Decolonial Neuroscience – Distributed Consciousness and Collective Cognition - SfN 2025 Brain Bee Ideas

First-Person Consciousness

I am Consciousness expanding beyond myself. When I breathe with others, when I feel the music of a group, when I share words, I discover that I do not think alone. My Tensional Self connects with the Tensional Selves of others, forming a web of belonging. I am not only individual: I am part of a distributed consciousness that vibrates in the collective, in the Body-Territory that inhabits and crosses me, in the Extended Apus that guides me, in the Pachamama that sustains me.

1. What is Distributed Consciousness?

• Distributed consciousness is the phenomenon in which individual mental processes connect and synchronize, creating a collective field of perception and action.
  
  

• It goes beyond the sum of brains: it emerges from the alignment of Tensional Selves through rhythms, emotions, language, and gestures.
  
  

• It is also the recognition that we are Body-Territory, inseparable from the environment that constitutes us.
  
  

2. Tensional Selves in Networks

• Each individual contributes their Tensional Selves to the collective.
  
  

• In contexts of synchrony (music, sports, debates), these Selves adjust, creating inter-brain resonance.
  
  

• This process is an Extended Apus: a form of collective proprioception in which each body recognizes itself as part of a larger movement.
  
  

3. Neurophysiology and Belonging

• EEG hyperscanning: shows synchronization of microstates between interacting brains.
  
  

• Theta and gamma oscillations: sustain coupling of shared attention.
  
  

• Calcium ions (Ca²⁺) and synaptic plasticity: allow neural reorganization in real time, aligned to the group.
  
  

• Belonging: the subjective experience of feeling “we” has biochemical roots (oxytocin, vasopressin, dopamine).
  
  

4. Ancestral Dimension – Pachamama and Body-Territory

• Amerindian cultures have long known that consciousness is more than individual.
  
  

• The Body-Territory expresses that what we are does not end at the skin but includes rivers, mountains, forests, and the spaces that permeate us.
  
  

• Pachamama is this radical belonging: a living network of interdependence that sustains both biology and consciousness.
  
  

• When we practice collective cognition in harmony with Pachamama, our Tensional Selves connect not only with each other, but also with other living beings and with the planet.
  
  

5. Zone 2 and the Quality of the Collective

• Groups in Zone 2 experience expanded belonging: critical and contemplative consciousness.
  
  

• In this state, collective cognition does not close into ideology but integrates diversity and recognizes the Extended Apus as a guide for orientation.
  
  

• Groups in Zone 3, on the other hand, crystallize quick emotions (fear, anger), generating rigid and destructive bubbles — including against Pachamama.
  
  

6. Comparative Table – Collective in Harmony vs Collective at Risk

7. Critical Conclusion

Distributed consciousness reveals that we never think alone:

• We are Body-Territory, always in dialogue with environment and community.
  
  

• We are Extended Apus, guided by a collective proprioception that gives meaning to belonging.
  
  

• We are Pachamama, integrated into the living web that sustains us.
  
  

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