Root Frequency Theory: An Integrative Framework for the Continuity of Lived Experience

Conscious experience remains coherent across time, but existing explanations focus separately on neural mechanisms or phenomenological description. The Root Frequency Theory (RFT) proposes that experiential continuity arises from coherence across five interdependent layers (C0–C4), connected through multiscale alignment and rhythmic coordination. The Default Mode Network (DMN) is analyzed as a central hub contributing to spatiotemporal continuity. The RFT Coherence Metric (M-RFT) is introduced as a heuristic index inspired by variational free energy minimization and self-organization, characterizing alignment across biological, neural, and symbolic domains whose convergence manifests at the experiential level. The theory-building strategy uses neurophenomenology, combining first-person reflection with transdisciplinary modeling. RFT offers a testable framework for examining how neural integration, self-understanding, and physiological regulation covary to sustain a coherent sense of self.

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Abstract

Updates and more info: www.avanzorft.comContemporary science continues to face a fundamental difficulty in explaining how conscious experience remains coherent across time. Most existing approaches focus either on neural mechanisms or on phenomenological description, leaving open how physical constraints, biological regulation, neural dynamics, and meaning‑making processes jointly sustain a relatively stable sense of self. The Root Frequency Theory (RFT) is proposed as an integrative approach that addresses this gap by treating experiential continuity as a function of coherence across five interdependent layers (C0–C4). These layers are hypothesized to remain connected through multiscale alignment and rhythmic coordination. Within this framework, the Default Mode Network (DMN) is analyzed as a central neurofunctional hub that can contribute to the spatiotemporal continuity associated with cross‑layer coordination and self‑related experience. To make this proposal empirically approachable, I introduce the RFT Coherence Metric (M‑RFT), a heuristic index inspired by variational free energy minimization and the informational processes of self‑organization. In its current conceptual form, M‑RFT characterizes the putative degree of alignment across layers: biological (C1), neural (C2), and symbolic domains (C3), whose convergence is proposed to manifest at the experiential level (C4). Methodologically, the project follows a theory-building strategy grounded in neurophenomenology, combining structured first-person reflection with transdisciplinary conceptual modeling. RFT is not offered as a definitive theory of consciousness, but as a structured proposal that makes systemic coherence investigable. It points toward new, in-principle testable approaches for examining how neural integration, self-understanding, and physiological regulation may covary over time in sustaining a coherent sense of self. This preprint introduces a testable integrative framework intended to stimulate interdisciplinary collaboration across neuroscience, phenomenology, and complex systems research.