Toward a Decolonial Neuroscience of Language and Critical Thinking
Toward a Decolonial Neuroscience of Language and Critical Thinking
Body, language, belonging, and science in dialogue with knowledge from the Americas
Throughout this blog series we explored a simple but profound idea: words shape the way we perceive reality.
Words do not merely describe the world.
They also organize emotions, regulate the body, create belonging, and influence critical thinking.
We have seen that words can:
activate sensory and motor systems
generate cognitive tension
release accumulated anergies
reorganize beliefs
align human groups around shared narratives
These processes do not belong solely to linguistics or psychology.
They are part of a broader field connecting neuroscience, culture, embodiment, and society.
In this final blog, we propose a broader reflection:
How can neuroscience study language while also engaging with diverse forms of knowledge, especially those emerging from the Americas?
Language does not emerge only from the brain
For a long time, science treated language mainly as a brain-centered phenomenon.
However, contemporary research increasingly shows that language involves distributed systems that include:
sensory perception
bodily movement
emotion
social memory
collective interaction
Language is therefore a socially embedded and embodied phenomenon.
This perspective resonates strongly with many Indigenous traditions of the Americas, where language has long been understood as part of a living relationship between body, territory, and community.
Body, territory, and knowledge
Many contemporary Indigenous scholars emphasize that knowledge is not merely abstract or theoretical.
It is deeply connected to:
territory
community relationships
ecological cycles
lived bodily experience
This perspective is sometimes described through the concept of body-territory.
Within this framework, learning is not simply acquiring information.
It is situating oneself within a living network of relationships.
Interestingly, this idea resonates with emerging findings in neuroscience highlighting the role of interoception, proprioception, and bodily regulation in shaping conscious experience.
Language, belonging, and perception
Humans evolved as a deeply social species.
Our survival has always depended on collective coordination.
Language plays a central role in this process by enabling us to:
share experiences
transmit knowledge
construct collective identities
align perceptions of reality
However, this same capacity has two possible outcomes.
On one hand, language can expand critical thinking and enable collective inquiry.
On the other hand, rigid narratives can capture interpretation and reduce openness to evidence.
Zone 1, Zone 2, and Zone 3
Throughout this series we used a simplified model to describe different cognitive relationships with language.
Zone 1
Automatic processing. Narratives are accepted without deeper reflection.
Zone 3
Narrative capture. Language rigidly structures interpretation of reality.
Zone 2
Critical fruition. Individuals can experience narratives, emotions, and belonging without abandoning investigative thinking.
Science depends heavily on Zone 2 states.
This is where researchers balance:
openness to new ideas
critical evaluation of evidence
revision of existing theories
Science also has narratives
It is important to recognize that science itself is not free from narratives.
Scientific theories function as interpretative lenses.
They influence:
what we observe
what we measure
which questions we ask
This is not necessarily a weakness.
However, it makes it even more important for scientific communities to remain capable of questioning their own interpretative frameworks.
Healthy science requires a balance between methodological rigor and epistemological openness.
Decolonial neuroscience
In recent decades, several Latin American and Indigenous scholars have advocated expanding dialogue between scientific knowledge and Indigenous epistemologies.
This perspective, often referred to as decolonial science, does not reject modern science.
Instead, it seeks to expand scientific inquiry by incorporating a wider diversity of human experiences.
Within neuroscience of language, this may include:
studying diverse linguistic systems
investigating embodied cultural practices
integrating ecological and territorial perspectives
recognizing multiple pathways for knowledge production
Such approaches may enrich scientific understanding of the human mind.
A new generation of questions
If language, body, and culture are deeply intertwined, new research questions naturally emerge.
For example:
How do different cultural contexts influence attention and perception?
Do collective linguistic practices alter neural synchrony within groups?
Do evidential linguistic systems influence critical reasoning?
Do embodied linguistic practices modulate interoception and emotion?
Answering these questions will likely require collaboration between:
neuroscientists
linguists
anthropologists
educators
Indigenous communities
An invitation to inquiry
Perhaps the most important insight of this series is the following:
language is not merely a communication tool.
It is a biocultural technology that organizes:
perception
emotion
social relations
models of reality
Understanding this process may help strengthen something essential for both science and society:
collective critical thinking.
A neuroscience open to dialogue between cultures may not only expand knowledge about the human brain.
It may also contribute to a science that is more aware of its role within the societies it seeks to understand.
Latin American References (Post-2021)
Guimarães, Danilo Silva (2022).
The Historical Task of Indigenous Psychology in Brazil after 60 Years of Professional Regulation.
Contribution: Argues for integrating Indigenous epistemologies into contemporary psychological science.
Guimarães, Danilo Silva (2023).
Indigenous Psychology as a General Science for Escaping the Snares of Psychological Methodolatry.
Contribution: Proposes expanding psychological science beyond Eurocentric methodological frameworks.
Baniwa, Gersem (2023).
Indigenous History in Independent Brazil: From the Threat of Disappearance to Protagonism and Differentiated Citizenship.
Contribution: Examines Indigenous knowledge systems and their role in contemporary Brazilian society.
Benites, Sandra (2022–2024).
Research on Guarani cosmology and territorial knowledge.
Contribution: Explores relationships between language, territory, and embodied knowledge within Indigenous epistemologies.
Santamaría-García, Hernando et al. (2024).
Latin American research on interoception, emotion, and social cognition.
Contribution: Demonstrates how bodily states influence emotional and cognitive processes.
Candia-Rivera, Diego (2022).
Research on brain–heart interactions in conscious experience.
Contribution: Highlights the importance of physiological body–brain integration in the study of consciousness.
Hacia una Neurociencia Decolonial del Lenguaje y del Sentido Crítico
Toward a Decolonial Neuroscience of Language and Critical Thinking
Para uma Neurociência Decolonial da Linguagem e do Senso Crítico
Cómo diseñar experimentos sobre la hipnosis de las palabras
How to Design Experiments on the Hypnosis of Words
Como desenhar experimentos sobre a hipnose das palavras
Lenguajes corporificados: el caso del Quechua y otras lenguas que mueven el cuerpo
Embodied Languages: The Case of Quechua and Other Languages that Move the Body
Linguagens corporificadas: o caso do Quechua e outras línguas que movem o corpo
La repetición semántica y el secuestro narrativo
Semantic Repetition and Narrative Capture
A repetição semântica e o sequestro narrativo
Belief Updating: cuando una nueva idea libera anergias represadas
Belief Updating: When a New Idea Releases Stored Anergies
Belief Updating: quando uma nova ideia libera anergias represadas
MMN, P300, N400 y P600 como marcadores del pensamiento crítico
MMN, P300, N400 and P600 as Markers of Critical Thinking
MMN, P300, N400 e P600 como marcadores do senso crítico
Zona 1, Zona 2 y Zona 3 en el lenguaje y en la ciencia
Zone 1, Zone 2, and Zone 3 in Language and Science
Zona 1, Zona 2 e Zona 3 na linguagem e na ciência
El cerebro rápido, la economía de energía y el riesgo del automatismo
The Fast Brain, Energy Economy, and the Risk of Automatism
O cérebro rápido, a economia de energia e o risco do automatismo
Las teorías científicas también moldean el cerebro del investigador
Scientific Theories Also Shape the Researcher’s Brain
Teorias científicas também moldam o cérebro do pesquisador
Cuando las palabras se convierten en qualia
Cada palabra hipnotiza un poco el cuerpo
Each Word Hypnotizes the Body a Little
Cada palavra hipnotiza um pouco o corpo
La palabra como unidad neural de sentido
The Word as a Neural Unit of Meaning
A Palavra como Unidade Neural de Sentido
La Descarga de Anergia Cuando el alivio corporal se confunde con la verdad
The Discharge of Anergia When bodily relief is mistaken for truth
A Descarga de Anergia - Quando o Alívio Corporal é Confundido com Verdade
Avenida Aleixo Cionek – A História Viva de Goioerê
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