Semantic closure—the self-referential mechanism by which symbols construct and interpret their own contexts—arises evolutionarily from simple reaction networks to self-constructing chemical systems with anticipatory capabilities. By extending relational biology models with temporal parameters, the work identifies self-reference as necessary for robust self-replication and open-ended evolution. A computational enactivist framework integrates autopoiesis, anticipation, and adaptation to address the problem of relevance realization, providing a theoretical basis for naturalizing agency and cognition.
Heart-rate variability (HRV) increases during compassion meditation, but the best timescale for measuring it and how the signal's stability changes over time remain unclear. Applying advanced time-series analyses to data from a two-week compassionate mind training intervention, the authors found that the pattern of HRV correlations across resting and meditation states was similar across multiple recording timescales, indicating a fractal-like property. After training, the HRV signal during compassion meditation became more highly correlated and less stochastic (variable) than before training, and the average difference between rest and meditation states decreased. These results offer new visual and statistical markers of HRV change across experimental states.