Psychoengineering

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Psychoengineering is a research-based engineering practice designed to control and mitigate mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. This site serves as a guide to psychoengineering and how to perform it.

Humans have two primary systems of acquiring knowledge: intuition, a fast and unconscious reflex; and logic, a slow and deliberate process.[1] Each of these dual cognitive methods is designed to interface with a specific type of information,[2] and are thus connected to different parts of the brain. The neural circuitry of intuition (the amygdala, basal ganglia and lateral temporal cortex)[3] is linked to circuitry related to working memory, motor control, attention, perception, and empathy.[4][5][6] Meanwhile, the neural circuitry of reason (anterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex, and the medial temporal lobe including the hippocampus)[7] is linked to circuitry related to long-term memory recall, executive function, and complex decision-making.[8][9]

These systems are implicated in different behaviors, but like everything in the brain they are deeply connected and regularly interface with each other. For example, one could notice a dessert table and be drawn to it by their intuitive, perceptual mind - but ultimately be drawn away from it by their logical mind.[10][a]

Intuitive mind Logical mind
  • Fast and parallel
  • High error rate
  • Useful in persuasion, detecting deception
  • Useful for perceptual, physical knowledge
  • Automatically driven by similarity and association
  • Prone to cognitive distortions
  • Slow and sequential
  • Relatively low error rate
  • Impossible to construct morality with alone
  • Useful for complex decision-making
  • Deliberately driven by structured, relational data
  • Tends to disregard emotions

This dialectic was first hypothesized by ancient philosophers, who developed practices to synthesize the two minds. These practices, refined by neuropsychology, form the basis of the techniques used in dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT).[13] The goal is to achieve the synthetic mind:

Synthetic mind
Emotional intelligence
  • Can discern, label, and communicate internal emotional state (beyond "good", "bad", and "fine")
  • Understands how emotions (current and future) can affect decision-making abilities
  • Validating others and self
Acceptance
  • Capable of cognitive defusion
  • Understanding that the current moment in time cannot be changed, only the future can be changed
  • Understanding that pain is inevitable but suffering is optional[14]

Within the synthetic mind, the objective is to debug and eliminate unwanted behaviors. Bugs typically have a fundamental cognitive distortion that fuels them.

Obstacles to achieving synthetic mind[edit]

All of these components of well-being should be improved simultaneously, but it is important to note that elements at the base are typically more capable of overwhelming the synthetic mind.

Neurochemistry: Chemistry of individual neurons, determined genetically, which can significantly alter hedonic baseline. Monoaminergic, GABAergic, and glutamatergic systems are strongly implicated in depression[15] and anxiety.[16] Treatment: psychopharmeceuticals.

Somatic state: Conditions like sleep deprivation[17] and body temperature[18] can negatively affect logical decision making. Masicampo and Baumeister observed that drinking lemonade mixed with sugar as opposed to Splenda after an energy-depleting self-control task increased rule-based decision making.[19][20] Exercise has also been shown to improve problem-solving abilities.[21] Treatment: somatic management.

Emotional state: Distress has a significant effect on logical reasoning - arachnophobes perform significantly worse than non-arachnophobes on logical tests that relate to spiders, for example.[22] Loneliness[23] and anger[24] also negatively correlate to logical ability. Treatment: acceptance therapy.

Perspective: Perspective shifts such as self-distancing and the growth mindset have a neurological basis in provoking self-reflection and heightening intrinsic motivation, respectively.[25][26] Treatment: cognitive defusion.


Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Psychoengineering uses "intuitive/logical mind" for these systems, but they have many different names in contemporary psychology. Stanovich uses "systems 1/2", so as to not give a preference to either system. Evans has used "old/new mind", in reference to the phylogenetic age of each system.[11] Darlow and Sloman use "intuitive/deliberate system" to emphasize the level of conscious control present in each.[12]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Kahneman 2011, pp. 20–23.
  2. ^ Darlow & Sloman 2010, pp. 1–3.
  3. ^ Lieberman 2003, p. 7.
  4. ^ Ramezanpour & Fallah 2022.
  5. ^ Roozendaal & et al. 2009.
  6. ^ Schacter & et al. 2020.
  7. ^ Lieberman 2003, p. 10.
  8. ^ Aharoni & et al. 2013.
  9. ^ Friedman & Robbins 2021.
  10. ^ Darlow & Sloman 2010, p. 1.
  11. ^ Evans & Stanovich 2013, p. 1.
  12. ^ Darlow & Sloman 2010, p. 2.
  13. ^ Linehan & Dimeff 2001, p. 1.
  14. ^ Alschuler et al. 2020.
  15. ^ Kaltenboeck & Harmer 2018, p. 1.
  16. ^ Martin et al. 2009, pp. 1–3.
  17. ^ Harrison & Horne 2000
  18. ^ Doohan et al. 2023.
  19. ^ Masicampo & Baumeister 2008.
  20. ^ Gailliot et al. 2007.
  21. ^ Hillman, Erickson & Kramer 2000.
  22. ^ Jung et al. 2014.
  23. ^ Şimşek, Koçak & Younis 2021.
  24. ^ Zajenkowski & Zajenkowska 2015.
  25. ^ White, Kross & Duckworth 2015.
  26. ^ Ng 2018.

References[edit]


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