What happens in our brains when we 'hear' our own thoughts?
If you've ever had an imaginary argument in your head, you may have "heard" two voices at once.
So, how is it that you can "hear" your thoughts?
As it turns out, the brain undergoes similar processes when you're thinking words as when you're speaking out loud.
Inner monologues are thought to be a simulation of overt speech. When we're children, we're virtual sponges, soaking up new information from every angle. Children playing alone will often speak dialogue aloud, for instance between a toy truck and a stuffed animal.
Earlier studies have shown that the brain exhibits similar activity with inner speech as it does with verbalized speech.
When study participants are asked to deliberately "speak" inside their heads while lying in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine, scientists can see parts of the brain that process auditory information activate as if the participant were actually hearing the words.
But when you're thinking of something like a fictional argument with another person, the brain goes one step further. During that inner argument, you're playing two roles: yourself, and the person you're arguing with. When you play yourself, the auditory centers on the left side of your brain activate.
But when you internally switch roles to play the person you're arguing with, there's a sort of a shift of cerebral region activation to the right hemisphere.
Not all inner monologues are deliberate. Sometimes words or sentences just pop into your head, unprovoked.
This phenomenon might have something to do with the brain's "default mode network," (DMN) .The DMN is a network of areas in the brain that are active when it is not engaged in a specific task.
The default mode network seems to be more active when your mind is wandering. Because the default mode network involves planning for the future by pulling from memories, recent experiences, and mental associations, it's thought that this combination of activities gives an internal monologue while you focus inward.
（文章来源：百词斩爱阅读）
转自：“中小学英语教学研究”微信公众号
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