Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience
January 3, 2014
Marie Vandekerckhove, Luis Carlo Bulnes, Jaak Panksepp
65 citations
Consciousness arises from a foundational, primitive form called anoetic consciousness—a basic, first-person flow of affective, homeostatic, and sensory-perceptual experiences. This rudimentary state underlies all learning and memory, giving rise to noetic (knowledge-based) consciousness and, eventually, autonoetic consciousness, which enables mental time travel—reflecting on past experiences and imagining future possibilities. The authors propose a multi-tiered neuroevolutionary framework linking genetically controlled primary processes (affective), secondary processes (learning and memory), and higher tertiary processes (developmentally emergent), explaining how affective experiences become cognitive and object-oriented, leading to episodic memory and self-aware awareness.
Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience
January 1, 2022
Maria Lara Porpino de Meiroz Grilo, Geovan Menezes de Sousa, Lilían Andrade Carlos de Mendonça et al.
12 citations
Repeated ayahuasca administration before and during social isolation prevented depressive-like behaviors and cortisol alterations in common marmosets. Animals given ayahuasca showed higher cortisol reactivity and fecal cortisol levels similar to family-group controls, no signs of anhedonia, and no increase in chronic stress-related behaviors, unlike isolated animals that received no intervention. The findings suggest ayahuasca promotes resilient responses and may have a prophylactic action against depression.
Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience
January 1, 2026
Dayna Forsyth, Nicoletta Faraone, Simon G. Lamarre et al.
Psilocybin reduces aggression and activity in mangrove rivulus fish, an emerging model for studying psychoactive compounds. Waterborne psilocybin treatment significantly decreased activity levels and the frequency of swimming bursts, an aggressive behavior, toward a conspecific fish from a different lineage, with modest effects on other behaviors. Considerable intraspecific variation in behavioral response occurred among these homozygous fish, suggesting the effects were largely independent of genotype. The findings add to evidence supporting psilocybin's potential as a therapeutic agent.