Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
October 1, 2024
Sergey B. Yurchenko
5 citations
Panpsychism and dualism are resurgent in neuroscience, posing metaphysical challenges for theories of consciousness. Integrated Information Theory (IIT) exemplifies a framework that combines elements of both, but many theories of consciousness implicitly lean toward panpsychism when they define consciousness universally, while those invoking strong emergence risk dualism. A remedy is proposed in the form of "bioprotopsychism," grounded in evolutionary biology, autopoiesis, and the free energy principle. This approach offers a minimalist account of consciousness through a triad of chemotaxis, efference copy mechanisms, and counterfactual active inference, linking weakly emergent conscious states to the brain's unconscious predictive processing and information content.
September 17, 2025
Sergey B. Yurchenko
Three major scientific mysteries—the origins of the universe, life, and consciousness—likely can never be solved because they share a fundamental limit to human knowledge. These questions transcend empirical and rational methods. The problem is introduced through a philosophical metaphor, the "empty room argument," and then examined in the contexts of big bang cosmology, abiogenesis, and consciousness science.
Bio Systems
July 1, 2023
Sergey B. Yurchenko
The relation between information and causation is intrinsically linked to emergence, self-organization, and hierarchy. A canonical example of downward causation is the collective behavior of a whole system at a macroscale affecting the behavior of its members at a microscale. In neuroscience, downward causation is suggested as a candidate for mental causation (free will), but only if information has causal power. After introducing the Causal Equivalence Principle and a set-theoretical definition of multiscale nested hierarchy, the author argues that downward causation can be spurious, emerging only in the eyes of an observer due to information not obtainable by looking exclusively at microscale behavior.
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
November 4, 2022
Sergey B. Yurchenko
Consciousness science has many competing theories but lacks a unifying framework. The Cognitive Evolution Theory (CET) proposes that brains evolved first as volitional subsystems from primitive reflexes, not as prediction machines. CET models the stream of consciousness as a discrete chain of momentary states arising from critical brain dynamics at phase transitions, mapped onto neural correlates. This framework integrates insights from existing theories by treating consciousness as a dynamical, evolutionary phenomenon. It uses entropy-based complexity measures as objective observables for the transient level of consciousness, linking continuous brain dynamics to discrete conscious states triggered by brainstem arousal and modulated by thalamocortical systems.
Sergey B. Yurchenko
preprint
Panpsychism and dualism are both reemerging in consciousness science because they offer simple solutions to hard problems: panpsychism integrates consciousness into physical reality, while dualism gives consciousness causal power to support free will and moral responsibility. Integrated Information Theory (IIT) exemplifies a theory that combines both commitments, but many theories of consciousness implicitly lean toward panpsychism when defining consciousness universally, and strongly emergent theories risk dualism. A remedy called bioprotopsychism, grounded in evolutionary biology, autopoiesis, and the free energy principle, proposes a minimalist approach: conscious states are weakly emergent streams of information (best guesses) from the brain's unconscious predictive processing.