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Updated: Aug 8, 2026
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Perspectives on Neuroscience
Published on: July 31, 2007
Reflections on the interaction of the mind and brain
1Center for Neuroscience, University of California at Davis, 95616, USA.
Progress in Neurobiology
|May 6, 2006
Summary
The mind-brain interaction involves a non-physical "cerebral mental field" (CMF) generated by neuronal activity. Subjective experiences, including sensory awareness, arise from unconscious brain processes and are subjectively experienced as immediate due to temporal referral.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Philosophy of Mind
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- The mind-brain interaction remains a complex problem, with the mind often considered a non-physical phenomenon.
- The concept of a "cerebral mental field" (CMF) is proposed as a system property arising from neuronal activity to explain this interaction.
Observation:
- Intracranial and extracranial techniques reveal time delays in processing sensory information.
- Subjective sensory experiences, such as somatosensation, exhibit a delay of up to 0.5 seconds in their generation.
- Unconscious cerebral processes precede the emergence of subjective sensory awareness.
Findings:
- The
Implications:
- All subjective mental events may originate unconsciously, challenging traditional notions of conscious initiation.
- The brain employs a temporal referral mechanism, subjectively antedating experiences to align with neural events.
- The cerebral mental field (CMF) theory offers a framework for correlating non-physical mental phenomena with measurable brain activity.
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