Control of Normal and Pathologic Cognitive Functions through Neuromuscular Circuits

Abstract

Everyday language is replete with a variety of mentalistic terms, such as dreams, hallucinations, ideas, images, thoughts, fears, anxieties, depressions, and emotions, that refer to functions of the “mind.” While these mentalistic (cognitive) terms vary, the subjective experiences to which they refer are all quite similar. The different terms merely indicate similar experiences that occur under various environmental and organismic conditions. For instance, night dreams, daydreams, and rational thought all differ, in part, because of the degree to which they are influenced by environmental input. During sleep, the images of our night dreams are chaotic since they are not directed by external reality. In contrast, problem-solving processes are more systematic and are directed to a greater extent by reference to cues in the external environment, such as in notes and calculations. While hallucinations are (mistakenly) ascribed to external factors, they are controlled by internal stimuli such as those generated by covert speech (McGuigan, 1966). Perceptual processes probably represent the extreme of cognitive events that are directly controlled by external stimuli. Even so, our awarenesses of what is happening in our immediate world constitute subjective experiences that themselves do not seem to differ from those of night dreams or hallucinations. They merely occur under different circumstances. It is not unusual, in fact, for us to confuse the content of night dreams with actual perceptions, not being sure whether something happened in our dreams or in our waking life.