All life on earth is intrinsically linked. At the very foundation of every evolutionary interaction are microorganisms, integral components in the composition of both organisms and ecosystems. The available data and this perspective on the order of life challenge the traditional conception of monogenetic biological individuals, suggesting living beings are actually composite multi-species complexes: holobionts. In the present article, we introduce our perspective on the concept of the holobiont mind, a biogenic conception of cognition compatible with the 4E approach and the holobiont theory. We furthermore expand on the idea of the mind as the emerging product of multi-genomic morphology of a composite animal-agent, in ever-changing interaction with its ecological niche. We thus briefly review recent evidence on the brain–gut–microbiome axis and the Microbiome of the Built Environment in order to provide a bridge between the Holobiont Mind and the 4E approach to Cognition, two complementary lines of evidence that have not been linked before, opening novel venues for research with direct impact on health and disease.
Response inhibition - the ability to suppress inappropriate thoughts and actions - is a fundamental aspect of cognitive control. Recent research suggests that mental training by meditation may improve cognitive control. Yet, it is still unclear if and how, at the neural level, long-term meditation practice may affect (emotional) response inhibition. The present study aimed to address this outstanding question, and used an emotional Go/Nogo task and electroencephalography (EEG) to examine possible differences in behavioral and electrophysiological indices of response inhibition between Vipassana meditators and an experience-matched active control group (athletes). Behaviorally, meditators made significantly less errors than controls on the emotional Go/Nogo task, independent of the emotional context, while being equally fast. This improvement in response inhibition at the behavioral level was accompanied by a decrease in midfrontal theta activity in Nogo vs. Go trials in the meditators compared to controls. Yet, no changes in ERP indices of response inhibition, as indexed by the amplitude of the N2 and P3 components, were observed. Finally, the meditators subjectively evaluated the emotional pictures lower in valence and arousal. Collectively, these results suggest that meditation may improve response inhibition and control over emotional reactivity.
A recent opinion article suggested that the target article, “The holobiont mind: A bridge between 4E cognition and the microbiome”, wished to generate a “new theory of mind”. Furthermore, it contained ideas that were “unnecessary”, “not justified”, and “not innovative at all”. Furthermore the commentators consider that “the ideas of radical enactivism can properly accommodate this research”. Here, we address and clarify apprehensions, misreadings, and misunderstandings raised by the commentators.
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