The External PFC Hypothesis: AI as Cognitive Prosthesis for Non-Linear Knowledge Production — How Large Language Models Dissolve the Avoidant Monopoly on Academic Output

Paper 16 in the ABM Blueprint Independent Research Series. Academic knowledge production has historically operated through formats — linear argumentation, sequential structure, emotional distance — that are neurobiologically congruent with avoidant attachment and dorsolateral PFC-dominant cognitive styles. This paper introduces the External PFC Hypothesis: Large Language Models function as cognitive prostheses that perform the specific executive function operations (temporal sequencing, register translation, format compliance, sustained output maintenance) that academic publication requires — operations that are disproportionately available to avoidant-profile individuals. Key contributions: The Knowledge-Format Dissociation: Insight generation and insight formatting are dissociable cognitive operations. The current system conflates formatting ability with intellectual rigor. The Avoidant Monopoly: Academic institutions structurally select for the cognitive style produced by avoidant attachment — not through conspiracy but through structural alignment between format requirements and dlPFC-dominant processing. Four Mechanisms of Cognitive Prosthesis: Temporal Sequencing (hologram → line), Register Translation (clinical metaphor ↔ academic prose), Format Compliance (container management), Sustained Output Maintenance (prosthetic executive function). Profile-Specific Predictions: Architects will use AI for speed (optimization), Radars for validation (permission), Special Forces for structural access (liberation). The Matthew Effect Reversal: Practitioners with the most clinical capital but least academic capital will gain disproportionately from AI assistance. Self-Referential Evidence: This paper is itself produced through the mechanism it describes — a practitioner with 15,000+ clinical hours using AI as External PFC to format clinical insight into academic output. The paper predicts an exponential increase in practitioner-generated research as LLMs dissolve the format barrier that has systematically excluded non-avoidant cognitive profiles from the scientific record. Companion Papers: SADA Framework (Paper 1) · Superposition-Collapse Model (Paper 2) · SADA Recalibration Protocol (Paper 4) · Imagination–PAG–ECS Axis (Paper 5) · Temporal-Object Drama Triangle (Paper 13A) · The Respiratory–PAG–ECS Axis (Paper 14) · The Inverted Hierarchy (Paper 15) For clinical tools and the full ABM protocol: https://abm-blueprint.org