Inner experience in the scanner: Can high fidelity apprehensions of inner experience be integrated with fMRI?

Kühn, S.; Fernyhough, C.; Alderson-Day, B.; Hurlburt, R.T.

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01393

Inner experience in the scanner: Can high fidelity apprehensions of inner experience be integrated with fMRI?

Kühn, S.; Fernyhough, C.; Alderson-Day, B.; Hurlburt, R.T.

Authors

S. Kühn

Professor Charles Fernyhough c.p.fernyhough@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Prof Benjamin Alderson-Day benjamin.alderson-day@durham.ac.uk
Professor

R.T. Hurlburt

Abstract

To provide full accounts of human experience and behavior, research in cognitive neuroscience must be linked to inner experience, but introspective reports of inner experience have often been found to be unreliable. The present case study aimed at providing proof of principle that introspection using one method, descriptive experience sampling (DES), can be reliably integrated with fMRI. A participant was trained in the DES method, followed by nine sessions of sampling within an MRI scanner. During moments where the DES interview revealed ongoing inner speaking, fMRI data reliably showed activation in classic speech processing areas including left inferior frontal gyrus. Further, the fMRI data validated the participant’s DES observations of the experiential distinction between inner speaking and innerly hearing her own voice. These results highlight the precision and validity of the DES method as a technique of exploring inner experience and the utility of combining such methods with fMRI.

Citation

Kühn, S., Fernyhough, C., Alderson-Day, B., & Hurlburt, R. (2014). Inner experience in the scanner: Can high fidelity apprehensions of inner experience be integrated with fMRI?. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01393

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Nov 14, 2014
Online Publication Date	Dec 9, 2014
Publication Date	Dec 9, 2014
Deposit Date	Apr 26, 2015
Publicly Available Date	Aug 20, 2015
Journal	Frontiers in Psychology
Print ISSN	1664-1078
Electronic ISSN	1664-1078
Publisher	Frontiers Media
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	5
DOI	https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01393
Keywords	Inner speech, Inner speaking, Inner hearing, Inner experience, Introspection, fMRI, Descriptive experience sampling, Mindwandering.
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1430599

Files

Published Journal Article (472 Kb)
PDF

Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
© 2014 Kühn, Fernyhough, Alderson-Day and Hurlburt. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.