Bio Systems
October 1, 2016
Slawomir J Nasuto, Yoshikatsu Hayashi
27 citations
Current robotic technologies cannot have intentional states beyond what is possible within the sensorimotor variant of embodied cognition. Anticipation is an emerging concept that bridges philosophical theories about life and cognition with empirical biological and cognitive sciences grounded in reductionist and Newtonian causality. To advance, cognitive robotics needs new platforms and a conceptual framework for investigating autonomy and purposeful behavior. Hybrid systems combining robotics with neuronal cultures offer experimental platforms where different dimensions of enactivism—sensorimotor processes and constitutive foundations of biological autonomy including anticipation—can be studied in an integrated way. This approach may unify theoretical and empirical biological sciences where reductionist approaches have faltered.
Bio Systems
January 1, 2025
F Baluška, W B Miller, P Slijepcevic et al.
10 citations
Cells are not merely structural building blocks but cognitive agents with subjective feelings, sentience (consciousness), and cognitive infocomputational competence. They function as 'Kantian Wholes' where all parts exist for and by means of the whole system, using sentient agency to solve existential problems and evolve as self-organizing units. Cell sentience arises from the excitable plasma membrane, which generates bioelectromagnetic fields linked to a whole-cell sensory architecture. This sensory apparatus, termed the senome, encompasses the totality of cellular self-referential information obtained through sensory systems, including the subjective cellular inside and self-referential appraisal of the external environment. The plasma membrane was invented by the first cells and has been inherited uninterruptedly for billions of years through successive cell divisions.
Bio Systems
December 1, 2024
Breno B Just, Sávio Torres de Farias
7 citations
Cognition is defined as the set of informational and dynamic processes that allow an organism to interact with and grasp aspects of its world. The authors argue that, from an evolutionary perspective, basic cognitive processes such as perception, memory, learning, problem-solving, decision-making, and action are fundamental features of all living beings. They contend that similarities between simple and complex cognitive processes cannot be ignored, nor can differences be blurred, and that a final cognitive framework must account for both ends of the complexity spectrum. Thus, cognition can be expanded to every living organism.
Bio Systems
December 1, 2024
Sergio J Martínez García, Pablo Padilla Longoria
7 citations
A proposed index based on Shannon's entropy can discriminate between the Neurocentrist hypothesis (consciousness is in the brain) and the Embodied hypothesis (consciousness involves the whole organism). Current theories like information integration theory and global workspace theory focus only on the brain, failing to account for embodied processing. The index measures whether information processing is primarily internal or external, and simulations with networks of varying internal and outer layers validated the index as unbiased. This offers a way to test which hypothesis better explains consciousness without relying on physical network structure.
Bio Systems
May 1, 2025
Andres Kriete
5 citations
Cognition and conscious thought are integral to how biological systems control themselves to find and use meaningful information for survival. The development of key cognitive abilities in centralized nervous systems—decision-making with partial sensory information, learning and memory, and symbolic communication—can be categorized as distinct decision processes. Conscious thought arises from a control mechanism for speech production, known as the phonological loop, which provides feedback from motor to sensory cortex. This continuous loop updates working memory and gives humans an advanced layer of control through a sense of self, agency, and perception of time flow, defining distinct degrees of information fitness in evolution.
Bio Systems
April 1, 2023
Rasmus Gahrn-Andersen, Robert Prinz
5 citations
A Code Biology-informed account of human sense-making avoids the dualism between individual autonomy and social heteronomy. Code biological principles apply across biological and non-biological levels, crossing the self-non-self border. Codified relations, irreducible to operational closure, connect the sense-making agent's social interactions to those of others, giving external norms a constitutive role in altering internal embodied integrity. Using prosthetics in amputees as a case, successful integration of a prosthesis requires experienced bodily wholeness achieved by attuning to the device while internalizing social norms and values. Many aspects of the living actualize codified relations incorporating both heteronomous and autonomous traits.
Bio Systems
June 1, 2025
Thomas Görnitz
4 citations
A generalized concept of quantum information offers a scientific explanation for consciousness and its evolution. Matter and photons are understood as manifestations of abstract, absolute quantum information bits (AQIs), which provide a common basis for consciousness, energy, and matter. This framework explains how information absorbed from the body and environment—processed by consciousness as an information structure—interacts with matter and energy, grounded in the equivalence of matter and motion via Einstein's E=mc².
Bio Systems
May 1, 2025
Danko D. Georgiev
4 citations
Functional theories of consciousness, which treat it as an emergent property of brain functions, struggle with the hard problem of why an insentient brain would produce any conscious experience at all, a difficulty worsened by classical physics' determinism, which leaves emergent consciousness causally impotent. This paper presents a quantum information theoretic approach that avoids these drawbacks by reductively identifying first-person subjective conscious states with unobservable quantum state vectors in the brain. The observable brain is viewed as a third-person construct created by classical bits from environmental measurements of commuting quantum brain observables. Quantum resource theory implies that quantum features of consciousness, protected by no-go theorems, cannot be replicated by any classical device.
Bio Systems
February 1, 2025
Nikolai S Rozov
2 citations
This article refines theoretical explanations for the main stages of linguistic and cognitive evolution in human origins. It introduces the concepts of "concern" and "providing structure" as extensions of biological adaptation within the extended evolutionary synthesis. Concerns about sustenance, safety, sexuality, parenthood, status, and emotional support drive behavioral tries, which consolidate into providing structures—practices, abilities, and attitudes—via interactive rituals and internalization. These structures reshape environmental and group niches, generating new challenges. During African multiregionalism, hominin groups faced demographic bottlenecks where only the most advanced survived. Abilities became innate through the Baldwin effect and multilevel selection, explaining the evolution of language from holophrases to complex syntax and consciousness from expanded attention to self-consciousness and the self.
Bio Systems
December 1, 2025
Joseph J Trukovich
1 citation
Consciousness arises when a biological system builds an explicit, recursive model of itself, and that model is saturated with homeostatic significance under perspectival entrapment. This theory, Value Saturation, identifies phenomenal consciousness with this specific organizational architecture. It distinguishes sentience (implicit recursion under survival stakes) from subjective consciousness (explicit, manipulable self-models). Three necessary components are interoceptive binding, homeostatic saturation, and perspectival entrapment. Testable predictions include a developmental shift from sentience at birth to subjective consciousness around ages 3-5, an asymmetry between awareness and manipulation, and clinical dissociations that produce aberrant rather than absent phenomenology. Converging evidence from prediction error processing, homeostatic feelings, and biological computing supports these claims.
Bio Systems
May 1, 2026
Marko Vitas, Srdjan Cvjetović, Andrej Dobovišek
There is no consensus on what consciousness and intelligence are, but this article proposes a new definition of intelligence grounded in thermodynamics, describing it as a far-from-equilibrium phenomenon. The definition is minimal yet general, covering thinking, rationality, problem-solving, and adaptation. It states that intelligence, as an emergent property of consciousness, is the ability to intentionally solve challenges and adapt to new situations and an ever-changing environment. This definition may be relevant to cognitive and computer sciences, space exploration, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, artificial intelligence, and philosophy.
Bio Systems
April 1, 2026
Byung-Soo Choi
The Orch-OR theory proposes that consciousness arises from quantum processes in microtubules, but quantum coherence is extremely fragile in the brain's warm, wet environment. This paper suggests that the brain might use a quantum error-correction mechanism based on the surface code model to protect coherence. By mapping the surface code protocol onto microtubule structure, the authors analyze whether achievable coherence times under this model could meet those required by Orch-OR. They derive conditions for feasibility and examine whether microtubule properties like tubulin dimer counts and error rates satisfy them. Their analysis indicates the surface code could sustain coherence times long enough for Orch-OR, arguing the theory retains partial validity for explaining consciousness.
Bio Systems
March 1, 2026
Abir U Igamberdiev
Time is tied to actualization, physically interpreted as quantum measurement, which has a dual structure: external reality measured (physical time) and internal reality of the agent (duration, or Bergson's la durée). Internal time holds a coherent quantum state of entangled potentialities, while physical time represents the collapse of this state via quantum transactions, unifying Everett's Many-worlds and Copenhagen interpretations. Duration can be estimated via the energy-time uncertainty relation, linking measurement precision to energy dissipation and span. This precision enables quantum computation in autopoietic systems at sustainable non-equilibrium. Energy dissipation triggers collapse via emitted quanta, allowing higher-level control. The relation is proposed as a fundamental quantum constraint of natural computation spanning from enzymatic catalysis to consciousness.
Bio Systems
February 1, 2026
Ian Todd
Intelligence depends on maintaining high-dimensional coherent dynamics. High-dimensional systems are effectively nonergodic on relevant timescales, confining trajectories to tiny regions of phase space, which the authors argue is the basis of biological computation: a system's position in phase space functions as its memory, constraints, and structured dynamics. They propose an Observable Dimensionality Bound: external observers cannot track systems whose effective dimensionality exceeds a critical threshold set by channel capacity and temporal resolution, shielding internal structure from disruption. The framework suggests a thermodynamic pressure contributing to the efficiency gap between biological and artificial intelligence, as brains concentrate irreversible commitments at behavioral boundaries rather than every internal micro-update. Human cortex likely operates beyond this observable threshold.
Bio Systems
January 1, 2026
Marco Cavaglià, Jack A Tuszynski
Conscious experience may depend on more than just neuronal circuits. This paper proposes that lipid membranes, vicinal water, and cerebrospinal fluid together form a coherent substrate capable of holographic information encoding and coupling with both endogenous and exogenous electromagnetic fields. The authors present four postulates: the membrane acts as a holographic plate, water serves as a coherence medium, there is a holographic read-write mechanism, and the system couples to environmental fields. A dual-layer model integrating membrane-water-CSF with electromagnetic fields is described, and the framework is connected to existing theories. Falsifiable experimental strategies and metrics are outlined.
Bio Systems
September 1, 2025
Gustavo Guzmán, Elsa Magaña-Cuevas, Rocío Hernández-Rizo et al.
Brain organization arises from molecular, cellular, and systems-level processes that together produce cognitive function. While individual biological codes have been characterized at specific scales, their integration across levels remains poorly understood. Existing theories of consciousness recognize diverse electrophysiological signatures but fail to explain the continuity linking molecular and neural codes. The metacontinuum hypothesis is proposed as a unifying framework connecting these layers of biological information processing. Molecular codes establish cellular identity and circuit properties, while neural codes organize these circuits into systems supporting cognition.
Bio Systems
August 1, 2025
Marko Vitas
A new definition of consciousness is proposed, building on a generalized definition of life. Life is characterized as a far-from-equilibrium, self-maintaining system of quantum particles that processes, transforms, and accumulates environmental information. Consciousness is defined as an emergent property of such a system that is sustained by an autopoietic system. The definition aims to be minimal yet broad enough to cover all forms of cognition, including thinking and rationality, and is presented as a possible solution to Chalmers' hard problem of consciousness, with potential relevance to cognitive science, computer science, and artificial intelligence.
Bio Systems
May 1, 2025
Abir U Igamberdiev, Nikita E Shklovskiy-Kordi
Efim Liberman proposed in 1972 that living systems perform natural computation internally, guided by physical principles and constraints. Fundamental physical constants set universal limits, while biological systems have specific constraints that evolution can overcome. Biological macromolecules, especially the cytoskeleton, shape patterns formed during internal measurement in living systems. Cytoskeletal rearrangements drive cellular, morphogenetic, and perceptual transformations and participate in genetic events leading to evolutionary change. Neurons transmit signals via the cytoskeleton, producing digital outputs decoded by the perceiving agent. Liberman's principles of natural computation are fundamental to life and underpin theories of metabolic closure, morphogenesis, evolution, and consciousness.
Bio Systems
April 1, 2025
Joseph J Trukovich
Consciousness evolves through a continuum of recursive processes: reaction, temporogenesis, symbiogenesis, and cognogenesis. Reaction enables adaptive responses to stimuli; recursive refinement leads to temporogenesis, synchronizing internal processes with external rhythms. Symbiogenesis fosters cooperative interactions across biological levels, enabling higher-order cognition. Cognogenesis culminates in self-awareness and intentionality through iterative feedback loops. The framework proposes that subjective experience emerges from progressively complex recursive interactions, not as a static phenomenon. It compares with Integrated Information Theory, Global Workspace Theory, and enactive cognition, situating consciousness in an evolutionary and biological context, and offers avenues for neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and artificial intelligence.
Bio Systems
March 1, 2025
Seungju An, Byung-Soo Choi
The Orch OR theory proposes that consciousness arises from quantum processes in microtubules within neurons. This study presents a surface code model to simulate the quantum properties of microtubules on a quantum computer. The model interprets asymmetric Fibonacci helical pathways in tubulin as logical qubits, which can stabilize surface code. The authors analyze the conditions needed for future quantum computers to test this model. This work offers a novel perspective for investigating Orch OR theory, though its experimental feasibility depends on advances in quantum computing.
Bio Systems
September 1, 2024
Stuart Kauffman, Sudip Patra
The article attempts to weave Cosmos, Mind, and Matter into a unified conceptual framework, building on three recent discoveries: (i) particles of the Standard Model may be capable of collective autocatalysis, possibly explaining Cosmogenesis and the origin of physical laws and constants; (ii) evidence suggests matter can expand spacetime, which could clarify Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and Inflation; (iii) evidence at 6.49 sigma indicates mind can alter the outcome of the two-slit experiment, implying mind plays a role in the universe, possibly including a Cosmic Mind. The framework considers ontologically real potentia, nonlocality, mind as not in spacetime, and the co-evolution of complex matter.
Bio Systems
August 1, 2024
Akihiro Nishiyama, Shigenori Tanaka, Jack A Tuszynski
A control theory for manipulating holograms in Quantum Brain Dynamics (QBD) is proposed, linking to subjective experiences (qualia). The theory extends QBD to a hierarchical model covering the neocortex and uses reservoir computing or morphological computation to manipulate hologram waveforms. Numerical simulations show convergence to target waveforms via external electric fields in a QBD hierarchy. The approach could be applied to non-invasive neuronal stimulation and to test whether the brain uses holographic language. If confirmed, the theory might enable virtual reality devices that non-invasively manipulate qualia from the five senses, potentially transmitting information directly into the brain without sensory organs.
Bio Systems
January 1, 2024
Theodoros Kyriazos, Mary Poga
Quantum mechanics offers a metaphorical framework for understanding human emotions, cognition, and consciousness. Drawing parallels between quantum phenomena like superposition, entanglement, tunneling, and decoherence and psychological states, the paper presents a quantum-psychological model that reimagines emotional states, cognitive breakthroughs, interpersonal relationships, and the nature of consciousness. Using computational models and simulations, it explores the implications and applications of this interdisciplinary fusion. The authors emphasize that while quantum concepts provide a rich metaphorical lens, rigorous empirical validation is essential, and the framework should be approached with both enthusiasm and skepticism.
Bio Systems
October 1, 2023
Miku Yamada, Miu Matsumoto, Mina Arakaki et al.
By asking 306 subjects to pick which of six colors they felt was the true red, light green, blue, yellow, or purple, researchers built probability distributions for each color. They then used Kullback-Leibler divergence to measure the difference between the reference color's distribution and that of each generated color. The number of subjects who selected a generated color decreased as its Kullback-Leibler divergence from the reference increased, but the rate of decrease varied greatly across colors. This suggests that color qualia—the subjective sensation of a color—are not uniform across hues; people appear to randomly choose a color that 'feels' right.
Bio Systems
July 1, 2023
Aleksandr V Zhuravlev
Consciousness may be understood as an extension of physical laws, specifically total entropy dissipation that simplifies systems. The brain processes information at three levels: serial molecular genetic processes similar to digital computations, parallel neural network computations that learn and adapt, and a third level involving subjective consciousness and qualia. Qualia-associated computations convert neural information into simpler, more compact forms internally observed as qualia, enabling the brain to recognize general laws and relationships. This gives conscious brains an advantage over artificial intelligence by allowing behavior guided by meaning rather than blind trial-and-error.