Most dominant models in neuroscience and cognitive science, such as representationalism, predictive coding, and global workspace theory, tend to treat consciousness as a state defined by symbolic or functional representation. These often rely on spatial structures, computational encoding, or hierarchical broadcasting of information.
I’m looking for alternative or complementary frameworks that model consciousness as a transductive process, one in which conscious states emerge through continuous, dynamic transformation of matter, energy, or information across scales or boundaries, rather than being statically represented.
In particular, I’m interested in:
- Models that treat consciousness as a self-referential or recursive field dynamic
- Theories grounded in thermodynamics, quantum coherence, or oscillatory coupling
- Approaches that focus on structuring of intrinsic information through nonlocal or temporally asymmetric pathways
- Frameworks like the Dynamic Organicity Theory of Consciousness (Poznanski), Chauvet’s Functional Systems Theory, or field-based theories aligned with the Oscillatory Dynamics Transductive-Bridging Theorem (ODTBT)
My question to the community: What theories or empirical models describe consciousness as a process of phase change, field restructuring, or informational transduction, rather than symbolic representation or static neural code?
Would appreciate pointers to literature or collaborators working on this form of process-based, non-representational consciousness modeling.
Giulio Tononi’s Integrated Information Theory (IIT)
While often interpreted in terms of informational integration, IIT also emphasizes the importance of complex, dynamic interactions that could be viewed as field restructuring at the neural level, emphasizing the network’s causal power and intrinsic geometry rather than static codes.
Tononi is a leader in the field of consciousness studies and has co-authored a book on the subject with Nobel prize winner Gerald Edelman.
Massimini, M.; Tononi, G. (2018). Sizing up Consciousness: Towards an Objective Measure of the Capacity for Experience. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-872844-3.
Gerald Edelman; Giulio Tononi (June 2000). Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination (book). Allen Lane.
Oizumi M, Albantakis L, Tononi G. From the phenomenology to the mechanisms of consciousness: Integrated Information Theory 3.0. PLoS Comput Biol. 2014 May 8;10(5):e1003588. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003588. PMID: 24811198; PMCID: PMC4014402.
Stephen I. Ternyik I appreciate the pointer to IIT. I see Tononi’s Φ as a valuable metric of systemic integration, but I’m interested in how this integration unfolds dynamically, through recursive field restructuring, phase feedback, and bifurcation logic. Are there models (or empirical extensions of IIT) that attempt to map this integration as a recursive convergence process, perhaps involving field substrates, thermodynamic feedback, or symbolic-strain modulation?
Some researchers John Surmont have proposed models framing neural activity as dynamical fields where the integration emerges from continuous, recursive interactions:
Neural field models treat brain activity as propagating wave-like phenomena across neural substrates, with phase coherence and feedback loops shaping collective states (e.g., Wilson-Cowan equations, neural mass models). Such models can simulate how local interactions produce globally integrated states through recursive feedback.
Some other approaches consider the brain as a thermodynamic system where energy and information flow through field-like substrates (e.g., electromagnetic fields, chemical gradients). Feedback mechanisms modulate these fields, leading to phase synchronization or bifurcations that underpin integrated states.
Researchers like Oizumi et al. have proposed temporal IIT extensions that quantify how integrated information accumulates or dissipates over time, emphasizing dynamical evolution rather than static snapshots.
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Summary:
Neural field and dynamical systems models capturing phase feedback and bifurcations.
Temporal and information-theoretic extensions of IIT focusing on the unfolding of integration.
Theoretical efforts integrating thermodynamics, electromagnetic fields, and symbolic dynamics to explain how recursive restructuring underpins conscious integration.
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Oizumi M, Albantakis L, Tononi G (2014) From the Phenomenology to the Mechanisms of Consciousness: Integrated Information Theory 3.0. PLoS Comput Biol 10(5): e1003588. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003588
Pokropski M (2018) Commentary: From the Phenomenology to the Mechanisms of Consciousness: Integrated Information Theory 3.0. Front. Psychol. 9:101. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00101
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