Neural correlates of phenomenological attitude toward perceptual experience
bioRxiv Preprint Server July 7, 2024 Satoshi Nishida, Hiro Taiyo Hamada, Takuya Niikawa et al. 2 citations preprint
Shifting from the ordinary, outward-focused natural attitude to the reflective, inward-focused phenomenological attitude involves distinct neural processes. In a behavioral task alternating between these attitudes, participants made fewer errors but responded more slowly in the phenomenological attitude, indicating a difference beyond simple difficulty. Functional MRI revealed that multivoxel activation patterns in premotor cortex, posterior parietal cortex, supplementary motor area, and cerebellum could classify which attitude participants were in. Activation in these regions was lower during the phenomenological attitude, suggesting that this reflective stance suppresses action-related neural information. These findings offer initial evidence for the neural signature of the phenomenological attitude.