NEUROSCIENCE OF SELF-AWARENESS: How to Acess the Deep Layers of the Mind
- Marcela Emilia Silva do Valle Pereira Ma Emilia
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
🧠 Neuroscience of Self-Awareness
We live in an era in which self-knowledge has almost become a modern ritual — from psychedelic therapies to silent retreats, from meditation to long conversations in search of meaning.
But, in the end, what are we really looking for?
Neuroscience shows that the human brain already possesses natural mechanisms of consciousness expansion, and that exploring one’s own mind does not require escaping it — but rather turning inward with curiosity and presence.
Our brain is the most sophisticated mirror that exists: it reflects what we believe, what we feel, and what we have not yet been able to name.
🔬 What Happens in the Brain During Self-Knowledge
To know oneself is literally to reorganise one’s synapses.
When we turn our gaze inward, we activate a complex circuit of neural networks that sustain self-perception — especially the default mode network (DMN), responsible for creating the narrative of the “self.”
It is what links past memories, emotions, and future projections, forming the sense of identity.
But during introspective practices — such as meditation, mindfulness, or silent reflection — this network reduces its activity.
This “silencing” of the DMN creates space for connections between previously disconnected areas:
The prefrontal cortex (reason and control) communicates better with the amygdala (emotions).
The insula (bodily awareness) gains prominence.
Result: emotional clarity, insight, and a sense of conscious calm.
It’s not magic. It’s refined biology.
🧩 Neurobiological Pathways to Self-Knowledge
The search for oneself does not happen outside the body — it happens within it.
The nervous system is the stage where every emotion, memory, and thought is inscribed.
And the good news is that there are clear neurobiological pathways to reconnect with this structure:
Conscious breathing: the stretching of the lungs activates the vagus nerve, sending a “safety” signal to the brain and reducing cortisol within minutes.
Silence and mindful attention: 10 minutes of focus on the present decrease the DMN and strengthen the anterior cingulate cortex, creating inner “mental space.”
Creative expression: drawing, writing, or dancing releases dopamine and connects the right hemisphere (intuition) with the left (language), integrating emotion and cognition.
Secure social connection: an empathetic gaze releases oxytocin, reducing amygdala activity by up to 25% and restoring the sense of belonging.
Each of these practices is, in essence, deliberate neuroplasticity: you are teaching your brain to respond differently to the world — and to yourself.
🌿 The Brain as a Mirror of Inner Experience
Our brain is a living autobiography.
Every belief, fear, and emotional pattern is a synaptic trail traced by previous experiences.And, as studies on neuroplasticity show, these trails can be rewritten — not to erase the past, but to give it new meaning.
Self-knowledge, in this sense, is the exercise of observing what the brain does when we believe we are “thinking.”
By developing meta-consciousness — the ability to observe one’s own thoughts as an impartial observer — we begin to understand that we are not the content of the mind, but the field that observes it.
It is neuroscience meeting philosophy.
🧭 Meta-Consciousness: The Inner Observer in Focus
Meta-consciousness goes beyond simply “thinking about thoughts”: it activates regions such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex, which monitor mental processes in real time.
In practice, meta-consciousness allows the individual to notice automatic patterns — such as an anxious thought derived from an old trauma — without fusing with it.It’s like watching an inner film: seeing the plot, but knowing you are not the character.
Benefits? Less impulsivity, greater emotional regulation, and a sense of freedom from the rigid narratives the brain constructs.
Start with noting, through a simple exercise: notice a thought (“thinking”), the sensation (“feeling”), the emotion (“emotioning”) that is present in the moment — and place yourself in the position of observer, stepping out of the character role. This strengthens these neural circuits over time.
💡 Practical Applications for Everyday Life
You don’t need a spiritual retreat to practise self-knowledge.Transformation begins in small pauses — those in which the brain finally breathes:
Pause for 6 seconds before reacting: count mentally when you feel anger or anxiety — this time allows the prefrontal cortex to inhibit impulses from the amygdala.
Three daily self-observation questions: “What do I feel now? Why? What do I need?” — activates integration between the limbic system (emotion) and the frontal cortex (reason).
4-4-4 breathing: inhale for 4s, hold for 4s, exhale for 4s for 2 minutes — instantly activates the vagus nerve, reducing the stress response.
Empathetic self-listening: when self-criticism arises, ask yourself, “What would I say to a friend in this situation?” — improves vagal tone and strengthens compassion networks.
The brain changes when we pay attention to it.And that attention is the first step towards transformation.
✨ Conclusion – Self-Knowledge as Conscious Plasticity
To know oneself is an act of neuroplasticity — it is re-educating the brain to live in the present.
With every insight, every conscious breath, every emotion embraced, new synapses are formed.
Because it’s not about reinventing yourself; it’s about integrating yourself.
You don’t need to alter the mind to expand it — you just need to learn to listen to it.