Redefining the Unconscious as Reactive Neural Processes: From a Mentalistic Model to the Reactive Brain–Awareness Framework (RBAM)

The concept of the unconscious has traditionally been framed as a hidden layer of the mind containing repressed contents and non-conscious processes. This paper challenges this mentalistic interpretation and proposes an alternative framework in which the unconscious is understood as a set of reactive neural processes grounded in subcortical brain systems. Within this model, patterns commonly described as unconscious originate during prenatal development and early life, where they are encoded as neural engrams within reactive circuits. These patterns later manifest as signals that influence perception, emotion, and behavior, while remaining largely inaccessible to direct analytical processing. To formalize this perspective, this paper introduces the Reactive Brain–Awareness Model (RBAM). In this framework, unconscious processes are reconceptualized as biologically grounded signals emerging from subcortical reactive systems rather than as contents of a hidden mental domain. Furthermore, the paper argues that access to these processes is not primarily achieved through cognitive analysis, but through a form of non-analytical awareness that allows direct observation of internal signals without immediate conceptual reconstruction. This model offers a conceptual bridge between neuroscience and the phenomenology of awareness, proposing a shift from mentalistic interpretations toward an integrated brain–awareness framework.