The group is dedicated to studying the architecture and functioning of the human mind, investigating the mental processes underlying behavior, from the reception of sensory stimuli to the execution of complex actions. From an interdisciplinary perspective that engages with neuroscience and philosophy, we explore how individuals acquire, transform, store, retrieve, and use information. We investigate the mechanisms of sensation and perception, analyzing how the brain interprets the world through bottom-up and top-down processes, as well as the laws of perceptual organization (Gestalt). We discuss the role of attention in the selection and filtering of information, addressing focused and divided attention and automatic versus controlled processes. We explore memory not merely as an archive of experiences, but as a complex and reconstructive system—involving working, episodic, and semantic memory—and its failures, such as forgetting and the creation of false memories.
The group also examines higher-order cognitive processes, such as reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making, focusing on the use of heuristics and mental logic. Finally, we integrate the influence of emotions and feelings on cognition, rejecting the reason-emotion dichotomy and observing how affective states modulate judgment, memory consolidation, and adaptation to the environment. From neurobiological foundations to behavioral implications, we seek to understand the dynamics of mental life.
In addition, the group expands its research into the philosophy of mind, examining the ontological and epistemological foundations of cognition. We revisit the classic mind-body problem, engaging with the legacy of Cartesian dualism and moving toward materialist conceptions and functionalism, which understands the mind as an information-processing system analogous to computer software. We delve deeper into the debate on the nature of consciousness, distinguishing between access consciousness and phenomenal consciousness—addressing the so-called “hard problem” of subjective experience and qualia.
We investigate the origins of knowledge through the historical clash between rationalism and empiricism—contrasting innate reason with sensory experience as sources of knowledge—and incorporate the constructivist perspective, in which the subject not only passively receives data from the world but also actively organizes and constructs their mental representations. Finally, we question the limits of human rationality (bounded rationality) and the implications of unconscious and automatic processes for the existence of free will.