There are many areas of the brain dedicated to specific purposes, I’m not sure if this is too abstract but… those times when you are reflecting on past experiences (social interactions, good/bad decisions, etc) or really just taking stock of yourself. Is there a known region of the brain responsible for this? Can certain balances of neurotransmitters increase this kind of thought? Or is it a coordinated effort by many regions of the brain to help keep you humble hah.
In: Biology
Through my VERY rudimentary understanding of the brain (if someone understands this better, please correct me) that would be a mixture of the frontal lobe and the amygdala. The frontal lobe is focused more on evaluation and analysis, especially analyzing hypothetical scenarios and possibilities. The amygdala is more of a hormone center that partially determines how we feel about things.
So for example, if you remember an argument and curse yourself because you just thought of the right comeback, it’s the amygdala deciding that this is a high stakes situation that you care about, and releasing chemicals (I don’t remember if they would be hormones or neurotransmitters or something else) to make you fixate on this and maybe feel adrenaline. The frontal lobe would analyze what could have happened, and determine that if you had done something else it would have turned out better. The frontal lobe then, because of that, interprets the amygdala’s response as “disappointment” only after figuring out that you did the wrong thing.
Again, please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong. And obviously both those areas of the brain do a whole lot more than that, it’s just how they would be used in that situation.
We don’t really know yet. Though it should at least be grouped into the same section of the brain responsible for awareness. The claustrum is a pretty good candidate for awareness based on current knowledge.
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