The Concept of a Motivated Emotional Mind Explains Thinking Processes in Cognitive and Phenomenal Aspects.
Integrative psychological & behavioral science March 29, 2026 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1007/s12124-026-09984-1 via PubMed
Summary
The Motivated Emotional Mind (MEM) model proposes that conscious thinking arises from the dynamic interaction of brain structures, neuronal knowledge representations, and the body's sensory and effector systems. It explains how physiological and neural processes produce the continuous stream of thoughts, covering logical, emotional, and imaginative aspects. The model also addresses the conditions under which artificial intelligence systems could achieve phenomenal consciousness, specifying what additional components are needed beyond current architectures.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | The Motivated Emotional Mind model provides a reductive account of how brain architecture, neuronal representations, and bodily interactions generate phenomenal consciousness and the stream of thoughts. |
Abstract
Thinking is a multifaceted process that encompasses logical, inductive, deductive, and abductive reasoning, as well as planning, recalling past events and previous thoughts, imagining what may or may not happen, and experiencing and feeling affective states. The task of psychology is to explain what these thoughts are. How can physiological, biophysical, and neuronal processes in our bodies and brains be consciously perceived as an unceasing stream of thoughts that accompany us in conscious life? How do these processes differ in the mentioned aspects? Answering these questions without presenting a hypothesis on how perception and information processing are organized in the brain is impossible. This paper undertakes that task by developing a set of hypotheses that form the basis of a recently proposed reductive model of the conscious mind known as the Motivated Emotional Mind (MEM). The model accounts for the architecture of brain structures, the formation of neuronal representations of knowledge, and the dynamic interactions between the brain, sensory receptors, and effectors, all of which are integrated into a cohesive system by the body of the organism, or housing of the system. It also explains to what extent AI systems can exhibit phenomenal consciousness and what needs to be added to them to achieve it in the future.