Talk:mentation

does anyone know the difference between mentation and cognition?

Mentation is a much broader term than cognition: which only refers to conscious thought processes. The current wiktionary definition says it is the "process of thinking", but it also includes the process of emoting and of exerting effort too. These are all uniquely mental activities. The OED defines mentation as: "Mental action, esp. as attributed to the agency of the brain or other nervous organ; also, a product of ‘mentation’, a state of mind."

If this is accepted, then mentation would include attitudes and other mental phenomena too. There is no distinction made between conscious or unconscious mental processes, so it could be taken to include instinctive response mechanisms (modal action patterns or fixed action patterns) and could even include autonomic brain processes regulating homeostasis, heartbeat, etc. Hence all perceptions and controls generated by brain processes could be considered as covered by the word.

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state of mind
2. somebody's state of mind or general attitude Microsoft® Encarta® 2009 --Backinstadiums (talk) 12:15, 3 January 2020 (UTC)