The paradox of the self-studying brain.

The paradox of a brain trying to study itself presents a conundrum, raising questions about self-reference, consciousness, psychiatric disorders, and the boundaries of scientific inquiry. By which means can this complex organ shift the focus of study towards itself? We aim at unpacking the intricacies of this paradox. Historically, this question has been raised by philosophers under different frameworks.

Processing Fluency and Predictive Processing: How the Predictive Mind Becomes Aware of its Cognitive Limitations.

Predictive processing is an influential theoretical framework for understanding human and animal cognition. In the context of predictive processing, learning is often reduced to optimizing the parameters of a generative model with a predefined structure. This is known as Bayesian parameter learning.

The subjective feeling of a gap between conceptual and perceptual fluency is interpreted as a metacognitive signal of pastness.

The present study aimed to address the following question: does the discrepancy between an expected word and its readability enhances or impair its memorability? We used an adaptation of the sentence stem paradigm (Whittlesea in J Exp Psycol 19:1235-1253, 1993) and manipulated the perceptual clarity of the words by introducing some Gaussian noise (Reber in Psycol Sci 9:45-48, 1998). The target words were semantically predictable or otherwise (conceptual fluency) or were easy or difficult to read (perceptual fluency). The first experiment was conducted to ensure that the two manipulated factors had an impact on the readability of the words.

Automaticity facets applied to screen-time sedentary behaviours and active commuting measured by accelerometers.

: The time adults spend sitting in front of screens is a health risk factor. In contrast, walking and cycling to and from work, also known as active commuting, could promote physical activity and improve population health. : This study investigated automatic properties role in explaining active commuting and screen-based sedentary behaviours.

Effect of an unrelated fluent action on word recognition: A case of motor discrepancy.

It is now well established that motor fluency affects cognitive processes, including memory. In two experiments participants learned a list of words and then performed a recognition task. The original feature of our procedure is that before judging the words they had to perform a fluent gesture (i.