Finitude and the Shifting Reference of Consciousness - Decolonial Neuroscience FALAN SfN Lat Brain Bee

Consciousness in First Person:

"I am Consciousness: not an eternal substance, but the movement that perceives itself in metabolism. I am a reference, a place of speaking and listening. When I change my place, the way knowledge is generated also changes. What was once seen as pain becomes memory, what was once defense becomes belonging. Science measures me through brain waves, oxygenation patterns, and connectomes, but each reference is also a mirror: it transforms perception and reshapes understanding. Through this shifting of references, the avatars of the mind open different paths to explore finitude, life, and belonging."

1. Brainlly – The Neurophysiological Avatar

Brainlly sees the body as a bioelectrical and biochemical circuit.

• EEG reveals the dissolution of the tensional self in alpha/theta waves.
  
  

• fNIRS shows parietal reorganization during relaxation, sustaining the Body-Territory.
  
  

• Evidence: Nishimura et al. (2022) reported somatosensory changes in chronic pain measured by fNIRS; Sano et al. (2021) showed relaxation-related motor cortex activity reduction.
  Brainlly reminds us that finitude is also a physiological marker: each dissolved tension opens space for reorganization.
  
  

2. Iam – The Interoceptive-Emotional Avatar

Iam focuses on interoception and feelings.

• Emotions arise as short bioelectrical activity, while feelings are stable metabolism (Damasio).
  
  

• In palliative care, Iam reveals how pain dissolves when interoception is softened by music, touch, or words.
  
  

• Evidence: Rosa et al. (2021) emphasized that the future of palliative care lies in the pain–emotion–meaning axis.
  Iam teaches that finitude is not emptiness, but the chance to transform suffering into belonging.
  
  

3. Olmeca – The Cultural and Anthropological Avatar

Olmeca expands the reference through Amerindian and decolonial perspectives.

• Consciousness as a place of speaking and listening recalls the Maxakali Yãy Hã Miy: to imitate is to transcend being.
  
  

• Body-Territory is a collective reference, not an isolated one.
  
  

• Evidence: Herold et al. (2021) showed parietal cortex reorganization related to embodiment, demonstrating that spatial perception is shaped by cultural and relational context.
  Olmeca reminds us: knowledge changes when the reference shifts from an “isolated self” to an “interconnected we.”
  
  

4. Yagé – The Avatar of Expanded Consciousness

Yagé explores altered states and the dissolution of boundaries.

• In REM phasic sleep or under psychotropic states, connectomes reorganize between Stone, Scissors, and Paper.
  
  

• Evidence: Bruckmaier et al. (2020) reported temporal cortex modulation during emotional and musical tasks measured by fNIRS.
  
  

• Yagé shows that shifting reference is not just cognitive, but experiential: each state opens a different way of perceiving reality.
  
  

5. Math/Heb – The Analytical and Systemic Avatar

Math/Heb translates experience into networks, tensions, and models.

• It frames tensional selves as cognitive geometries shaping attention and sleep.
  
  

• Evidence: Zhang et al. (2020) mapped visuospatial integration with fNIRS in the parietal cortex, reinforcing that perception depends on the active network.
  
  

• Math/Heb explains that semantic thought has finitude because it depends on real-time cerebral geometry: each reference generates a semantic cut (Scissors) or a dissolution (Paper).
  
  

6. DANA – The DNA-Spirituality Avatar

DANA speaks of spirituality rooted in biology, not transcendence.

• DNA orchestrates cellular differentiation that produces consciousness as metabolism.
  
  

• In palliative care, DANA envisions consciousness softening into serenity, sustained by the very biological intelligence that made it possible.
  
  

• Evidence: Sleeman et al. (2021) linked end-of-life suffering to metabolic and structural processes, not only cognitive ones.
  DANA reminds us: there is no consciousness beyond the body, but there is spirituality in the way DNA programs belonging to life and to the planet.
  
  

Conclusion – Shifting References, Shaping Knowledge

Each avatar reveals that consciousness is a reference: when the place of speaking and listening shifts, knowledge and perception change.

• Brainlly → physiology.
  
  

• Iam → feeling.
  
  

• Olmeca → culture and belonging.
  
  

• Yagé → expanded states.
  
  

• Math/Heb → tensional geometry.
  
  

• DANA → DNA and neutral spirituality.
  
  

Finitude, then, is not simply an end, but a repositioning of references that generates new ways of understanding and being. Knowledge is born when we allow the reference point to shift, and peace arises when we belong to the whole without fear of ceasing to be.

References (Post-2020)

• Zhang H, et al. Mapping parietal activity with fNIRS during motor imagery. Sci Rep. 2020;10:12947.
  
  

• Bruckmaier M, et al. Temporal cortex activity during social-emotional tasks measured by fNIRS. NeuroImage. 2020;219:117057.
  
  

• Radbruch L, De Lima L, et al. Redefining Palliative Care – A New Consensus-Based Definition. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2020;60(4):754–764.
  
  

• Sano A, et al. Relaxation and motor cortex activity measured by fNIRS. Front Hum Neurosci. 2021;15:660972.
  
  

• Herold F, et al. fNIRS evidence of embodiment and spatial perception. Neurophotonics. 2021;8(3):035009.
  
  

• Sleeman KE, Gomes B, et al. The burden of serious health-related suffering among older people at the end of life. Lancet Glob Health. 2021;9(12):e1700-e1709.
  
  

• Nishimura Y, et al. fNIRS somatosensory changes in chronic pain. Neurophotonics. 2022;9(1):015008.
  
  

• Fujimoto H, et al. Premotor cortex and SMA activity during rehabilitative therapy observed with fNIRS. Front Neurosci. 2022;16:882160.
  
  

• Rosa WE, Ferrell BR, Applebaum AJ. The future of palliative care. JAMA. 2021;325(9):889–890.
  
  

• De Graaf E, et al. Understanding end-of-life trajectories: a cross-national study. BMC Palliat Care. 2021;20:187.