Language and consciousness: an essential dialogue at the heart of our mind

Can we be conscious without language? Does language influence our conscious experience? These questions, which are central to understanding the human mind, have been shed new light on thanks to the work researchers at the University of Liège. Their study shows the complex links between language and consciousness.

The relationship between language and consciousness has been of interest to the scientific community for decades. Most of us agre t that we can be conscious without necessarily speaking or processing language, as in the case of emotions, sensations or visual perceptions. However, language may play a much more important role in our conscious lives than we imagine. This is certainly what this critical review , highlighting suggestsseveral recent studies in neuroimaging, cognitive psychology and neuropsychology.

"We have discovered a fundamental distinction between different levels of language processing," explains Charlène Aubinet, neuropsychologist and speech therapist at the Coma Science Group. Low-level processes—such as recognising speech sounds or identifying simple words—can occur even when consciousness is greatly reduced, for example during deep sleep, under anaesthesia, or in patients with altered consciousness following severe brain injury. In contrast, more complex processes, such as understanding an entire sentence or integrating abstract ideas, seem to require a high level of consciousness." The study of patients waking from a coma (a crucial transition phase between coma and the return of the ability to communicat ) has revealed parallel trajectories of recovery between language and consciousness.

Even more remarkably, signs of language processing can sometimes precede and even predict the return of consciousness. "This observation has major clinical implications," the researcher continues, "as it calls for caution in interpreting the absence of verbal responses as a sign of unconsciousness." The researchers also point out that language – and in particular inner speech, that little voice in our heads – could help shape our conscious experience and support forms of elaborate thinking such as self-awareness and metacognition, i.e. our ability to reflect on our own mental processes.

Studies conducted on aphasic patients (people suffering from a language disorder resulting from brain damage) show that language disorders are often accompanied by difficulties in these areas. These findings challenge simplistic positions that viewed consciousness ascompletely independent of language either  or as a necessary condition for language. The reality appears to be much more nuanced, with these two functions maintaining dynamic and potentially co-constructive relationships that depend on the levels of cognitive processing involved. While language does not create consciousness, it nevertheless seems to have a bidirectional, profound and still mysterious relationship with it. Future research will need to clarify these links and shed light on their role in understanding and treating disorders of consciousness.