The theory of mental gravity posits that phenomenological, cognitive, and affective states of an embodied self are structured according to the experience of physical gravity (i.e., internal gravity model). The theory draws a behavioral analogy between external (physical), internal (mental), and relational (socio-emotional) environments to argue that physical gravity serves as a mental template to express socio-emotional aspects of the self-world relationship. The theory is based on the principle of cognitive gravitropism, whereby being “up” and “aligned” to the gravitational field confers survival, adaptive, emotional, and social value. The theory explains how mental gravity manifests in cognition and behavior, emotion and personality, large-scale brain networks, and the phenomenology of selfhood. On a surface level, the template for mental gravity derives from an embodied simulation of gravity's physiological effects. At a deeper level, the theory describes the underlying neural, cognitive, and phenomenological processes driving the mental simulation of physical gravity. Neuroanatomy of mental gravity focuses on the vestibular, salience, default mode, and central executive networks. On the basis of default mode activity, the self is viewed as the brain's autobiographical “centre of mental gravity”. The self interacts with the socio-emotional environment from this reference frame, communicating feelings associated with the self-world relationship by simulating the effects of physical gravity through affect, behavior, and language. A continuum of mental gravity states is hypothesised to range from positive “up” and “down” states like ecstasy and mindfulness to negative “up” and “down” states like anxiety and depression, respectively.

中文翻译：

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心理引力：在物理环境中模拟体现的自我

心理引力理论认为，实体自我的现象学、认知和情感状态是根据物理引力的经验（即内部引力模型）构建的。该理论在外部（物理）、内部（心理）和关系（社会情感）环境之间进行行为类比，认为物理重力可以作为表达自我世界关系的社会情感方面的心理模板。该理论基于认知向地性原理，即与引力场“向上”和“对齐”会赋予生存、适应、情感和社会价值。该理论解释了心理重力如何在认知和行为、情感和个性、大规模大脑网络以及自我现象学中体现。从表面上看，精神重力的模板源自对重力生理效应的具体模拟。在更深层次上，该理论描述了驱动物理重力心理模拟的潜在神经、认知和现象学过程。精神重力的神经解剖学重点关注前庭、显着性、默认模式和中枢执行网络。在默认模式活动的基础上，自我被视为大脑的自传体“精神重心”。自我从这个参考系与社会情感环境互动，通过情感、行为和语言模拟物理重力的影响，传达与自我世界关系相关的感受。假设精神重力状态的连续体范围分别从积极的“向上”和“向下”状态（如狂喜和正念）到消极的“向上”和“向下”状态（如焦虑和抑郁）。