Consciousness as an Emergent Phenomenon: A Tale of Different Levels of Description

Abstract

One of the biggest queries in cognitive sciences is the emergence of consciousness from matter. Modern neurobiological theories of consciousness propose that conscious experience is the result of interactions between large-scale neuronal networks in the brain, traditionally described within the realm of classical physics. Here, we propose a generalized connectionist framework in which the emergence of “conscious networks” is not exclusive of large brain areas, but can be identified in subcellular networks exhibiting nontrivial quantum phenomena. The essential feature of such networks is the existence of strong correlations in the system (classical or quantum coherence) and the presence of an optimal point at which the system’s complexity and energy dissipation are maximized, whereas free-energy is minimized. This is expressed either by maximization of the information content in large scale functional networks or by achieving optimal efficiency through the quantum Goldilock effect.

New classifications for quantum bioinformatics: Q-bioinformatics, QCt-bioinformatics, QCg-bioinformatics, and QCr-bioinformatics

“…While there is no scientific evidence to support this idea, it has gained some attention in the field of neuroscience and philosophy. Understanding the relationship between quantum consciousness and biology involves exploring how quantum mechanics might interact with biological processes in the brain [ 143 , 144 ].…”

Perspectivas del estudio de la consciencia: aproximación desde las ciencias de la complejidad y la biología evolutiva

“…Un punto a consideración es el hecho de que el funcionamiento fisiológico parece comportarse como una máquina de estados finitos y no como una computadora (Moscoso del Prado, 2009). Por tal motivo, se plantea que los isomorfismos de la consciencia no sólo se deben estudiar a un nivel de las interacciones anatómicas de mamíferos, sino que se deben incluir los niveles de organización inferiores, los superiores y otras organizaciones estructurales representadas por otros grupos taxonómicos (Guevara et al, 2020). Esto genera un camino de entrada a un marco evolutivo de la ontología de la consciencia.…”

Is the Tendency to Maximise Energy Distribution an Optimal Collective Activity for Biological Purposes? A Proposal for a Global Principle of Biological Organization

“…This is because energy is a fundamental property of natural phenomena, and these fundamental aspects are always hard to define in a general manner, nonetheless, it is fair to note that the notion of energy in biology and other sciences is normally associated with work produced leading to biological functions and therefore the need for a precise and strict definition of energy is not that crucial. Something similar occurs in the attempt to define consciousness or life, fundamental notions that have not obtained a definition everybody can agree on, and thus the advice to circumvent this problem (if indeed it is a problem) by defining them enumerating their features Guevara Erra et al, 2020). Perhaps, then, we should not worry too much about being unable to know the essential nature of some of these fundamentals because the key point is to capture aspects of the phenomenon that may help in the understanding.…”