Consciousness during sleep and dreaming is examined through the lenses of biothermodynamics and neurocybernetics, proposing that these states represent evolved adaptations rather than mere byproducts of brain activity. The article argues that sleep and dream states serve homeostatic and informational functions, regulated by stochastic dynamics and bifurcations in neural systems. It integrates principles from advanced thermodynamics and statistical mechanics to model how the brain maintains stability and processes information across different conscious states. The work suggests that understanding these mechanisms can illuminate both normal and pathological consciousness, linking neural dynamics to broader evolutionary and physical principles.
A quantitative model describes how visual-spatial perception changes under agents that hyperactivate or hypoactivate the sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system. The model uses a Hill equation to relate neuromodulator concentration to perceptual alteration, quantified via a metric tensor. Simulations of psilocybin (hyperactivation) and chlorpromazine (hypoactivation) in brain tissue matched behavioral experiments: for psilocybin, a Hill coefficient of 14.8 and constant of 1.39 produced theoretical predictions that robustly fit experimental data (χ² test, p > 0.99). Neural tracts between cortical area V2 and the entorhinal cortex were identified, and grid-cell network simulations also followed the Hill equation. The approach could serve as a screening tool for perceptual misjudgment in stressed workers.