Minds and Brains, Sleep and Psychiatry

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Philosophy of Mind

Background:

• The mind and brain are viewed as emergent aspects of the same neuronal dynamics, termed the brain-mind.
• Sleep research provides insights into the integration of dreaming phenomenology and neurophysiology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the applicability of dual aspect monism to psychiatric pathophysiology and psychopathology.
• To propose a philosophical thesis for psychiatric disorders grounded in mind-brain truths.

Main Methods:

• Starting with the brain-mind as emergent neuronal dynamics.
• Treating the brain as an organ of inference, focusing on precision and uncertainty in belief updating.
• Integrating sleep research findings on dreaming and neurophysiology.

Main Results:

• Synaptic dysconnection syndromes exhibit a dual aspect: aberrant inference/belief updating and impaired neuromodulatory synaptic gain control.
• The brain's role as an inference engine highlights the significance of precision in belief updating and synaptic mechanisms.

Conclusions:

• A dual aspect approach, integrating belief updating (mind) and neurophysiology (brain), offers broad explanatory power for psychiatry and movement disorders.
• This framework identifies pathophysiological underpinnings of psychopathology and suggests psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological targets with mechanistic links.