The Kantian brain: brain dynamics from a neurophenomenological perspective.

Recent research on spontaneous brain rhythms and neural network coordination supports Immanuel Kant's concept of cognitive spontaneity—the mind's ability to organize sensory input in new ways. However, linking brain activity to cognition precisely remains difficult. Neurophenomenology, which incorporates subjective experience to explain variations in brain dynamics, provides a promising approach to this problem.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Current research on spontaneous, self-generated brain rhythms and dynamic neural network coordination cast new light on Immanuel Kant's idea of the 'spontaneity' of cognition, that is, the mind's capacity to organize and synthesize sensory stimuli in novel, unprecedented ways. Nevertheless, determining the precise nature of the brain-cognition mapping remains an outstanding challenge. Neurophenomenology, which uses phenomenological information about the variability of subjective experience in order to illuminate the variability of brain dynamics, offers a promising method for addressing this challenge.