On the Evolution of the Mammalian Brain

Abstract

Hobson and Friston have hypothesized that the brain must actively dissipate heat in order to process information (Hobson et al., 2014). This physiologic trait is functionally homologous with the first instantation of life formed by lipids suspended in water forming micelles- allowing the reduction in entropy (heat dissipation). This circumvents the Second Law of Thermodynamics permitting the transfer of information between living entities, enabling them to perpetually glean information from the environment, that is felt by many to correspond to evolution per se. The next evolutionary milestone was the advent of cholesterol, embedded in the cell membranes of primordial eukaryotes, facilitating metabolism, oxygenation and locomotion, the triadic basis for vertebrate evolution. Lipids were key to homeostatic regulation of calcium, forming calcium channels. Cell membrane cholesterol also fostered metazoan evolution by forming lipid rafts for receptor-mediated cell-cell signaling, the origin of the endocrine system. The eukaryotic cell membrane exapted to all complex physiologic traits, including the lung and brain, which are molecularly homologous through the function of neuregulin, mediating both lung development and myelinization of neurons. That cooption later exapted as endothermy during the water-land transition (Torday, 2015a), perhaps being the functional homolog for brain heat dissipation and conscious/mindful information processing. The skin and brain similarly share molecular homologies through the “skin-brain” hypothesis, giving insight to the cellular-molecular “arc” of consciousness from its unicellular origins to integrated physiology. This perspective on the evolution of the central nervous system clarifies self-organization, reconciling thermodynamic and informational definitions of the underlying biophysical mechanisms, thereby elucidating relations between the predictive capabilities of the brain and self-organizational processes.

The resolution of ambiguity as the basis for life: A cellular bridge between Western reductionism and Eastern holism

“…It might further be considered that the ability to discriminate among a conflicting assembly of equivocal informational cues can be considered the conventionally referenced ‘life force’ in non-mechanistic descriptive terms (Torday and Miller, 2016). It accomplishes this through its own dualisms.…”

Neurobiology as Information Physics

“…The subjective complexity of consciousness may show that extensive network integration is needed for maximizing the mutual thermodynamic information and internal energy content of systems of the brain (Torday and Miller, 2016). An exemplary structure enabling such experience, likely one of many that together account for the subjective complexity of consciousness, is the thalamocortical complex (Calabrò et al, 2015; Hannawi et al, 2015).…”

“…Neuropsychological conditions involving different forms of agnosia, neglect, and self-awareness deficits do show that a reduced awareness of self-ownership of motor skills, body parts, or perceptual states can result in significant disability (Parton et al, 2004; Morin, 2006; Orfei et al, 2007; Prigatano, 2009; Tsakiris, 2010; Overgaard, 2011; Fabbro et al, 2015; Chokron et al, 2016). Since experiencing self-awareness optimizes levels of mutual information between the external world and the brain’s internal model (Apps and Tsakiris, 2014), and this activity decreases thermodynamic entropy (Torday and Miller, 2016), self-awareness may be a mechanism for optimizing the brain’s consumption of energy.…”

Neurobiology as Information Physics

“…The subjective complexity of consciousness may show that extensive network integration is needed for maximizing the mutual thermodynamic information and internal energy content of systems of the brain (JS Torday and WB Miller Jr 2016). An exemplary structure enabling such experience, likely one of many that together account for the subjective complexity of consciousness, is the thalamocortical complex (Y Hannawi et al 2015; RS Calabrò et al 2015).…”

“…Neuropsychological conditions involving different forms of agnosia, neglect, and self-awareness deficits do show that a reduced awareness of self-ownership of motor skills, body parts, or perceptual states can result in significant disability (F Fabbro et al 2015; S Chokron et al 2016; MD Orfei et al 2007; M Overgaard 2011; A Parton et al 2004; M Tsakiris 2010; A Morin 2006; GP Prigatano 2009). Since experiencing self-awareness optimizes levels of mutual information between the external world and the brain’s internal model (MA Apps and M Tsakiris 2014), and this activity decreases thermodynamic entropy (JS Torday and WB Miller Jr 2016), self-awareness may be a mechanism for optimizing the brain’s consumption of energy.…”