Consciousness in the emotions

The term “awareness” should not be taken to imply a mere “being aware of…” state of mind; rather, it denotes a far more profound and intimate form of knowledge that concerns us and others on a fundamental level. A variety of scientific methodologies have been employed over time to investigate this construct, resulting in the identification of an interconnected network at the basis of conscious experience within the connectome. This network is structured on three main regions: the posterior parietal cortex, the supplementary motor area, and the premotor cortex (Desmurget & Sirigu, 2009). The concept of awareness is closely related to that of intentionality. The intentionality of performing a movement, uttering a word, or maintaining attention for a designated period of time. In the case of a planned movement, for instance, the brain receives signals that enable it to anticipate the sensory consequences of such an action. This process is considered the foundation of motor awareness (Blakemore, Wolpert, & Frith, 2002). This introduces the concept of metacognition, which is defined as awareness of one’s own cognitive processes (Fernandez-Duque, Baird, & Posner, 2000). In defining metacognition, Flavell (1985) stated that it is “any knowledge or cognitive activity that takes as its object, or regulates, any aspect of any cognitive enterprise… its main meaning is ‘cognition about cognition’.” (p. 104). It is noteworthy that cognition (-meta) is also fundamental to the capacity for self-regulation. Basic aspects of executive functioning promote adaptive self-regulation (Hofmann, Schmeichel, & Baddeley, 2012). It is intriguing to comprehend how these factors interact to influence our level of internal awareness.