 'contribute or con'tribute). We investigate if such different pronunciation choices correlate with ages, i.e. young speakers, old speakers; born before or after such-and-such year? We closely consult all three editions of Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (LPD) compiled by John Christopher Wells which contains detailed results of his 1988 and 1998 pronunciation preference surveys. LPD records pronunciation details found in ‘a modernized version of the type known as Received Pronunciation, or RP [Wells’s block letters]’ (LPD3: xix). Finally there will be a discussion concentrating on Geoffrey Lindsey’s recent book English after RP (2019) which shows the relationship between regressive RP and progressive SSB (Standard Southern British) pronunciation at the present time.

‘Mind’ and ‘mental’: extended, pluralistic, eliminated

The terms ‘mind’ and ‘mental’ are used to refer to different phenomena across and within at least philosophy, psychology, psychiatry, and cognitive science. My main aim in this paper is to argue that the terms ‘mind’ and ‘mental’ are in this way ‘pluralistic’, and to explore the different options for responding to this situation. I advocate for a form of pluralistic eliminativism about the terms ‘mind’ and ‘mental’, ‘mind concept eliminativism,’ because I believe that current use of the terms results in both public and scientific confusions that hamper progress on important issues and increase stigma around certain vulnerable groups.

Professor Klaus Fassbender: The Father of Mobile Stroke Units.

Professor Klaus Fassbender is a distinguished neurologist from Germany, widely recognized for his groundbreaking contributions to the fields of neurology and neurodegenerative disease. His work has been pivotal in advancing our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, as well as in refining therapeutic strategies for their treatment. His studies in cerebrovascular disease have elucidated the complex molecular and cellular processes involved in ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, leading to the development of novel therapeutic interventions, often bridging the gap between laboratory discoveries and their application in clinical settings. Professor Klaus Fassbender is "the father" of the mobile stroke unit (MSU). With the "time is brain" concept in mind, he proposed and developed the MSU concept for the first time, allowing prehospital stroke imaging, diagnosis, and treatment directly at the site of emergency.This concept reduced times between symptoms onset and treatment, resulting in an increased proportion of patients receiving treatment within "the golden hour" and leading to the improvement of functional outcomes at 90 days. Professor Fassbender's work has been instrumental in shaping contemporary approaches to diagnosing and managing stroke and neurodegenerative disease, making him a leading figure in modern neurology.

Life, sense-making, and subjectivity. Why the enactive conception of life and mind requires phenomenology

One of the ideas that characterises the enactive approach to cognition is that life and mind are deeply continuous, which means that both phenomena share the same basic set of organisational and phenomenological properties. The appeal to phenomenology to address life and basic cognition is controversial. It has been argued that, because of its reliance on phenomenological categories, enactivism may implicitly subscribe to a form of anthropomorphism incompatible with the modern scientific framework. These worries are a result of a lack of clarity concerning the role that phenomenology can play in relation to biology and our understanding of non-human organisms. In this paper, I examine whether phenomenology can be validly incorporated into the enactive conception of mind and life. I argue that enactivists must rely on phenomenology when addressing life and mind so that they can properly conceptualise minimal living systems as cognitive, as well as argue for an enactive conception of biology in line with their call for a non-objectivist science. To sustain these claims, I suggest that enactivism must be further phenomenologised by not only drawing from Hans Jonas’s phenomenology of the organism (as enactivists often do) but also from Edmund Husserl’s thoughts on the connection between transcendental phenomenology and biology. Additionally, phenomenology must be considered capable of providing explanatory accounts of phenomena

Gaze and Arrows: Does the Gaze-Following Patch in the Posterior Temporal Cortex Differentiate Social and Symbolic Spatial Cues?

The gaze-following patch (GFP) is located in the posterior temporal cortex and has been described as a cortical module dedicated to processing other people's gaze-direction in a domain-specific manner. Thus, it appears to be the neural correlate of Baron-Cohen's eye direction detector (EDD) which is one of the core modules in his mindreading system-a neurocognitive model for the theory of mind concept. Inspired by Jerry Fodor's ideas on the modularity of the mind, Baron-Cohen proposed that, among other things, the individual modules are domain specific. In the case of the EDD, this means that it exclusively processes eye-like stimuli to extract gaze-direction and that other stimuli, which may carry directional information as well, are processed elsewhere. If the GFP is indeed EDD's neural correlate, it must meet this expectation. To test this, we compared the GFP's BOLD activity during gaze-direction following with the activity during arrow-direction following in the present human fMRI study. Contrary to the expectation based on the assumption of domain specificity, we did not find a differentiation between gaze- and arrow-direction following. In fact, we were not able to reproduce the GFP as presented in the previous studies. A possible explanation is that in the present study-unlike the previous work-the gaze stimuli did not contain an obvious change of direction that represented a visual motion. Hence, the critical stimulus component responsible for the identification of the GFP in the previous experiments might have been visual motion.

Architectures for immersive performances in the green, digital and inclusive transition

This paper reports studies and project experiments being developed in researches financed by local authorities, the Ministry of University and Research with the support of NextGenerationEU and the European Commission. The work investigates the potential of culture, creativity and natural and built heritage in the green, digital and inclusive transition and is focused on the creation of sustainable, inclusive, beautiful spaces, involving the collaboration among different disciplines (architecture, music and immersive sound, visual arts, social sciences, and neuroscience). The studied spaces aim to create material and immaterial architectures, characterized by circular processes and therefore adaptable, flexible, removable, repositionable and reusable. We foresee the use of material elements (building products) and immaterial elements (sounds, images, colors, lights) to define spaces intended for the diffusion of different cultural forms and to implement the attractiveness of places afflicted by processes of abandonment and social degradation. Ideas, criteria and solutions for architecture and sound and video technologies (aimed at the definition of spaces whose perception involves full use of the senses as well as the application of the extended mind concept) will be presented to promote environmentally, economically and socially sustainable transformations of natural and built habitats for new forms of cultural diffusion.

Analisis Perilaku Komunikasi Anggota Komunitas Meme Comic Indonesia Di Facebook

This research is motivated by the proliferation of memes, which have become a new trend in communication on social media, including Facebook. Meme Comic Indonesia (MCI) is one of the popular Facebook groups for sharing memes, with its members consisting of hundreds of thousands of individuals from various regions. The aim of this research is to analyze the communication behavior of meme-sharing among the members of the Meme Comic Indonesia group on Facebook. The study employs a qualitative approach with data collection techniques such as observation, interviews, and documentation. The theoretical framework used in this research is the theory of symbolic interactionism, which comprises three main concepts: mind, self, and society. The results of the research indicate that, in the mind concept, group members share relatively similar motivations and thought patterns in interpreting and using memes as a means of self-expression and entertainment. In the self concept, members shape their online identities and self-images through shared memes to gain acceptance within their Facebook community. In the society concept, simultaneous interactions among Facebook members contribute to a shared understanding of evolving memes over time. The communication behavior of Meme Comic Indonesia group members includes interactions through comments, likes, and the exchange of information through memes. Social interactions among group members in interpreting memes contribute to a shared understanding that can evolve with the passage of time..

The Unconscious Conflicts, Desires, and Traumas in Selected Contemporary Short Stories in the Philippines

This analysis investigated the application of psychoanalytic theory to unveil the unconscious motivations and inner struggles within characters of contemporary Philippine short stories. Inspired by Freud's concept of the unconscious mind, the study examined how seemingly trivial actions, dreams, and dialogue exposed hidden desires and conflicts. It further explored how characters grapple with past traumas, a core concept in psychoanalysis. This analysis employed a direct content analysis approach to explore how contemporary Philippine short stories depict unconscious conflicts, desires, and traumas. The concise format of short stories was advantageous, allowing for a focused examination of characters' inner lives and the subtle clues revealing hidden desires, conflicts, and fears. Purposive sampling identified works that demonstrably engaged with these themes. A close reading of the chosen stories followed, meticulously examining the text for key elements and recurring patterns. Thematic analysis techniques were then used to identify and analyze these recurring themes. Literary devices like dreams, symbols, and free indirect discourse were pinpointed within the stories, as they offer insights into unconscious motivations. Researchers then analyzed how these devices connect to relevant psychoanalytic concepts, including Freudian theory of the unconscious, unresolved traumas, and defense mechanisms. Recognizing the study's focus on the Philippines, the analysis likely considered the influence of societal expectations and traditions on the characters' unconscious conflicts. This involved examining how the specific cultural context shapes the stories' portrayals of the unconscious mind. By examining language, dreams, fantasies, and behaviors, psychoanalytic therapy sheds light on underlying conflicts, desires, and defense mechanisms influencing an individual's psychology. This study focused specifically on three elements of the unconscious: conflicts, desires, and traumas. Analyzing literary works demonstrated how these unconscious forces significantly impact thoughts, feelings, and actions. However, the analysis acknowledged limitations such as subjective interpretations and confirmation bias. Further research exploring other aspects of the unconscious offered a more comprehensive understanding of these complex dynamics.

A review on Ayurvedic concept of Mind with emphasis on Medhya Rasayana

Ayurveda, a five-millennium-old science rooted in the Vedas, encompasses profound insights into health and healing. The traditional Indian medical system perceive the mind and body as complementary parts of one’s entity and purports to preserve the balance between the duo for enhanced quality of life. Moreover, the World Health Organization defines health as a condition of whole physical, mental, and social well-being rather than only the absence of illness or disability, indicating the significance of mind covering the mental health component. The term mind in Ayurveda is referred to as the Manas, and it is one among the Tristhuna, the three pillars quintessential for a healthy life. Acharya Caraka has included Manas in Adhyatama Dravya Guna Sangraha, since true perceptions occur only when Manas is actively engaged with the body and senses. Satva and Chetas are considered as synonyms of Manas. Also, Rashipurusha involved in Srishti Utpatti is depicted as an amalgamation of Atma, Buddhi, Indriya, Manas, Indriyaartha, and Mano-Vishyas. The Satva is considered as unique Guna entity of Manas while Rajas and Tamas are Mano- Doshas. Swastha Avastha of Sareera is invariably linked to Satva Guna where on the contrary Mano-Doshas manifest as diseases. Acharya Caraka emphasizes that whatever comes under the purview of Mana and its knowledge are all its Vishayas, Chintana being the most important. The use of Medhya Rasayana has been advocated in Ayurveda in this regard for its supreme functioning and to ward off diseases caused by Sareerika and Manasika Doshas.

Fresh thinking about Neo-genetic and Social Perspectives of Mind Upload capabilities beyond the Biological Human Body

The concept of mind upload into a machine has become a popular topic that has attracted further investigations by both the community of practice and scholarly researchers. Technological advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have enhanced knowledge about mind upload capabilities. The development of these capabilities has reached an important milestone: let the technology advance further without controlled intervention that addresses ethical and sociological apprehensions or balance these developments through the introduction of proper legislation that acts in the best interests of the individual and society, irrespective of culture and geography. This research recommends that more focus should be on finding human mind upload sociological issues and the laws and regulations associated with these. Involved parties must engage in more effective and visible collaboration and co-operation to put the interests of individuals and society first during the development of mind upload options and solutions.

Aggregate Boid behavior to aid in artificial autopoietic organization

Analyzing carbon-based life on earth can lead to biased inferences on the nature of life as might exist in elsewhere in the universe in alternative forms, therefore, scientists have looked into either abstracting life into constituent systems it is comprised of, or logics of life, or lists of essential criteria, or essential dynamic patterning that characterizes the living. A system-level characterization that is and referred to as a general pattern of minimal life is autopoiesis (Varela et al., 1974) including production, maintenance and replacement of required constituents for setting up and maintaining an internal environment with self/other separation that regulates and is constitutive of processes that produce the environment and components for processes that comprise this ongoing activity of self-production in ‘recursively’, i.e., in a manner that allows the organizational pattern to continually reconstitute the conditions, components and processes required for its own perpetuation. This seminal concept of an autopoiesis is instantiated in life as we know it, but might also be instantiated in different media and in unforeseen ways. Other researchers have argued life is more than autopoiesis and that it is a co-emergent property of autopoiesis and cognition. Life produces many emergent properties such as synchronization and patterns as seen in flocks and herds of different animal species. The mechanics of this synchrony displayed in flocks and herd animals has been extracted by Craig Reynolds into a generative model referred to as “Boids”. With these concepts in mind, we address the following research question: How can the synchronous maneuvers and aggregate behavior of Boids contribute to constitutive subsystems in realizing an autopoietic system? Can such a system exhibit minimal cognition? This work attempts to answer these questions with a bottom-up approach to constructing an artificial life system. We exhibit a computational model of autopoiesis and a minimal level of cognition in the sense of M. Bitbol and P. Luigi Luisi, whereby an autopoietic entity engages in active assimilation of external components as part of its activity of self-production.

Энактивистский подход как выход из «ловушки когнитивизма»: реабилитация субъектности

The article substantiates the importance of the subjectness position in the study of cognitive processes. The subject cannot be either eliminated or considered as a mere “carrier” and “mediator” of cognitive abilities; it is necessary to study the whole variety of subjective ex­perience and the possibilities of its empirical fixation and measurability discovered by phe­nomenology. The article argues that the radical separation of cognitive processes from con­sciousness creates a kind of explanatory gap in scientific theories. According to the author, the “trap of cognitivism” arises if the cognitive process is viewed as the solution of predeter­mined tasks (assigned to the system from the outside), where the mind is essentially a cogni­tive unconscious, which deepens the gap between “computational” and phenomenological mind and leaves no room for subjectness. The article proves the productivity of the enac­tivist approach from the position of coherence of the concept of mind as a dynamic system and phenomenological explanation of the experience of subjectness, since autonomous agents create their own cognitive domains, which allows them to endow information with new meanings and perform situational actions relevant to the environment.

Acquiring and modeling abstract commonsense knowledge via conceptualization

Conceptualization, or viewing entities and situations as instances of abstract concepts in mind and making inferences based on that, is a vital component in human intelligence for commonsense reasoning. Despite recent progress in artificial intelligence to acquire and model commonsense attributed to neural language models and commonsense knowledge graphs (CKGs), conceptualization is yet to be introduced thoroughly, making current approaches ineffective to cover knowledge about countless diverse entities and situations in the real world. To address the problem, we thoroughly study the role of conceptualization in commonsense reasoning, and formulate a framework to replicate human conceptual induction by acquiring abstract knowledge about events regarding abstract concepts, as well as higher-level triples or inferences upon them. We then apply the framework to ATOMIC, a large-scale human-annotated CKG, aided by the taxonomy Probase. We annotate a dataset on the validity of contextualized conceptualizations from ATOMIC on both event and triple levels, develop a series of heuristic rules based on linguistic features, and train a set of neural models to generate and verify abstract knowledge. Based on these components, a pipeline to acquire abstract knowledge is built. A large abstract CKG upon ATOMIC is then induced, ready to be instantiated to infer about unseen entities or situations. Finally, we empirically show the benefits of augmenting CKGs with abstract knowledge in downstream tasks like commonsense inference and zero-shot commonsense QA.

Interpreting Freudian Concept of Mind and Unconscious at the Time of Fall of Positivism

This comment aims to bring Psychoanalysis as the precursor of a new vision about mental processes and the mind as a whole and allies this discovery to the change in the scientific thinking at the time of the beginning of Psychoanalysis, exemplified by the evolutions of quantum and relativistic physics, in counterpoint to the positivism in vogue, i.e., Freud showed a non-positivist thinking elaborating the Psychoanalysis. For this reason, it contextualizes the theories in relation to the brain and to the brain functions at the time of Freud, that sought in each brain region the correspondent for specific functions, exemplified mainly by Gall's phrenology. Although regional correspondents to the function of language have been found, such as Wernicke's and Broca's areas, it has not been possible to date to find specific locations for complex emotions and the behavior, even with Luria's attempts. The possible analysis of a mind that goes beyond the morpho-physiological limits of the brain was Freud's great contribution to the evolution of a scientific thinking regarding mental disorders. Finally, in this text, we intend to place Psychoanalysis as a non-positivist precursor of mind studies.

Prehistory, anti-Cartesianism, and the first-person viewpoint

AbstractThe concept of mind is widely used in today’s debates on the lives, behavior, and cognition of prehistoric hominins. It is therefore presumably an important concept. Yet it is very rarely defined, and in most cognitive-archaeological literature, it does not seem to point to anything distinctive. In recent years, talk of minds has also been criticized as being internalistic and dualistic, in supposed contrast to new materialistic and externalistic approaches. In this paper, I aim to defend a different concept of mind which can be used in theorizing about prehistoric hominin cognition. In short, my concept is simply that of the first-person viewpoint, understood in a naturalized manner, and as characterized by intentionality. The discussion proceeds by examining what I perceive to be three prevailing misconceptions about minds, which I derive mainly from the archaeological literature. I use this discussion to outline my own concept of mind, as well as to defend it against the frequently heard criticisms of dualism and internalism. In the final parts, I briefly discuss some potential practical applications of an intentional approach to past minds. Here I focus on certain conceptual problems in debates on symbolic cognition.

Conceptions of mind in young learners with ADHD syndrome. Phenomenographic perspective

The paper explores the concepts of mind in young learners with ADHD syndrome: How do they experience and conceptualize their own minds? To what extend are they able to explain the mental operations activated during learning? Which of these processes do they consider to be the most important in their learning? What are the educational consequences of such perception? The article consists of four parts. The first provides the reader with a short though comprehensive theoretical backgrounds, including a critical review of latest research on the subject. Second part describes the methodology of phenomenographic research conducted with 8-years old students suffering from ADHD syndrom (N = 25). The results of interviews (both on iconic and verbal expressions’ levels) constitute the main body of the text. The subjects were asked to imagine their mind being an unusual machine, and then draw and explain how such mind-machine would work while learning. Four conceptions of mind were elicited and described: a/ mind as an untamed mystery; b/ as a memory card; c/ as a processing center, and d/ as a control panel. The results were discuss in terms of their limitations, the possibilities of extending the research on metacognitive potential of children suffering from ADHD syndrom, and consequences to pedagogical practice. The paper is addressed to educators, both scientific researchers and elementary teachers, to help them understand the way students with ADHD perceive and interpret their learning environment and one's own mind's potential.

Transformativism and Expressivity in Hegel’s Philosophy of Mind

Abstract According to a major trend in Hegel scholarship, Hegel advocates a McDowell-style transformativist conception of the human mind. Central to this conception is a methodological dualism, according to which phenomena belonging to the rational mind, in contrast to those belonging to non-rational nature, must be accounted for from within the ‘space of reasons.’ In this paper I argue, by contrast, that Hegel rejects methodological dualism. For Hegel, a constitutive aspect of the rational mind is the activity of expression. I show how Hegel’s philosophy of mind adequately accounts for low-level forms of expressivity without appealing to capacities connected to conceptual thought and judgment, and that he does so by drawing on methods similar to those employed within the empirical sciences of his time. Thus, for Hegel, the sphere of the rational mind is broader than the McDowellian space of reasons.

A harmonisation approach to traditional Chinese medicine registration in Asian countries

The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industry is critical to not only for public health but also for economic growth. According to the European Union (EU) directives, under the EU framework for (traditional) herbal medicinal products, herbal medicines with long history of use can be registered in EU. However, there is a condition in this directive in which only those that have at least 10–15 years in the EU market are accepted for registration and/or marketing authorization. In author opinion, the condition of 10–15 years of use in EU countries set within the EU regulatory framework is with consideration of the genetic differences which can result in variation in adverse drug responses among different world populations. With this concept in mind, it is reasonable to project the principal of the EU directive to the Asian countries where TCM is originated. Countries like China, Singapore, Japan and South Korea that have well established drug registration framework are in best position in executing the best practice and facilitate harmonization of registration for TCM within the region. Furthermore, the registration process itself allows more safety and efficacy data to be collected systemically before and after product registration/marketing authorization. These are valuable information for future drug development. The therapeutic value of TCM is limitless, it has been left out in the EU regulatory framework, and the opportunity for it to be expanded and carried forward in modern medicines is shadowed by the limited number of TCM that are qualified to be registered under the EU regulatory framework. An early establishment of a harmonized risk-based registration process for TCM in Asian countries is important. This will strengthen the database to substantiate the history of safe use and further preserving and expanding the therapeutic values of TCM within and beyond the Asian region.

Jung's Erotic Phenomenology: I. A New Translation.

In the introduction to The Psychology of the Transference (1946), Carl Jung sketched out a theory of "erotic phenomenology" which condenses his teaching about sexuality and romantic love into a very concise summary. But the meaning of this passage is obscured in the English translation given in the Collected Works of C. G. Jung. I propose here a new translation which makes Jung's meaning clearer, along with a commentary which explains it in the context of Freudian drive theory and German 19th century philosophy. Invoking the concepts of instinct, mind, and Eros (both the passion and the divine figure), Jung's theory says that male sexual desire can be cultivated or repressed in four distinct ways, each associated with a female symbolic figure or anima image: Eve, Helen, Mary and Sophia.