Consciousness emerges from temporal integration across biological scales: from cellular memory to phenomenological experience.
Frontiers in integrative neuroscience January 1, 2026 Alfredo López Parra
Consciousness research lacks an explicit account of the temporal constraints needed for information to become consciously accessible. This paper proposes that temporal integration is a biologically invariant constraint operating across multiple scales, from cells to organisms. Drawing on evidence of memory in non-neuronal cells, the authors introduce a minimal bioelectrical/biochemical temporal window (ΔT_b) governing cellular information consolidation, which may contribute to organismic basal coherence (γ) through bioelectric and autonomic mechanisms. The Libet paradigm is reinterpreted as reflecting necessary delays for multilevel integration rather than evidence against agency. The pathway from cellular temporal integration to autonomic coherence is classified as mechanistically plausible, requiring empirical validation.