arXiv (Cornell University)
August 6, 2020
Rodrigo Cofré, Rubén Herzog, Pedro A. M. Mediano et al.
Altered states of consciousness provide a key opportunity to understand how global brain activity changes relate to different subjective experiences. This paper advocates a research program that bridges bottom-up generative models of whole-brain activity with top-down signatures proposed by theories of consciousness. It defines altered states, discusses relevant brain-activity signatures, and introduces whole-brain models to explore the mechanisms of altered consciousness from the bottom-up. The authors argue that systematic investigation of altered states via bottom-up modeling may help clarify the biophysical, informational, and dynamical foundations of consciousness.
bioRxiv Preprint Server
September 28, 2022
Yonatan Sanz Perl, Carla Pallavicini, Juan Piccinini et al.
preprint
Brain states are often described on a single scale from full consciousness to unconsciousness, but this ignores the complex, high-dimensional nature of brain activity. By combining whole-brain modeling, data augmentation, and deep learning, researchers mapped states of consciousness into a low-dimensional space where distances reflect similarities between states. They found an orderly trajectory from wakefulness to brain-injured patients, with coordinates related to functional modularity and structure-function coupling, both increasing as consciousness is lost. Model perturbations provided a geometric interpretation of state stability and reversibility. The work suggests conscious awareness depends on functional patterns encoded as a low-dimensional trajectory within the vast space of brain configurations.
arXiv Preprint Archive
August 6, 2020
Rodrigo Cofré, Rubén Herzog, Pedro A. M. Mediano et al.
Altered states of consciousness, such as those experienced during dreaming or meditation, offer a way to study how large-scale brain activity relates to different subjective experiences. This paper advocates a research program that combines bottom-up generative models of whole-brain activity, based on known properties of neural tissue, with top-down signatures proposed by theories of consciousness. The authors define altered states, discuss relevant brain-activity signatures, and introduce whole-brain models to explore the mechanisms behind these states. They argue that systematically investigating altered states through bottom-up modeling can clarify the biophysical, informational, and dynamical foundations of consciousness.