Consciousness and Energy Processing in Neural Systems.
Brain sciences November 1, 2024 Robert Pepperell 2 citations
Conscious experience cannot yet be explained by physical brain processes, but this paper proposes a framework grounded in energy processing. All physical processes involve energy transfer, transduction, and transformation during work in material systems. If consciousness is physical, it must follow the same principle. The brain is treated as a material system that performs biophysical work at classical and quantum scales. Evidence suggests conscious experience arises when nervous systems perform such work with a certain level of dynamic complexity or organization. An empirically grounded, falsifiable hypothesis is offered to explain how energy processing in nervous systems may produce conscious experience at a fundamental physical level.