Journal of NeuroPhilosophy

From Wittgenstein’s Language Games to LLMs: Representation, Meaning, and the Future of Psychotherapy

Hasan Belli — 2026-05-18

AI and large language models (LLMs) are rapidly taking center stage in clinical psychology and psychotherapy, raising fundamental questions about how machines represent language, emotion, and lived experience. LLMs exhibit linguistic fluency and contextual adaptability, but these capabilities are based on statistical relationships rather than human cognition, presenting significant limitations in therapeutic contexts. Drawing on Wittgenstein's concepts of language games and forms of life, this article examines representation problems in AI-assisted therapeutic dialogue and argues that LLMs can imitate but not genuinely internalize the relational and experiential dimensions fundamental to psychotherapy. The analysis explores how emotional simulation varies across LLMs, why simulated empathy diverges from therapeutic empathy, and how clinical safety concerns arise from limitations in contextual reasoning and emotional attunement. Based on a focused narrative review of 36 studies from 2015–2025, findings indicate that LLMs offer potential for assessment, diagnostic support, training, and psychoeducation, but remain limited in representing affect, cultural nuances, and embodied co-regulation essential to therapeutic relationships. The authors propose alternative systems based on hybrid neuro-symbolic architectures, multimodal affect systems, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Quantum Approaches to Brain and Mind: A Comprehensive Review of Theories, Evidence, and Future Directions

Taruna Ikrar — 2026-05-12

The question of whether quantum mechanical phenomena play a functional role in brain activity and the emergence of consciousness remains one of the most controversial yet intellectually stimulating debates at the intersection of physics, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind. This review systematically examines the principal theoretical frameworks proposing quantum-level mechanisms in neural computation, including the Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch OR) hypothesis by Penrose and Hameroff, the quantum brain hypothesis of Stapp, quantum coherence models in microtubules, and quantum field theories of consciousness. We critically evaluate the current state of empirical evidence—including recent quantum biology findings, the challenge of decoherence in warm, biological systems, and experimental observations of quantum effects in biological systems—alongside computational models that bridge quantum formalism and neural network dynamics. Furthermore, we discuss the implications of quantum cognition models for understanding perception, decision-making, and memory. Despite significant scientific skepticism, emerging evidence from quantum biology and advanced neuroimaging technologies provides tentative support for quantum processes in neural substrates. We conclude by identifying critical gaps in current knowledge and outlining future research directions that may resolve the debate, including proposals for experimental paradigms using quantum sensing technologies applied to neural tissue. This review aims to serve as a foundational reference for researchers across disciplines approaching the quantum mind hypothesis with scientific rigor.

Brain and Symmetry – A Principle Theory of Brain Function

Juergen J. Stueber — 2026-05-15

The “Triggering Brain” hypothesis (Stueber, 2023) proposes brain function as a relational process based on biological equilibrium rather than absolute signal values. The present essay extends this model into a broader principle theory developed across physics, evolution, physiology, and the brain. In physics, symmetry, invariance, and relativity are examined as principles of stable order. In evolution, bilateral body plans and paired sensory systems are interpreted as selective pressures for relational neural processing. In physiology, homeostasis is reconsidered as a systemic principle in the sense of Bernard and Cannon rather than as a collection of local compensatory mechanisms. Within this framework, synchrony within the brain is proposed as the neurophysiological correlate of both biological equilibrium and invariance. “Triggering” is understood not as an occasional event, but as the fundamental mode of neural operation. The Kuramoto model provides a framework for interpreting EEG data in terms of phase coherence rather than signal amplitude. Several avenues for empirical falsification are proposed using EEG, MEG, and individualized anatomy-guided electrode placement (the “sulcal-fingerprint”). The hypothesis is presented as a principle theory in the sense of Albert Einstein and evaluated in light of Karl Popper’s criterion of falsifiability. Rather than competing with existing neuroscience, the hypothesis proposes synchrony as the biological state underlying stable neural function. Provided that this hypothesis is justified, identifying and measuring the biological “invariant” may significantly improve neurological diagnostics and therapeutic intervention.

A Neurophilosophical Model of Personal and Meta-reflective Modes of Mind

Kyrylo Somkin — 2026-05-12

This paper proposes a neurophilosophical conceptual model of human consciousness structured as two functional brain states: the personal mode and the Meta-reflective mode. The personal mode is defined as a motivationally and socially embedded configuration of neural processes oriented toward adaptation, identity maintenance, and ego-relevant concerns. The Meta-reflective mode is characterized as a functional state in which cognition turns upon itself, enabling abstraction, self-objectification, and existential evaluation. The model does not posit a metaphysical dualism nor strictly separable neural systems. Rather, both modes may recruit overlapping brain regions, including prefrontal structures, while differing in dominant functional orientation and hierarchical organization. The distinction is therefore not anatomical but configurational. The current framework suggests that tensions between these modes may account for different categories of psychological crises: identity-based crises, which arise predominantly in the personal mode, and existential crises, which arise as a result of increased activation of the meta-reflexive mode. The framework further suggests that the development of civilization reflects the structural coexistence of adaptive engagement and reflective distancing. Although empirical validation is currently limited, this framework provides a robust integration of phenomenological ana=lysis and neurocognitive theory, offering a novel foundation for investigating the hierarchical organization of consciousness.

From Philosophy to Physics of the Mind: Teleological Transduction Theory

Stanislav Tregub — 2026-05-12

For millennia, the mind-body problem remained a philosophical issue without an empirical basis and practical implications. In recent decades, natural science has finally started to treat the mind as an object of research. The main approach was to study the ‘neural correlates of consciousness’. Since then, we have accumulated a vast amount of data on neural processes that appear to correlate with observed mental phenomena. However, the explanatory gap between mental and physical is not covered, as the main questions about the mind remain unanswered. What is the mind? What does it do? Why does it do it? How does it do it? The article reviews a theory that aims to answer these phenomenological, functional, teleological, and causal questions from a physical perspective. The theory elucidates physical processes and mechanisms that give rise to mental phenomena in the brain, thus enabling neuroscience to progress from correlational descriptions to an explanation of the physical causes of the mind and solve the mind-body problem.

New Perspectives on Human Consciousness as the Brain Activation State (BAS)

Cheng Gong — 2026-05-12

The exploration of the origin and essence of human consciousness has a long history, and although various disciplines—such as philosophy, medicine, sociology, biology, and psychology—have offered different explanations, none has gained widespread recognition to date. This lack of consensus stems primarily from the complexity of consciousness itself, combined with significant disciplinary differences in perspective, which together prevent researchers from fully, reasonably, and comprehensively grasping its essence. Consequently, consciousness remains an enduringly ambiguous subject, making deeper investigation necessary. Based on a systematic analysis, summarization, and synthesis of knowledge across multiple fields, this paper draws the following conclusions: the origin of consciousness lies in natural materials; its essence is material information; and it possesses the attributes of congenitality, materiality, complexity, systematicity, dynamics, differentiation, subjectivity, and selfhood.