Topic Hub
Brain Networks
Large-scale networks that govern attention, salience and self-regulation.
Episodes
The HPHR Library is growing
The first episodes on this topic are in preparation.
Every piece is written, reviewed and taught by Dr Emmanuel Frantzis, and published only when it meets the HPHR standard. New material is released continually — join the newsletter below to receive each release as it arrives.
Related Learning · Papers
HPHR Paper · Intermediate
Your Brain Is Constantly Asking One Question
The human nervous system continuously receives vast amounts of sensory, cognitive, emotional, and physiological information. Because conscious awareness cannot process every incoming signal simultaneously, the brain must continually determine which information deserves priority. This process is largely mediated by the salience network, an integrated neural system centred on the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex. The salience network evaluates the biological significance of internal and external stimuli, directing attention toward information considered most relevant for survival and behavioural adaptation. This paper reviews the neurobiology of the salience network, examines its role in pain processing, and discusses why persistent pain can become such a dominant feature of conscious experience.
HPHR Paper · Intermediate
Why Can Chronic Pain Affect Your Concentration?
Persistent pain is frequently associated with complaints of impaired concentration, reduced mental clarity, diminished working memory, and cognitive fatigue. While these symptoms are often attributed solely to the distracting nature of pain, contemporary neuroscience suggests a more complex explanation. Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that persistent pain is associated with functional alterations within large-scale brain networks responsible for attention, executive function, and internally directed cognition. This paper examines how changes within the Default Mode Network (DMN) and the Executive Control Network (ECN) contribute to the cognitive symptoms commonly reported by individuals living with chronic pain and discusses the clinical implications of these findings.
HPHR Paper · Intermediate
Pain Is Never Just Pain
Pain emerges through the coordinated activity of multiple interacting brain networks rather than a single anatomical location, integrating sensory information with attention, emotion, memory, autonomic regulation, motivation, and internal bodily awareness.
HPHR Paper · Intermediate
Pain Begins Before You Feel It
Research examining pain anticipation has shown that brain regions involved in pain processing become active before a painful stimulus is delivered. Understanding pain requires consideration not only of what has occurred, but also of what the nervous system anticipates may occur.
Newsletter
Receive practical neuroscience and health restoration insights.