High-Level Brain Functions
🧠 High-Level Functions of the Human Brain
📌 General Framework
The human brain performs several high-level functions that constitute the pinnacle of neurocognitive organization. Among them, the central and integrative executive function stands out as a regulatory core, yet it does not operate in isolation: it interacts with other equally complex functions such as reflective consciousness, linguistic symbolization, social cognition, imagination, and moral judgment, forming a functional network that sustains deliberate human behavior.
📊 Comparative Table of High-Level Functions
| Function | Description | Associated Brain Networks / Areas | Relationship to Executive Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central and Integrative Executive Function | Intentional regulation of behavior, planning, inhibition, monitoring | Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, basal ganglia | Regulatory core; coordinates other cognitive functions |
| Reflective Consciousness | Subjective experience and self-observation of one's own mental states | Medial prefrontal cortex, precuneus, thalamus, default mode network | Complementary; enables conscious monitoring of executive processes |
| Language and Symbolization | Use of signs, grammatical structures, and abstract meanings | Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas, arcuate fasciculus, left hemisphere | Relies on executive control for discourse organization |
| Imagination and Mental Simulation | Creation of future or alternative scenarios, mental visualization | Hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, default mode network | Requires planning and executive control for functional operation |
| Empathy and Complex Social Cognition | Understanding others’ emotions, theory of mind, moral reasoning | Medial prefrontal cortex, temporoparietal junction, amygdala, insula | Interacts with emotional regulation and social decision-making |
| Moral Judgment and Self-Narrative | Ethical evaluation, personal identity, and narrative coherence | Orbitofrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, autobiographical self network | Executive function modulates actions based on values and context |
| Complex Decision-Making | Rational or emotional choice under uncertain or ambiguous conditions | Ventromedial prefrontal cortex, insula, basal ganglia, amygdala | Integral part of executive control; integrates multiple cognitive sources |
🧩 But Where Does All This Take Place?: The Brain’s Functional Stage
The aforementioned functions—executive, conscious, symbolic, imaginative, moral, and social—do not operate in isolation or emerge from nowhere. They require a functional cerebral environment that houses them, coordinates them, and projects them toward action or reflection. This leads to a fundamental question in cognitive neuroscience:
Where do these functions come “on stage”?
The most influential current answers stem from two major neurofunctional frameworks:
The Global Neuronal Workspace (GNW) model, proposed by Stanislas Dehaene, describes a dynamic brain system through which information becomes consciously accessible and is broadcast across specialized modules to guide behavior.
The Default Mode Network (DMN) theory, based on empirical findings, refers to a set of brain areas that are active during introspective, self-referential, and imaginative states.
Both models provide a neurofunctional architecture or “stage” where high-level functions can emerge, coordinate, and be sustained. One acts as the attentional spotlight and gateway to conscious access (GNW); the other, as the narrative backdrop upon which the sense of self is constructed (DMN).
🧠 Comparative Table: Global Neuronal Workspace (GNW) vs. Default Mode Network (DMN)
| Aspect | Global Neuronal Workspace (GNW) | Default Mode Network (DMN) |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual origin | Stanislas Dehaene and Jean-Pierre Changeux (theoretical-cognitive model) | Raichle et al. (empirical finding in functional neuroimaging) |
| Primary function | Integration and broadcasting of conscious information across multiple brain systems | Support for spontaneous, self-referential, and introspective cognition |
| Activation mode | Transient and focal; activated when information gains conscious access | Sustained and baseline; active at rest and during non-task-directed states |
| Type of processing | Goal-directed control, conscious access, decision-making, reasoning | Self-narrative, autobiographical recall, mental simulation, theory of mind |
| Main brain areas | Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex | Precuneus, medial prefrontal cortex, inferior parietal cortex, hippocampus |
| Typical state | Triggered by relevant stimuli, conflict, or executive tasks | Dominant during rest, mind-wandering, and wakeful daydreaming |
| Relation to consciousness | Operational core of conscious access and its global dissemination | Substrate for the continuous and self-referential content of consciousness |
| Interaction between both | GNW can inhibit or modulate DMN during externally focused tasks | DMN reactivates once the task is completed or during internally oriented states |
📌 Key message
Understanding the high-level functions of the human brain demands not only analytical rigor but also an integrative perspective. Progress in this field cannot arise from a single discipline alone; it requires the convergence of neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, artificial intelligence, education, and the humanities.
Only through such a multidisciplinary effort can we begin to build meaningful knowledge about the foundations of the human mind.
🖼️ Visual Representation
Illustration of typical activation patterns in the Global Neuronal Workspace and the Default Mode Network.
📚 References
📘 1. On the Global Neuronal Workspace (GNW)
Dehaene, S., & Changeux, J.-P. (2011). Experimental and theoretical approaches to conscious processing. Neuron, 70(2), 200–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2011.03.018
This article offers a foundational review of the GNW model, combining experimental and computational approaches, as proposed by Dehaene and Changeux. It explains how consciousness arises when information is "globally accessed" in the brain.
📘 2. On the Default Mode Network (DMN)
Raichle, M. E. (2015). The Brain's Default Mode Network. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 38, 433–447. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-071013-014030
A clear and authoritative review of the DMN, authored by the researcher who first identified the system. It describes its activation at rest, its role in introspective thought, and its clinical relevance.
📘 3. On the high-level functions of the human brain
Miller, B. L., & Cummings, J. L. (Eds.). (2017). The Human Frontal Lobes: Functions and Disorders (3rd ed.). New York: The Guilford Press. ISBN-10: 1462531830.
This reference work compiles updated research on the cognitive, behavioral, and social functions of the human frontal lobes, including their executive, affective, and moral roles, as well as clinical implications across pathologies.