MANIFEST
The Brain of Presence:
Social neuroscience has transformed our view of the human brain. It is no longer the isolated organ we once imagined: it is deeply sensitive to others, to their emotions, their intentions, and the relationships that structure our existence.
But one question seems to have remained discreetly in the background.
At what point does the brain begin to function in a "social" mode?
In most classical models, particularly that of the Social Brain, sociality appears when the brain enters into elaborate forms of interaction: communicating, cooperating, interpreting the intentions of others, sharing complex emotions.
But another possibility is gradually emerging.
What if the brain began to become social even before interaction? Before speech. Before exchange. Sometimes even before clear awareness of the other.
As if the brain were already answering a more fundamental question:
Is anyone there?
Not once and for all. At every moment, in one form or another, with varying degrees of certainty.
The project "The Brain of Presence" explores this hypothesis.
What if the presence of others was not simply a context for our mental and emotional life, but a fundamental and continuous condition in which the human brain develops, functions, learns, adapts, and regulates its internal states?
This question concerns neuroscience. But also human development, attachment, psychotherapy, loneliness, the contemporary transformations of our societies and the new forms of presence that are emerging today.
From birth — perhaps even before, from intrauterine life — until the end of existence, we are immersed in the presence of others. Or in their absence.
The Brain of Presence starts from this simple yet profound reality: we never function alone. Even when others are absent. And understanding this may change everything.