Emily Kwong

Science backs this up, right?

Not everyone has an inner monologue.

I love it.

Mine is loud.

Oh, no.

It does not feel like a bath.

feels like it's dialogue heavy.

So whether it's a conversation that I'm having with myself or an imagined conversation with other people, yeah, it's a screenplay.

But Emily, this got us thinking about how different the insides of people's heads are.

And it turns out there are scientists who study what's going on in people's minds.

Participants carried this device around and every time it beeped, they filled out a questionnaire to quantify their inner experience.

But there was a problem.

It's just people saying what's going on in their heads, but

How do you confirm?

It's humbling, yes.

But, Emily, you know, even if people can't fully know themselves, scientists are still trying to figure it out, including a collaborator of Russell's, Charles Ferniho.

I'm Emily Kwong.

And I'm Rachel Carlson.

You're listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR.

Charles, what do we know about where inner speech comes from and what parts of the brain are involved?