Coupling Inner and Outer Body for Self-Consciousness.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Psychology

Background:

• Current self-consciousness research often separates exteroceptive (external) and interoceptive (internal visceral) bodily signals.
• Limited research explores the interaction between these two signal types in shaping self-consciousness.
• Existing models do not fully account for the integrated nature of bodily information processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and synthesize evidence on interoceptive processing and combined exteroceptive-interoceptive signals for self-consciousness.
• To propose a novel integrated neural system model for self-consciousness.
• To explain fundamental aspects of self-consciousness, including self-identification and self-location, through this integrated system.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature review of recent studies on bodily signals and self-consciousness.
• Analysis of evidence integrating exteroceptive and interoceptive bodily processing.
• Theoretical modeling of an integrated neural system for self-consciousness.

Main Results:

• Identified a gap in research focusing on the interaction between exteroceptive and interoceptive bodily signals.
• Proposed a unified neural framework that reconciles separate approaches to bodily signal processing.
• Demonstrated how this integrated system accounts for self-identification, self-location, and the unity/continuity of self.

Conclusions:

• An integrated neural system, combining external and internal bodily signals, is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of self-consciousness.
• This integrated model provides a more complete explanation for core components of self-experience, such as self-identification and temporal continuity.
• Future research should focus on empirically testing this integrated neural system model.