Nonlinear Multistable Attractor Dynamics of Consciousness

Abstract

This is the extended sequel to "A Mathematical Model of Consciousness: From Physical Axioms to the Brain-Network Matrix and the Sleep-Wake Spectrum" (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20019972). The parent paper established a nonlinear multistable dynamical framework for consciousness, deriving from five physical axioms a system of coupled differential equations with third-order self-referential dynamics, a bidirectionally coupled integrated information variable, and a 16-region connectome-inspired brain-network matrix spanning wakefulness, all major sleep stages, lucid dreaming, and anaesthesia. However, that work addressed only the global level of consciousness and did not treat phenomenal content, qualia instantiation, temporal self-binding, volitional experience, or individual epistemic construction. The present paper develops these missing components through several constructive hypotheses: Dual-qualia-anchor hypothesis — innate content-specific qualia anchors (low-damping, input-independent attractor configurations for sensory-affective phenomenal primitives) plus a superordinate self-anchor linked to the self-referential variable z(t). Temporal coupling proposition — content attractors stabilise prior to synchronous phase-locking with the self-anchor. The paper demonstrates that this temporal ordering is structurally grounded in the parent model's timescale separation (τz<τu≪τΦ), with ΦΦ-relaxation acting as the rate-limiting informational bottleneck. Effective noise hypothesis — the unmodellable content-level attractor diversity of wakefulness (estimated at 10^7 configurations) is compressed into an effective stochastic drive, justified by analogy with statistical-mechanical treatment of macroscopic systems. Intrinsic noise-generator hypothesis — the brain may possess dedicated noise-generating mechanisms (nonspecific thalamocortical projections, neuromodulatory systems, layer-5 intrinsic variability, default mode network) that actively regulate effective noise amplitude as a state-dependent variable N(t). Two-stage volitional architecture — stochastic branch generation followed by deterministic competitive resolution, providing a compatibilist account of free will that avoids the "randomness equals free will" objection. Three nested constraint mechanisms — internal world-simulation weighting, prefrontal goal biasing, and synaptic-plasticity-reinforced transition pathways — reconciling stochastic attractor hopping with logically ordered thought. Representational hierarchy gap — a structural limit on complete self-comprehension arising from self-referential embedding, replacing earlier appeals to Gödelian incompleteness. The paper derives concrete falsifiable neurophysiological predictions concerning temporal coupling delays (50–300 ms), flow-state synchronisation patterns, depersonalisation-derealisation physiology, noise-manipulation effects on creativity, plasticity-landscape changes, lucid dreaming phase coupling, and TMS-perturbation signatures of qualia anchors. Comparative evaluation against Integrated Information Theory, Global Neuronal Workspace, predictive processing, consciousness-field receiver models, and panpsychism is provided. Key contributions: This sequel transforms the parent model's static multistable landscape into a framework capable of addressing the fine-grained temporal structure of subjectivity, the dynamical origins of volition, and the ontogenetic shaping of individual world-models — while explicitly demarcating the boundary between mathematically derived results and interpretive phenomenological postulates.