Table 1 Core concepts in the neurodynamical account of intuition
Concept/theory | Definition/description | Role in intuition |
|---|---|---|
Intuition (core definition) | Nonconscious, embodied, fast-acting process that guides decision-making via directional “hunches” | Serves as an early pathfinding mechanism rooted in motricity, prediction, and agency |
Free energy principle | Brains minimize prediction error (“surprise”) through hierarchical Bayesian inference. | Explains how intuition reduces uncertainty nonconsciously via predictive modeling and active inference |
Metastability | Dynamic regime balancing stability and flexibility in brain network coordination. | Enables rapid, flexible switching between cognitive states, supporting the emergence of intuitive judgments |
Sharp wave ripples (SWRs) | Synchronous hippocampal events replaying past experiences in compressed time | Proposed physiological basis for intuition; supports internal simulation and memory-guided pathfinding |
Attractor landscapes | Dynamic topography of possible brain states shaped by past experiences and goals | Intuitions emerge as transitions between attractors, influenced by stored unsolved problems. |
Pathfinding | Cognitive and neural processes of selecting viable paths toward goals | Central framing concept for intuition as an adaptive mechanism for navigating uncertain environments |
Opportunistic assimilation | Reactivation of stored unsolved problems when new, relevant information is encountered | Explains delayed intuitions emerging from dynamic reorganization of previously encoded experiences |
Intuition–insight–analysis continuum | A sequence from fast, uncertain feelings to conscious realization and step-by-step reasoning | Positions intuition as early-stage signal; insight as realization; analysis as explicit understanding |
Interoception and embodied cognition | Bodily signals (e.g., gut, heart, breath) informing cognition and perception | Provides the somatic “felt sense” of intuition; links body-state to emerging awareness. |
Agency and motricity | Evolutionary roots of cognition in movement and goal-directed behavior | Frames intuition as a sensorimotor-based predictive tool guiding adaptive action in the world |
