Serotonin and consciousness - A reappraisal
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Clinic, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054 Erlangen, Germany; Centre for Drug Research, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia.
Behavioural Brain Research
|June 18, 2022
Summary
The brain's serotonergic system modulates behavior and consciousness. This study proposes a new model distinguishing conscious content and affective flow, suggesting serotonin integrates emotions into conscious experience.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
Background:
- The serotonergic system significantly influences behavior.
- Current models of consciousness require expansion to incorporate affective dimensions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To re-appraise the function of the serotonergic system in consciousness.
- To propose an expanded model of consciousness with two parallel streams: conscious content and affective flow.
Main Methods:
- Integration of anatomical, functional, and pharmacological data.
- Development of a novel theoretical model of consciousness.
Main Results:
- Distinguished two parallel streams of conscious flow: content and affective.
- Hypothesized that brainstem modulatory systems, including serotonergic neurons, bind affective flow signals.
- Proposed that this affective flow is time-locked with conscious content flow in cortical and thalamic networks.
Conclusions:
- The serotonergic system, alongside other brainstem modulators, is crucial for integrating emotions into a unified affective conscious experience.
- Dysfunction in the serotonergic system may impair the coupling of affective and content conscious flows, contributing to mental disorders.
- The proposed model requires further empirical validation.
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