Body-Territory as the Minimum Unit of the Secular State

Human Behavior Map: from DNA to Body-Territory

Every public policy begins somewhere.

It can begin in the budget.
It can begin in the party.
It can begin in the market.
It can begin in religion.
It can begin in ideology.

But a mature democracy must begin earlier:

in the living body.

The body that is gestated, born, sleeps, learns, plays, works, becomes ill, ages, suffers, creates, and belongs.

Decolonial Neuroscience proposes a central formulation:

Body-Territory must be recognized as the minimum unit of the Secular Democratic State.

This means that the State does not begin in abstraction. It begins in a body situated in a real territory: home, street, school, SUS, forest, city, water, food, safety, culture, bonds, and dignity.

The Secular State is not spiritual emptiness

A secular state does not need to be a state without meaning.

It must be a state that protects all bodies without submitting public policy to one specific religious doctrine.

This is essential for pregnancy, childhood, school, mental health, sexuality, death, grief, family, science, and care.

When the State mixes public care with religious morality, some bodies are protected and others are judged.

When the State is truly secular, it protects the Body-Territory before asking about belief, party, origin, race, gender, or religion.

The minimum unit of the State should not be the morality of one group.

It should be the concrete life of each Body-Territory.

Pregnancy: the first public territory

Pregnancy is not only a private event.

It is the first territory of human development.

Caring for pregnancy means caring for mental health, nutrition, work, sleep, violence, bonding, prenatal care, housing, support networks, and economic safety.

Without turning abortion into a political battlefield, we can affirm something essential:

Every country that wants a future must better protect pregnant women, babies, and early bonds through science, care, and dignity.

Gestational mental health is State policy.

Violence against women is State policy.

Sleep, work, care, and support networks during pregnancy are matters of human sovereignty.

Childhood: where the State learns the future

Childhood is the second great territory of the State.

A child needs body, sleep, food, play, bonding, school, nature, movement, language, digital protection, and available adults.

When childhood is abandoned, the State later pays through psychological suffering, school dropout, violence, compulsions, illness, and loss of creativity.

When childhood is protected, the country gains the capacity to learn, cooperate, and innovate.

The Maxakali concept Yãy hã mĩy reminds us that the child learns by imitating in order to transcend-being.

So the public question becomes:

What living models does the State offer our children to imitate?

School, SUS, and territory

School is not only a place for content.

It is a territory of bodily, social, and emotional regulation.

SUS is not only a treatment network.

It is an infrastructure of belonging and care.

The neighborhood is not only an address.

It is APUS: extended proprioception, the place where the body feels whether it can breathe, circulate, play, sleep, learn, and trust.

Public policy must integrate school, SUS, sports, culture, social assistance, urbanism, science, and economy.

The Human Behavior Map proposes measuring how these systems enter the body and change attention, mental health, sleep, cooperation, belonging, and dignity.

Economic Right to Existence

If Body-Territory is the minimum unit of the State, it must participate in the national economic metabolism.

This is not a favor.

It is structure.

The central formulation is:

Economic Right to Existence guaranteed by DREX Citizen and by the country’s territorial assets.

Each Body-Territory must participate in public wealth because it composes the State.

DREX Citizen, carbon credits, territorial assets, protected biomes, public data, and local economic circulation can form a new foundation of dignity, reducing dependency, fear, and economic obedience.

Scientific references and experimental pathways

Costa, L. C. N., et al. (2025). “Work-related mental disorders during pregnancy: a demographic analysis based on SINAN NET notifications (2014–2024).” Brain 2025.
This study shows an increase in reports of work-related mental disorders among pregnant women, reinforcing that pregnancy, labor, and mental health must be treated as integrated public policy.
Experiment: HRV + stress scales + prefrontal fNIRS in pregnant women exposed to different levels of work burden and social support.

Oliveira, V. G., et al. (2023). “Childhood trauma: is there a relationship with psychiatric hospitalization during pregnancy?” Brain 2023.
This work associates childhood trauma with psychiatric hospitalization during pregnancy, showing that Body-Territory carries histories across generations.
Experiment: longitudinal follow-up with mother-infant HRV, bonding scales, sleep, and fNIRS during simple social tasks.

Costa, A. C. S., et al. (2024). “The impact of adverse childhood events and maternal mental health on mother-baby attachment at 6 months of life.” Brain 2024.
This study investigates how adverse events and maternal mental health can affect attachment, reinforcing early bonds as a foundation of public development.
Experiment: mother-infant fNIRS hyperscanning + HRV during face-to-face interaction, play, and mild stress situations.

Rosa, E. R., et al. (2026). “Screening — daily life — routine.” Brain 2026.
This study with 228 students found associations between sleep, physical activity, nutrition, screens, focus, impulsivity, apathy, and social integration, showing that daily habits modulate executive functions and socioemotional regulation.
Experiment: prefrontal fNIRS during attention tasks before and after a school intervention involving sleep, nutrition, movement, and screen reduction.

Santana, R. W. (2026). “Psychotherapeutic follow-up in the school environment as a strategy for bullying prevention and mental health promotion in adolescents.” Brain 2026.
This study shows that school-based psychotherapeutic follow-up was associated with reduced bullying, improved perceived safety, and stronger socioemotional skills, reinforcing school as a care territory.
Experiment: EEG/fNIRS + HRV during social exclusion/inclusion tasks before and after school listening programs.

Lessa, B., & Nardin, M. (2024). “Screen time, sleep, and biological rhythm.” Brain 2024.
This review points to relationships between screen time, sleep, circadian rhythm, mental health, and learning, showing that digital territory also participates in the Body-Territory.
Experiment: actigraphy + fNIRS in executive tasks before and after a school-based light and digital hygiene protocol.

Assis, M. F., et al. (2026). “Psychological suffering in the initial mental-health assessment of women victims of sexual violence undergoing legal pregnancy interruption.” Brain 2026.
This study describes high psychological suffering among women victims of sexual violence in a context of legal pregnancy interruption, reinforcing the need for a secular State with mental-health care and welcoming protocols.
Experiment: care protocols with HRV, clinical scales, and longitudinal follow-up to assess reduction of suffering and strengthening of support networks.

Choinski, A. G. M., et al. (2021). “Welcoming people in psychological suffering in Primary Care.” Brain 2021.
This report describes health-education actions and training of Primary Care professionals in welcoming and therapeutic bonding, reinforcing SUS as a territory of belonging.
Experiment: evaluate Primary Care welcoming programs with trust scales, HRV, and care-adherence indicators.

How to transform this evidence into public policy

If you are running for President of Brazil

Propose the National Body-Territory Framework, recognizing pregnancy, childhood, school, SUS, mental health, territory, dignity, and Economic Right to Existence as foundations of the Secular Democratic State.

If you are running for the Senate

Propose an Organic Law of Body-Territory, ensuring that policies for pregnancy, childhood, education, mental health, digital sovereignty, and territorial assets are protected by scientific and secular criteria.

If you are running for Governor

Create State Body-Territory and Human Behavior Map Centers, connecting universities, schools, SUS, social assistance, sports, culture, and EEG/fNIRS laboratories to measure real human development.

If you are running for Federal Deputy

Allocate resources to multicenter research on pregnancy, early childhood, school, bullying, screens, mental health, territory, DREX Citizen, and the Economic Right to Existence.

If you are running for State Deputy

Support pilot projects in Primary Care units, daycare centers, schools, neighborhoods, traditional communities, and universities to strengthen welcoming care, bonding, healthy routines, play, nature, citizen science, and local dignity.

Sentences for a government plan

The Secular State begins in the Body-Territory: before belief, party, or market, there is a life that must be cared for.

Pregnancy, childhood, school, SUS, and territory are the living infrastructure of democracy.

Every Body-Territory must have dignity, belonging, and Economic Right to Existence guaranteed by DREX Citizen and by the country’s territorial assets.