If you have ever had an argument in your head, you may have heard two voices at the same time. Your own voice and that of the other person. You can even hear the other person's voice or accent.
When that inner monologue is running, what is happening in the brain? How can you listen to your thoughts?
The brain undergoes the same processes when you think of words as when you speak out loud.
The head of the language team in the psychology and neuroscience laboratory at the national said that inner monologues are a simulation of overt speech. We are virtual sponges when we are children, soaking up new information from every angle. Children playing alone will often speak dialogue between toy trucks and stuffed animals. The verbalization moves inward at around 5 to 7 years old.
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Does everyone have an inner monologue?
The brain has the same activity as it does with verbalized speech. Scientists can see parts of the brain that process sound when study participants are asked to speak inside their heads.
Cerebral regions that are activated during inner speech are similar to those that are activated during overt speech. The left hemisphere frontal and parietal lobes help in processing outward stimulation.
The brain goes one step further when you think of a fictional argument with another person. You are playing two roles during that argument: yourself and the person you are arguing with. The left side of your brain is activated when you play yourself. When you switch roles to play the person you are arguing with, there is a shift of cerebral region activation to the right hemisphere. Even if it is a perspective you are crafting in your head, seeing the situation from a different point of view can affect brain activity.
When participants are asked to imagine movement, researchers have observed this phenomenon. A study published in the August 2005 issue of the journal Cerebral cortex found that dancers use a different part of their brain to imagine themselves dancing.
When a person is told to think something, it is one thing, but it is not understood what happens in our brains when we let our minds wander. Some inner monologues are not deliberate. Words or sentences can pop into your head.
Robert Chavez, a neuroscientist at the University of Oregon, said that the phenomenon might have something to do with the brain's default mode network. When the brain is not engaged in a specific task, there are areas of the brain that are active. It is thought that the DMN is involved with aspects of internal thought, such as retrieving memories, imagining the future, or feeling what is happening in your body, such as hunger or thirst.
Chavez told Live Science that the default mode network seems to be more active when your mind wanders. Because the default mode network involves planning for the future by pulling from memories, recent experiences, and mental associations, it is thought that this combination of activities gives rise to an internal monologue while you focus inward.
Leovenbruck said a lot more research is needed to understand how inner thoughts arise. When taken to an extreme, inner thoughts can become malfunctioning, such as after a traumatic event, or in mental disorders, such as schizophrenia.
It was originally published on Live Science.
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