Dynamics of Consciousness

Abstract

The cognitive problem is how a given sensorial input elicits a decision. Since the neuron dynamics are affected by deterministic chaos, information is lost over the course of time. Control of chaos reduces such a loss rate by adding extra degrees of freedom. This addition is a change of code; such a recoding occurs on two time scales, namely, (A) the cognitive one (lasting up to 3 s), within which the brain reaches a collective state associated with a perception, and (B) the linguistic one (beyond 3 s), whereby memory retrieves different (A) units and compares them. In (A) the neurons are mutually coupled in large networks; collective synchronization of neuron arrays elicit decisions. In (B), different (A) slots are compared after retrieval. This requires a subject to be conscious of him/herself as well as that the pieces of the stream be correlated. While in (A) the neuron synchronization is described in dynamic terms, in (B) the slot comparison is formalized by an inverse Bayes rule. Distinction of (A), where coherent perceptions are built, from (B), where we formulate attributions of truth, recovers the fundamental philosophical difference between apprehension and judgment.