Title: Study Suggests Human Consciousness May Arise from Brains Maximizing Disorder
Date: January 2022
In an intriguing study published in 2016, researchers proposed a new hypothesis that our brains may be programmed to prioritize disorder, similar to the principle of entropy found in the Universe. The study implies that consciousness could potentially be a side effect of our brain’s pursuit of maximum information content.
The quest to unravel the origins and mechanisms of human consciousness has puzzled researchers for centuries. Despite its fundamental role in our everyday lives, scientists have yet to establish a definitive understanding of its origin, inception, and purpose.
Led by a team of scientists from France and Canada, the study explored the possibility that consciousness could emerge naturally as a consequence of our brain’s tendency to achieve a state of entropy. Entropy characterizes the transformation of a system from order to disorder, paralleling the movement of our Universe towards ever-increasing disorder since the Big Bang.
The researchers sought to apply this concept to the connections within our brains by investigating whether they exhibited any discernible patterns of self-organization during conscious states. Employing statistical mechanics, a probability theory, they modeled the neural networks of nine individuals, including seven epilepsy patients.
The research team focused specifically on the synchronization of neurons, examining whether they oscillated in phase and determining the correlation among brain cells. They compared the connectivity patterns while participants were awake and asleep and also during seizures and normal alert states in the epilepsy patients.
Throughout these various scenarios, the researchers observed a consistent finding – the brains of the participants displayed higher entropy levels when in a fully conscious state. This discovery led the team to conclude that consciousness could potentially be an “emergent property” resulting from the brain’s pursuit of maximizing information exchange.
However, limitations to the study exist, primarily the small sample size. The conclusions drawn from only nine individuals may not be conclusive, as each person’s brain exhibited unique responses to different states. Therefore, further research and replication of the findings with a larger number of subjects are necessary, especially under different brain states such as anesthesia.
Physicist Peter McClintock from Lancaster University in the UK, who was not involved in the study, expressed his intrigue over the results but stressed the importance of replication in a larger cohort and under diverse brain conditions.
Nevertheless, this study serves as a significant starting point for future research, offering a fresh perspective on why human brains tend to possess consciousness. Understanding how the organization of the brain influences consciousness remains a compelling and captivating field of study that highlights the interconnectedness between our minds and the fundamental laws governing the universe.
The research, initially published in Physical Review E, holds great potential in unraveling the mysteries of conscious awareness and our place within the cosmos.
(Note: This article was originally published in January 2018)