Entropy production of multivariate Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes correlates with consciousness levels in the human brain.
Physical Review E July 11, 2022 M. Gilson, E. Tagliazucchi, R. Cofré
Consciousness depends on complex, irreversible brain activity patterns. Using a stochastic thermodynamics framework, researchers calculated entropy production from fMRI data modeled as a multivariate Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process. Comparing wakefulness to deep sleep, they found a monotonous relationship between entropy production and the level of consciousness. These results provide robust signatures of consciousness and deepen the understanding of its link to complexity from a statistical physics perspective.