Ruminative Cycle and Autonomous Role-Aspect (ARA) Activation within the RAMSD Model: Psychology of Inner Worlds

This conceptual paper develops the neurocognitive foundations of the RAMSD model (Role-Aspect Modular Self Dynamics), which is part of the broader theoretical framework Psychology of Inner Worlds. The model introduces Autonomous Role-Aspects (ARAs) as self-contained psychobiological modules that enact distinct social roles through their own cognitive, emotional, and neurosensory architecture. Unlike metaphorical "parts" in Internal Family Systems (IFS), ARAs are strictly role-bound, neurally grounded, and empirically verifiable.The paper explores how chronic rumination reflects a systemic dysfunction in ARA modulation. Drawing from recent findings in neuroscience (DMN, SN, ECN), the model positions rumination not merely as a symptom of anxiety or trauma, but as a failure of internal role-switching and modular coordination. Specific phenomena such as autobiographical memory loops, interoceptive disconnection, and neuroemotional blocks are analyzed as consequences of ARA fixation and stagnation.The RAMSD framework reframes mental perseveration as a role-specific simulation loop, where cognitive activity persists in the absence of emotional resolution or embodied feedback. This neurocognitive perspective bridges personality theory, trauma dynamics, and clinical interventions, offering a new pathway for diagnosing and therapeutically addressing ruminative states. The model further provides conceptual links to structural dissociation theory while extending its applicability to non-pathological yet dysfunctional modular states of self.This work advances a novel, testable framework for understanding subpersonality dynamics and their role in repetitive negative thinking, and it proposes a roadmap for restoring internal modular flexibility through ARA-based interventions.