Disorders of consciousness involve impaired awareness with few non-invasive treatment options. Researchers used computer models to simulate how activating certain receptors, particularly serotonergic and opioid receptors, alters whole-brain dynamics in patients. The simulations shifted patients' brain activity patterns toward those seen in conscious, awake individuals. This effect depended on the density of activated receptors across the brain. The results suggest whole-brain modeling can help identify new pharmacological treatments and support the potential of serotonergic psychedelics to accelerate recovery of consciousness.
The paper extends the Kolmogorov Theory of Consciousness by examining how agents that track natural data develop structural and dynamical properties mirroring the world's symmetries. Using Lie pseudogroups to formalize generative models and a neural network as a proxy for the agent, the authors show that data tracking forces the agent's parameters and dynamics to reflect the symmetry properties of the generative world model, leading to a hierarchical organization consistent with the manifold hypothesis. This bridges algorithmic information theory, symmetry, and dynamics, offering insights into neural correlates of agenthood and structured experience.