Consciousness and cognition
March 1, 2012
Alexander A Fingelkurts, Andrew A Fingelkurts, Sergio Bagnato et al.
91 citations
Resting electroencephalogram (EEG) microstates—brief, recurring patterns of brain activity—relate to levels of consciousness in brain-damaged patients and healthy individuals. A reduced number of microstate types was associated with altered consciousness, and unawareness corresponded to a lack of diversity in alpha-rhythmic microstates. Delta-, theta-, and slow-alpha-rhythmic microstates were more probable and longer during unawareness, whereas fast-alpha-rhythmic microstates were linked to consciousness. The findings suggest resting EEG can reveal neural correlates of consciousness, with potential implications for clinical care and medical-legal decisions for patients with disorders of consciousness.
The open neuroimaging journal
August 29, 2008
Andrew A Fingelkurts, Alexander A Fingelkurts
84 citations
The Operational Architectonics framework explains how brain and mind function by analyzing the detailed operational behavior of local neuronal assemblies and their coordinated activity as unified, metastable operational modules. These modules form a hierarchy of brain operations underlying perception, cognition, and consciousness. The methods described allow mapping the temporal structure of brain activity through EEG/MEG, revealing how functional connectivity and operational synchrony among neuronal assemblies create the dynamic, symbolic, and isomorphic relationships between brain operations and mental phenomena. This theoretical approach integrates neurocomputational and dynamical systems perspectives to understand the binding of brain operations into conscious experience.
Consciousness and cognition
November 1, 2020
Andrew A Fingelkurts, Alexander A Fingelkurts, Tarja Kallio-Tamminen
41 citations
Altering the sense of self through mental manipulation in experienced meditators causes corresponding changes in the brain's self-referential network (SRN). Participants induced states of increased or decreased witnessing agency, body-emotional agency, or narrative agency while EEG recorded their brain activity. The results strengthen evidence for a direct causal link between three specific aspects of subjective selfhood and three corresponding modules of the SRN. A new integrative model of dynamic interrelations among these SRN modules is proposed.
Brain research
January 5, 2012
Andrew A Fingelkurts, Alexander A Fingelkurts, Carlos F H Neves
35 citations
The hierarchical operational architectonics (OA) framework offers an alternative to common machine consciousness methods by proposing a theory-driven approach based on the brain's functional architecture. It describes the neurophysiological basis of phenomenal consciousness as a hierarchy of brain operations captured in the electromagnetic field. The authors argue that engineering machine consciousness requires duplicating this hierarchy and its rules. They hope the framework will inspire mathematicians and computer scientists to formalize these principles, which are the building blocks of consciousness and thought.
Cognitive processing
May 1, 2009
Andrew A Fingelkurts, Alexander A Fingelkurts, Carlos F H Neves
10 citations
Building a truly conscious robot requires a brain that can support phenomenal consciousness like a human brain does. The Operational Architectonics framework, by examining millisecond-scale topographic sharp transitions in scalp EEG, reveals a hierarchical EEG architecture that mirrors the structure of the phenomenal world. This suggests that creating machine consciousness would need an implementation capable of supporting the same kind of hierarchical architecture found in EEG.
Brain sciences
June 13, 2025
Alexander A Fingelkurts, Andrew A Fingelkurts
2 citations
This conceptual review examines how the three core aspects of experiential selfhood—'Self,' 'Me,' and 'I'—are altered in psychiatric and neurological disorders. Drawing on neurophenomenological evidence, the authors find that across most conditions the proportional configuration of these aspects remains stable, with the 'Self' consistently dominant, followed by 'Me,' then 'I.' This hierarchy is disrupted only in extreme cases such as vegetative (unresponsive) states and schizophrenia. The review proposes that all neuropsychopathologies are disorders of selfhood, where disruptions in the dynamic balance of these aspects accompany distinct dysfunctions.
Consciousness and cognition
March 1, 2026
Alexander A Fingelkurts, Andrew A Fingelkurts
The three core aspects of selfhood—'Self', 'Me', and 'I'—show moderate-to-high stability within individuals over time, measured by the functional integrity of brain networks on repeat quantitative EEG testing. Their overall configuration, or relative expression pattern, is exceptionally reliable. The duration between assessments, participants' age, and the presence of somatic or psychopathological conditions did not affect these stability measures. The results suggest that these aspects of selfhood and their configuration exhibit trait-like properties, remaining stable across time, age, and health conditions.