Experimental Psychology, University College London, UK.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2022 Sep;140:104772. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104772. Epub 2022 Jul 11.
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.
大多数关于语言神经生物学的研究都忽略了意识，反之亦然。在这里，语言（侧重于内部言语）被假设为产生和维持自我意识，即更高阶的意识。本文回顾了支持这一假设的综合证据。为了解释这些发现，提出了一个语言、内部言语和意识的“整体”神经生物学模型。它涉及一组核心的内部言语产生区域，这些区域启动了对感觉和听到单词的体验。这些区域具有情感品质，源于对相关感觉、运动和情感代表的激活，涉及到一个广泛的无意识动态“外围”，分布在整个大脑中。对这些单词的反应构成了持续网络活动的基础，涉及“默认模式”的激活以及前额叶和丘脑/脑干对上下文相关反应的选择。本文回顾了该模型的证据，支持了已进行的神经影像学荟萃分析，并与其他意识理论进行了比较。整体模型构成了对“意识的神经相关物”的更简洁和完整的解释，对心理健康和幸福的机械论解释具有重要意义。
