Anendophasia, DNA, Dementia, and Mental Health Questions →

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Anendophasia is a term for having no inner voice, which impacts verbal memory and rhyme recognition. It has been commonly assumed that inner speech—the experience of thought occurring in a natural language—is both universal and ubiquitous. Recent evidence, however, suggests that similar to other phenomenal experiences like visual imagery, the experience of inner speech varies between people, ranging from constant to non-existent. This information was reported in the Cognitive Science Society article “Not Everyone Has an Inner Voice: Behavioral Consequences of Anendophasia.” The authors were Johanne Nedergaard and Gary Lupyan. The inner voice is in the frontal motor cortex and Broca's area.

Writing about this as a layman with no formal training but some experience with memory loss, I find the idea that a strong inner voice could help with potential memory loss exciting.

Researchers at the University of Utah have made agroundbreaking discovery about the brain’s default mode network (DMN). They found that this network, in collaboration with other brain regions, plays a crucial role in fostering creative thought. By employing cutting-edge brain imaging techniques, they were able to monitor real-time brain activity during creative tasks, unveiling the intricate workings of the brain and inspiring new avenues of researchn.

Wikipedia reports that “in neuroscience, the default mode network (DMN), also known as the default network, default state network, or anatomically the medial frontoparietal network (M-FPN), is a large-scale brain network primarily composed of the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, and angular gyrus. It is best known for being active when a person is not focused on the outside world, and the brain is at wakeful rest, such as during daydreaming and mind-wandering. It can also be active during detailed thoughts related to external task performance. Other times that the DMN is active include when the individual is thinking about others, thinking about themselves, remembering the past, and planning for the future.”

While this overview does not provide a definitive conclusion, it underscores the importance of understanding concepts like anendophasia* and the default mode network. These are not just intriguing aspects of neuroscience, but they also hold significant implications for our understanding of the human brain and cognition.

* The absence of inner speech or a lack of the experience of having an inner voice