Jackson Cionek
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Feeling and Self-Referencing – Fundamental Differences between Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s - Decolonial Neuroscience SfN 2025 Brain Bee Ideas

Feeling and Self-Referencing – Fundamental Differences between Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s - Decolonial Neuroscience SfN 2025 Brain Bee Ideas

“Today we’ll talk about something deep: what happens when the body stops telling us we’re alive? And when the mind stops telling us who we are? Feeling and self-referencing is the foundation of consciousness. And in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, this foundation is under attack.”

Feeling and Self-Referencing — Fundamental Differences between Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s SfN2025 Decolonial Neuroscience
Feeling and Self-Referencing
Fundamental Differences between Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
SfN2025 Decolonial Neuroscience


On Brain Damage and Interoceptive / Proprioceptive Capacities

Feature

Parkinson’s

Alzheimer’s

Type of disease

Neurodegenerative motor disorder (with cognitive effects)

Neurodegenerative cognitive disorder (with secondary motor effects)

Most affected brain area

Substantia nigra (pars compacta) → reduced dopamine in the striatum (caudate nucleus and putamen)

Hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, progressing to parietal and frontal cortices

Main neurotransmitter affected

Dopamine

Acetylcholine

Type of degeneration

Death of dopaminergic neurons + Lewy body accumulation

Accumulation of beta-amyloid plaques and tau tangles

Motor deficits

Highly pronounced: rigidity, bradykinesia, tremor, hypomimia, posture abnormalities

Mild in early stages; unstable gait in later stages

Cognitive deficits

Appear later (Parkinson’s dementia in some cases)

Appear early (episodic memory, orientation, language)

Interoception / Proprioception

Directly impaired — low bodily awareness, reduced facial expression, impaired movement perception

Indirectly impaired — due to loss of orientation in time and space, and degradation of subjective identity

Example of interoceptive loss

The patient doesn’t notice how little their face or body is expressing → doesn’t feel they are "being"

The patient doesn’t remember being → loses the subjective context of their body in time and relationships


In Neuroanatomical Terms

Parkinson’s:

  • Damage in the nigrostriatal pathway (substantia nigra → striatum):
    ⟶ Impairs voluntary and expressive motor planning and execution.

  • Degeneration in brainstem nuclei (including locus coeruleus, nucleus basalis, ventral tegmental area).

  • Eventually affects the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, impairing executive function and interoceptive attention.

Alzheimer’s:

  • Begins in the hippocampus (episodic and spatial memory) and entorhinal cortex (gateway between hippocampus and neocortex).

  • Progresses to the posterior parietal cortex (body schema, visuospatial orientation).

  • Evolves into frontal areas and anterior cingulate cortex, disrupting metacognition, emotional regulation, and self-image.


How Does This Relate to “Feeling and Self-Referencing”?

Parkinson’s:

  • Facial and body movement lose amplitude, causing the patient to lose the signals that help them feel present.

  • Proprioception is silenced: they don’t perceive they’re slouched, that their face is “off,” or that the body isn’t responding.

  • Motor interoception (feeling tension, movement, fine adjustments) is reduced, affecting the awareness of the “Tensional Self” (in your framework).

  • This is the collapse of “I am what I move.”

Alzheimer’s:

  • Awareness of time and place deteriorates first.

  • The patient still feels the body, but doesn’t know where or who they are — internal reference is lost in narrative time.

  • Emotional interoception (emotions linked to memories) also disconnects: the body feels, but doesn’t recognize why.

  • This is the collapse of “I am what I remember.”


Key Highlights

  • Parkinson’s is the death of movement as a reference for the SELF.
    ⟶ Interoception loses its constant source of update: the body goes silent, the face freezes, the SELF becomes dereferenced.

  • Alzheimer’s is the death of narrative as a reference for the SELF.
    ⟶ The body still feels and moves, but no longer knows who feels or why. It’s the SELF without a story.

  • In both, the foundation of “feeling oneself being” is compromised.
    But in opposite directions:

    • Parkinson’s = body present without a referenced SELF

    • Alzheimer’s = body without time or narrative to reference the SELF


Connecting to Our Concepts

Concept

Parkinson’s

Alzheimer’s

Zone 2

Collapses due to lack of micro-adjustments and motor feedback

Collapses due to fragmented metacognition and narrative

REM Tonic

Fails to reintegrate expressive patterns

Fails to consolidate episodic memory with embodied presence

Apus (expanded proprioception)

Interrupted in facial expression and posture

Still present, but unanchored from narrative

Fruição (Enjoyment/Flow)

Reduced due to constant basal tension and muscular rigidity

Reduced due to temporal disconnection and emotional dissonance

Tensional Selves

Frozen in the body

Dissolved in memory

 

Buen Sueño en el Bienestar del Ahora

A Good Dream in the Well-Being of Now

Sonho Bom no Bem-Estar do Agora

El Renacimiento del Pertenecer Natural – Joinville, los Umbu, los Sambaquíes y la Prosperidad Bribri

The Rebirth of Natural Belonging – Joinville, the Umbu People, the Sambaquis, and Bribri Prosperity

O Renascimento do Pertencimento Natural – Joinville, Umbus, Sambaquis e a Prosperidade Bribri

Ritmos Compartidos y Sincronía Social – El Secuestro del Pertenecer y la Conciencia Colectiva de los Ciclos

Shared Rhythms and Social Synchrony – The Hijacking of Belonging and the Collective Consciousness of Cycles

Ritmos Compartilhados e Sincronia Social – O Sequestro do Pertencimento e a Consciência Coletiva dos Ciclos

Movimiento de las Aguas Interiores y Sincronía Circadiana del Ser

Movement of the Inner Waters and Circadian Synchrony of Being

Movimento das Águas Interiores e Sincronia Circadiana do Ser

Cuerpo Territorio – La Conciencia del Espacio Vivido

Body Territory – The Consciousness of Lived Space

Corpo Território – A Consciência do Espaço Vivido

Movimiento de las Aguas – El ciclo vital dentro y fuera del ser

Movement of the Waters – The Vital Cycle Inside and Outside the Being

Movimento das Águas – O Ciclo Vital Dentro e Fora do Ser

Apus – La Propiocepción Extendida del Ser

Apus – The Extended Proprioception of Being

Apus – A Propriocepção Estendida do Ser

Yãy hã mĩy Extendido – El cuerpo que imitando se trasciende

Yãy hã mĩy Extended – The Body That Imitating, Transcends Itself

Yãy hã mĩy Extendido – O Corpo que Imitando se Transcende

Taá Extendido – El Sueño que Conecta Todas las Cosas

Extended Taá – The Dream that Connects All Things

Taá Estendido – O Sonho que Liga Todas as Coisas

Weicho - El Ser sin Diferencias

Weicho - Being Without Differences

Weicho - O Ser Sem Diferenças

Pei Utupe - El Alma como Información Comprometida

Pei Utupe - The Soul as Engaged Information

Pei Utupe - A Alma como Informação Engajada

Yãy hã mĩy - Imitarse Ser para Trascenderse Ser

Yãy hã mĩy - To Imitate Being to Transcend Being

Yãy hã mĩy - Imitar-se Ser para Transcender-se Ser

El Soñar de la Información - El Taá

The Dreaming of Information - The Taá

O Sonhar da Informação - O Taá

Feeling and Self-Referencing – Fundamental Differences between Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s - Decolonial Neuroscience SfN 2025 Brain Bee Ideas

Sentir y Referenciarse – Diferencias Fundamentales entre Parkinson y Alzheimer - Neurociencias decoloniales SfN 2025 Lat Brain Bee

Sentir e Se Referenciar - Diferenças Fundamentais entre Parkinson e Alzheimer


Deputado Federal Joinville
Deputado Federal Joinville

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Jackson Cionek

New perspectives in translational control: from neurodegenerative diseases to glioblastoma | Brain States