From the origins to the stream of consciousness and its neural correlates

Abstract

There are now dozens of very different theories of consciousness, each somehow contributing to our understanding of its nature. The science of consciousness needs therefore not new theories but a general framework integrating insights from those, yet not making it a still-born “Frankenstein” theory. First, the framework must operate explicitly on the stream of consciousness, not on its static description. Second, this dynamical account must also be put on the evolutionary timeline to explain the origins of consciousness. The Cognitive Evolution Theory (CET), outlined here, proposes such a framework. This starts with the assumption that brains have primarily evolved as volitional subsystems of organisms, inherited from primitive (fast and random) reflexes of simplest neural networks, only then resembling error-minimizing prediction machines. CET adopts the tools of critical dynamics to account for metastability, scale-free avalanches, and self-organization which are all intrinsic to brain dynamics. This formalizes the stream of consciousness as a discrete (transitive, irreflexive) chain of momentary states derived from critical brain dynamics at points of phase transitions and mapped then onto a state space as neural correlates of a particular conscious state. The continuous/discrete dichotomy appears naturally between the brain dynamics at the causal level and conscious states at the phenomenal level, each volitionally triggered from arousal centers of the brainstem and cognitively modulated by thalamocortical systems. Their objective observables can be entropy-based complexity measures, reflecting the transient level or quantity of consciousness at that moment.

Behavioral assessment scale of consciousness for nonhuman primates: A Delphi study

“…The brainstem reflexes are automatic responses mediated by the brainstem that are critical for maintaining vital physiological functions such as respiration, blood pressure, and heart rate. 51 These reflexes can also provide important clinical information about the integrity of the brainstem and its connections to higher brain centers. Assessing brainstem reflexes is particularly important for evaluating the level of consciousness in patients with neurological injury or illness.…”

Is information the other face of causation in biological systems?

“…Clearly, it is a crucial argument that weak emergence must meet. The answer can be that not downward causation but quantum randomness plus deterministic amplification is a core mechanism evolution had utilized to promote life and consciousness through "leaky" causal chains as phenomena of weak emergence (Yurchenko 2022a(Yurchenko , 2022b. However, this issue is far from the main aim of this paper to be discussed in detail.…”

Classical and Non-Classical Neural Communications

“…This supports the concept of PDP. As does the Cognitive Evolution Theory (CET) proposed by Yurchenko [85] which considers consciousness to be "a discrete chain of momentary states" and that it has no special neural correlate in the brain but spreads over many brain regions. Given that the different visual stimuli arriving in the brain are divided into four very different components of color, motion, shape and depth [86], this seems an appropriate conclusion and supports the idea of PDP but does not explain consciousness and self-awareness in physiological terms.…”

“…Hinton and Anderson, 1981 [80]; Rumelhart and McLelland, 1986 [81]; Kien, McCrohan and Winlow, 1992 [82]; Yurchenko, 2022 [85] Computational and quantal nature of action potentials…”