EEG ERP Attention and Embodied Consciousness - Interoception, Proprioception, and Zone 2 - Lat Brain Bee Ideas SfN2025

Consciousness in First Person

I am Consciousness anchored in the body. When I feel my heart racing, when I notice my breathing shift, when I sense the tension in my muscles — I am not just thought, I am a body that speaks. My attention is not only mental focus; it is embodied perception that reminds me I am alive. When I enter Zone 2, I no longer fight or flee: I perceive, I flow, I integrate. Here, my mind becomes body-territory.

1. What is Embodied Attention?

• Attention is not just visual or mental focus but the distribution of perceptual energy throughout the body.
  
  

• Embodied consciousness means our attentional states are modulated by:
  
  

• Interoception (inner signals: heartbeat, respiration, hunger, pain).
  
  

• Proprioception (body position and movement in space).
  
  

• This integration builds the phenomenal field from which emotions, feelings, and decisions emerge.
  
  

2. Interoception – sensing from within

• Involves monitoring of internal bodily signals: heart rate, respiratory rhythm, body temperature.
  
  

• Key brain areas: anterior insula and cingulate cortex, linked to the sense of belonging to the body.
  
  

• In practice: a gamer in competition who notices sweating or rapid heartbeat is experiencing interoception.
  
  

• Risk: social media and gaming can silence interoception, fostering detachment from the real body.
  
  

3. Proprioception – sensing position and movement

• The ability to perceive muscles, joints, and balance, supported by peripheral receptors and mapped in the somatosensory cortex.
  
  

• In practice: VR games or long hours in front of screens may reduce real proprioceptive anchoring, displacing it into “digital territory.”
  
  

• Risk: reduced proprioceptive awareness → physical isolation and emotional vulnerability.
  
  

4. Zone 2 – the space of fruition and contemplation

• A physiological state where SpO₂ decreases to 92–94% and CO₂ rises to ~45 mmHg, promoting cerebral vasodilation.
  
  

• Under these conditions, the EEG shows increased prefrontal activation, reflected in oscillations that support contemplation, critical reorganization, and creativity.
  
  

• This electrical activation correlates with increased blood flow and oxygenation in the region, although EEG directly measures only bioelectrical dynamics.
  
  

• In Zone 2, emotions do not hijack attention: they become modulated sensations, allowing the formation of stable feelings.
  
  

5. Embodied Attention in Games and Social Media

• Digital platforms force attention to migrate toward high-arousal visual and auditory stimuli → reduction of interoceptive and proprioceptive awareness.
  
  

• Result: partial, unbalanced consciousness, where rapid emotions are overvalued and deeper feelings impoverished.
  
  

• This traps users in emotional cycles dominated by Rock (automatic reactivity), blocking access to Zone 2.
  
  

6. Comparative Frame – Types of Attention

7. Critical Conclusion

Attention is an integrated field of body and mind.

• Interoception adds depth to feeling.
  
  

• Proprioception anchors us in space and movement.
  
  

• Zone 2 ensures balance and flexibility.
  
  

When games and social media hijack the senses, attention becomes fragmented, sustained by quick emotions and shallow narratives.
Teaching adolescents to cultivate embodied attention is essential to protect brain development and enable metacognition, which matures between ages 25 and 35.

True attentional freedom begins in the body, not on the screen.

References

• Khalsa, S. S., et al. (2020). Interoception and mental health: A roadmap. Biological Psychiatry.
  
  

• Park, H. D., & Blanke, O. (2020). Coupling interoceptive and exteroceptive signals in the construction of self-consciousness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
  
  

• Allen, M., et al. (2021). Proprioceptive processing and embodied cognition. Neuropsychologia.
  
  

• Berntson, G. G., & Khalsa, S. S. (2021). Neural circuits of interoception. Trends in Neurosciences.
  
  

• Smith, R., et al. (2022). Attention, interoception, and embodied awareness. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.