A New Theory of Consciousness: Thermodynamic Integration of Brain Networks

Consciousness appears to be an emergent property of some complex, nonlinear system in the brain. According to the integrated information theory of consciousness (IIT), a complex system composed of numerous integrated processing elements can be conscious due to the existence of a global, system-level integration of that complexity, which is associated with a specific level of information known among physicists as Integrated Information (or ϕ). However, IIT does not explain how a system can gain integration and ϕ in the first place. We suggest that the process of consciousness is similar to the formation of equilibrium in thermodynamics and thus we term the requisite nonlinear dynamics of the brain Thermo-dynamic Integration (TDI). We study dynamic models of brain networks that display a sequence of nonlinear bifurcations that endows the brain with TDI. Hence we ask whether networks with TDI are thermodynamically more organized than ones that do not display TDI, and whether such increase in thermodynamic organization actually corresponds to increase in conscious experience.