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Physics of mind: Experimental confirmations of theoretical predictions
Abstract
What is common among Newtonian mechanics, statistical physics, thermodynamics, quantum physics, the theory of relativity, astrophysics and the theory of superstrings? All these areas of physics have in common a methodology, which is discussed in the first few lines of the review. Is a physics of the mind possible? Is it possible to describe how a mind adapts in real time to changes in the physical world through a theory based on a few basic laws? From perception and elementary cognition to emotions and abstract ideas allowing high-level cognition and executive functioning, at nearly all levels of study, the mind shows variability and uncertainties. Is it possible to turn psychology and neuroscience into so-called "hard" sciences? This review discusses several established first principles for the description of mind and their mathematical formulations. A mathematical model of mind is derived from these principles. This model includes mechanisms of instincts, emotions, behavior, cognition, concepts, language, intuitions, and imagination. We clarify fundamental notions such as the opposition between the conscious and the unconscious, the knowledge instinct and aesthetic emotions, as well as humans' universal abilities for symbols and meaning. In particular, the review discusses in length evolutionary and cognitive functions of aesthetic emotions and musical emotions. Several theoretical predictions are derived from the model, some of which have been experimentally confirmed. These empirical results are summarized and we introduce new theoretical developments. Several unsolved theoretical problems are proposed, as well as new experimental challenges for future research.
... Schoeller & Perlovksy suggested a computational models for AC (Schoeller & Perlovsky, 2016) as a peak value in uncertainty reduction at higher levels of cortical information encoding-represented by the equation: L = ∏n [∑m l(X(n) | M(m))], where l denotes the conditional similarity of sensory signals given available models (see technical details in Schoeller Perlovsky, et al., 2018b). Importantly, the local peak value (i.e., modelled as a null derivative) is independent of valence, accounting for the fact that chills can be experienced in response to both positive (appetitive) and negative (aversive) stimuli (Fig. 3). ...
... Importantly, the local peak value (i.e., modelled as a null derivative) is independent of valence, accounting for the fact that chills can be experienced in response to both positive (appetitive) and negative (aversive) stimuli (Fig. 3). In line with recent models of affect as second order predictions about learning, i.e., expected prediction errors (Joffily & Coricelli, 2013;Kenett et al., 2023;Miller & Clark, 2018;Perlovsky & Schoeller, 2019;Sarasso et al., 2020;Van de Cruys & Bervoets, 2022), this suggests that chills may correspond to a null learning rate, or zero derivatives, signaling a local maximum (extremum) in learning (Schoeller, Perlovsky et al., 2018b;Schoeller & Perlovsky, 2016). In other words, AC occur when the individual reaches the limits of their ability to learn more about their surroundings, and their learning rate slows down, terminating the Wanting phase and kicking off the Satiation phase, effectively corresponding to what has been described in the field as a temporary satiation of curiosity (Biederman & Vessel, 2006;Kenett et al., 2023;Sarasso et al., 2020;Schoeller, 2016). ...
... In a series of experiments, it was repeatedly shown that priming subjects with incoherent stimuli inhibits the chills (Schoeller & Perlovsky, 2016;Schoeller & Eskinazi, 2019;Schoeller et al., 2018b), most likely as incoherence (i.e., surprisal) interferes with the precision system (Schoeller & Perlovsky, 2016). CS activate dopamine projections, aiding to the formation and consolidation of emotional memory (Ripolles et al., 2016;Ferreri & Rodriguez-Fornells, 2017, 2022Ferreri et al., 2021Ferreri et al., , 2013Sarasso et al., 2019, 2020, Sarasso, Francesetti et al., 2022a, Sarasso, Neppi-Modona et al., 2022b. ...
The phenomenon of aesthetic chills—shivers and goosebumps associated with either rewarding or threatening stimuli—offers a unique window into the brain basis of conscious reward because of their universal nature and simultaneous subjective and physical counterparts. Elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying aesthetic chills can reveal fundamental insights about emotion, consciousness, and the embodied mind. What is the precise timing and mechanism of bodily feedback in emotional experience? How are conscious feelings and motivations generated from interoceptive predictions? What is the role of uncertainty and precision signaling in shaping emotions? How does the brain distinguish and balance processing of rewards versus threats? We review neuroimaging evidence and highlight key questions for understanding how bodily sensations shape conscious feelings. This research stands to advance models of brain-body interactions shaping affect and may lead to novel nonpharmacological interventions for disorders of motivation and pleasure.
... Schoeller & Perlovksy suggested a computational models for AC (Schoeller & Perlovsky, 2016) as a peak value in uncertainty reduction at higher levels of cortical information encoding-represented by the equation: L = ∏n [∑m l(X(n) | M(m))], where l denotes the conditional similarity of sensory signals given available models (see technical details in Schoeller Perlovsky, et al., 2018b). Importantly, the local peak value (i.e., modelled as a null derivative) is independent of valence, accounting for the fact that chills can be experienced in response to both positive (appetitive) and negative (aversive) stimuli (Fig. 3). ...
... Importantly, the local peak value (i.e., modelled as a null derivative) is independent of valence, accounting for the fact that chills can be experienced in response to both positive (appetitive) and negative (aversive) stimuli (Fig. 3). In line with recent models of affect as second order predictions about learning, i.e., expected prediction errors (Joffily & Coricelli, 2013;Kenett et al., 2023;Miller & Clark, 2018;Perlovsky & Schoeller, 2019;Sarasso et al., 2020;Van de Cruys & Bervoets, 2022), this suggests that chills may correspond to a null learning rate, or zero derivatives, signaling a local maximum (extremum) in learning (Schoeller, Perlovsky et al., 2018b;Schoeller & Perlovsky, 2016). In other words, AC occur when the individual reaches the limits of their ability to learn more about their surroundings, and their learning rate slows down, terminating the Wanting phase and kicking off the Satiation phase, effectively corresponding to what has been described in the field as a temporary satiation of curiosity (Biederman & Vessel, 2006;Kenett et al., 2023;Sarasso et al., 2020;Schoeller, 2016). ...
... In a series of experiments, it was repeatedly shown that priming subjects with incoherent stimuli inhibits the chills (Schoeller & Perlovsky, 2016;Schoeller & Eskinazi, 2019;Schoeller et al., 2018b), most likely as incoherence (i.e., surprisal) interferes with the precision system (Schoeller & Perlovsky, 2016). CS activate dopamine projections, aiding to the formation and consolidation of emotional memory (Ripolles et al., 2016;Ferreri & Rodriguez-Fornells, 2017, 2022Ferreri et al., 2021Ferreri et al., , 2013Sarasso et al., 2019, 2020, Sarasso, Francesetti et al., 2022a, Sarasso, Neppi-Modona et al., 2022b. ...
The phenomenon of aesthetic chills—shivers and goosebumps associated with either rewarding or threatening stimuli—offers a unique window into the brain basis of conscious reward due to their universal nature and simultaneous subjective and physical counterparts. Elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying aesthetic chills can reveal fundamental insights about emotion, consciousness, and the embodied mind. What is the precise timing and mechanism of bodily feedback in emotional experience? How are conscious feelings and motivations generated from interoceptive predictions? What is the role of uncertainty and precision signaling in shaping emotions? How does the brain distinguish and balance processing of rewards versus threats? Here we review neuroimaging evidence and highlight key questions for understanding how bodily sensations shape conscious feelings of pleasure and meaning. This research stands to advance models of brain-body interactions shaping affect and may lead to novel non-pharmacological interventions for disorders of motivation and pleasure.
... Have we figured out each and every process in the brain, irrespective of whether it is classical or potentially quantum? There are quite a few terms, such as mind [6][7][8], consciousness [9,10], and instincts, pertaining to the brain or what goes on inside it, that are not accurately defined because we do not have the appropriate tools yet to gauge them [11], and hence to understand them from a physical perspective. ...
This perspective explores various quantum models of consciousness from the viewpoint of quantum information science, offering potential ideas and insights. The models under consideration can be categorized into three distinct groups based on the level at which quantum mechanics might operate within the brain: those suggesting that consciousness arises from electron delocalization within microtubules inside neurons, those proposing it emerges from the electromagnetic field surrounding the entire neural network, and those positing it originates from the interactions between individual neurons governed by neurotransmitter molecules. Our focus is particularly on the Posner model of cognition, for which we provide preliminary calculations on the preservation of entanglement of phosphate molecules within the geometric structure of Posner clusters. These findings provide valuable insights into how quantum information theory can enhance our understanding of brain functions.
... Have we figured out each and every process in the brain, irrespective of whether it is classical or potentially quantum? There are quite a few terms, such as mind [6][7][8], consciousness [9,10], instincts, pertaining to the brain, or what goes on inside it that is not accurately defined because we do not have the appropriate tools yet to gauge them [11], and hence to understand them from a physical perspective. ...
This perspective explores various quantum models of consciousness from the viewpoint of quantum information science, offering potential ideas and insights. The models under consideration can be categorized into three distinct groups based on the level at which quantum mechanics might operate within the brain: those suggesting that consciousness arises from electron delocalization within microtubules inside neurons, those proposing it emerges from the electromagnetic field surrounding the entire neural network, and those positing it originates from the interactions between individual neurons governed by neurotransmitter molecules. Our focus is particularly on the Posner model of cognition, for which we provide preliminary calculations on the preservation of entanglement of phosphate molecules within the geometric structure of Posner clusters. These findings provide valuable insights into how quantum information theory can enhance our understanding of brain functions.
... Aesthetics is a crucial part of knowledge acquisition (Perlovsky, 2014;Perlovsky & Schoeller, 2019;Sarasso et al., 2020), where individuals, while appreciating a piece of art, gather meanings and engage in learning (Tracy, 1946). Aesthetic appreciation triggers the instinct to seek knowledge, enabling individuals to gather information and learn from their environment (Schoeller & Perlovsky, 2016;Schoeller et al., 2018). Our research findings indicated that a sense of beauty can emerge without prior learning, potentially supporting an innate sense of aesthetic perception, suggesting that humans might have an inherent ability to learn from aesthetics. ...
The sense of facial beauty has long been observed in both infants and nonhuman primates, yet the neural mechanisms of this phenomenon are still not fully understood. The current study employed generative neural models to produce facial images of varying degrees of beauty and systematically investigated the neural response of untrained deep neural networks (DNNs) to these faces. Representational neural units for different levels of facial beauty are observed to spontaneously emerge even in the absence of training. Furthermore, these neural units can effectively distinguish between varying degrees of beauty. Additionally, the perception of facial beauty by DNNs relies on both configuration and feature information of faces. The processing of facial beauty by neural networks follows a progression from low-level features to integration. The tuning response of the final convolutional layer to facial beauty is constructed by the weighted sum of the monotonic responses in the early layers. These findings offer new insights into the neural origin of the sense of beauty, arising the innate computational abilities of DNNs.
Social physics has a long history of influencing the explanation of social phenomena in a structured and quantitative way. Social physics mainly focuses on the scientific way of explaining human interactive behaviour along with their futuristic trend. This paper tries to define the concept of social physics in various possible ways. The different approaches to imply social physics in explaining human interactions and networking are the highlights of the current discourse. This descriptive chapter deals with the futuristic trends of social physics along with a special mention of the correlation between social physics and geography. The close association of social physics with data analytics and the ethical dimension of data handling is not overlooked as a matter of discussion. This chapter aimed to give an overview of the discipline of social physics and its multidisciplinary nature.
The aim of this Element is to understand how far mathematical theories based on active particle methods have been applied to describe the dynamics of complex systems in economics, and to look forward to further research perspectives in the interaction between mathematics and economics. The mathematical theory of active particles and the theory of behavioural swarms are selected for the above interaction. The mathematical approach considered in this work takes into account the complexity of living systems, which is a key feature of behavioural economics. The modelling and simulation of the dynamics of prices within a heterogeneous population is reviewed to show how mathematical tools can be used in real applications.
Self-transcendence (ST) is a state of consciousness associated with feelings of ego-dissolution, connectedness, and moral elevation, which mediates well-being, meaning-making, and prosociality. Conventional paths to ST, like religious practice, meditation, and psychedelics, pose nontrivial barriers to entry, limiting ST’s study and application. Aesthetic chills (henceforth “chills”) are a psychophysiological response characterized by a pleasurable, cold sensation, with subjective qualities and downstream effects similar to ST. However, evidence is lacking directly relating chills and ST. In the summer of 2023, we exposed a diverse sample of 2937 participants in Southern California to chills-eliciting stimuli, then assayed chills, mood and ST. Even after controlling for differences in demographics, traits, and prior affective state, both chills likelihood and intensity were positively associated with measures ST. Parametric and non-parametric analyses of variance, mutual information, and correlation structure found that chills occurrence and intensity, and ST measures are reliably interrelated across a variety of audiovisual stimuli. These findings suggest aesthetic chills may denote sufficiently intense feelings of self-transcendence. Further study is necessary to demonstrate the generalizability of these results to non-WEIRD populations, and the precise direction of causal relationships between self-transcendent feelings and aesthetic chills.
Neuroscience has made significant progress in understanding the brain, but the nature of consciousness remains elusive. At the same time, recent spectacular advancements in artificial intelligence promise the prospect of machines attaining human-like cognitive abilities. At the center of both systems is a fundamental dance of stimuli and response, requiring a profound comprehension of the physical environment. Thus, quantum mechanics and general relativity can be applied to the mysteries of human behavior, such as the difficulty of predicting, controlling, or retracing our thoughts. This landmark book explores the nature of consciousness through the lens of physics rather than neuroscience.
Physics has been an explanatory force in diverse phenomena, and it can offer an entirely new vision of consciousness as an irreducible entity, similar to particles, the fundamental units of energy or matter. The fermionic mind hypothesis emerges as a tour-de-force synthesis and framework for understanding consciousness, reimagined as the elemental unit of intellect. It highlights particle organization, a fundamental structure that cannot be understood as the sum of its parts, as the essential analogy between fermions and consciousness.
The book presents an engaging scientific narrative that explores some of humanity's oldest and most challenging questions. What is consciousness? What are emotions? How can a physical brain create subjective experience? Do we have free will? Engaging and penetrating, Emotional Reasoning represents a groundbreaking perspective that will surprise you at every turn. It will enhance your confidence through understanding yourself and your place in the cosmic order. Beyond neuroscience, the book holds profound implications for artificial intelligence research. It reveals the intricate link between consciousness and the physical universe, echoing the philosophical insight of theoretical physicist John Wheeler: "The physical world is, in some deep sense, tied to the human being."
The fundamental cognitive functions of music in the brain have not been known and evolutionary reasons for musical abilities seem mysterious. A recent hypothesis suggested that a fundamental function of music has been to help mitigating cognitive dissonances. A cognitive dissonance is "a discomfort caused by holding conflicting cognitions" simultaneously; it usually leads to devaluation of conflicting knowledge. Since every concept implies some degree of contradictions to other knowledge, unmitigated cognitive dissonances could prevent evolution of cognition. Thus music might be fundamental for the evolution of cognition. Here we provide experimental confirmation of this hypothesis using a classical paradigm known to induce a cognitive dissonance and devaluation of a dissonant object; in presence of music devaluation has not occurred.
h i g h l i g h t s Music helps overcoming cognitive dissonance and hold contradictory knowledge. This might be fundamental for human evolution and ability to think. The 'Mozart effect' might be caused by overcoming cognitive dissonance. Students reduce thinking time during stressful tests, but music reverses this. A 'mystery of music' might be due to overcoming cognitive dissonance. a b s t r a c t We explore a possibility that the 'Mozart effect' points to a fundamental cognitive function of music. Would such an effect of music be due to the hedonicity, a fundamental dimension of mental experience? The present paper explores a recent hypothesis that music helps to tolerate cognitive dissonances and thus enabled accumulation of knowledge and human cultural evolution. We studied whether the influence of music is related to its hedonicity and whether pleasant or unpleasant music would influence scholarly test performance and cognitive dissonance. Specific hypotheses evaluated in this study are that during a test students experience contradictory cognitions that cause cognitive dissonances. If some music helps to tolerate cognitive dissonances, then first, this music should increase the duration during which participants can tolerate stressful conditions while evaluating test choices. Second, this should result in improved performance. These hypotheses are tentatively confirmed in the reported experiments as the agreeable music was correlated with longer duration of tests under stressful conditions and better performance above that under indifferent or unpleasant music. It follows that music likely performs a fundamental cognitive function explaining the origin and evolution of musical ability that have been considered a mystery. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Résumé
Cette étude porte sur le problème des émotions esthétiques et celui des frissons esthétiques en particulier. Nous avons demandé à 30 sujets de décrire une structure narrative (film, théâtre, roman) élicitant des frissons, ainsi que la phénoménologie de l’expérience esthétique. Un certain nombre de redondances non aléatoires sont observables. Les stimuli élicitant des frissons positifs dans notre population ont pour la plupart une très forte dimension sensorielle et leurs propriétés particulières sont souvent des preuves d’altruisme, des considérations existentielles très générales, des moments de recueillement et de concentration sur soi, des situations de solidarité et de communion (famille, couple, amis) ou à l’opposé de séparation violente (famille, couple, ami). En règle générale, lorsqu’il s’agit d’évènements réels (et non de scènes de fiction dans un film ou un roman), les sujets décrivent des situations où ils sont en sécurité, où ils ont confiance dans l’environnement.
At the core of this essay is the idea that cognition is best described as a highly developed homeostatic device aiming to maintain a dynamic equilibrium between internal representations and changes in environmental conditions. The author emphasizes the fundamental role played by aesthetics in facilitating an accurate description of the human mind and introduce basic elements of a theory accounting for the influence of art on the cognitive system. A general bibliography is provided for the reader unfamiliar with the notions and desirous to pursue the analysis further.
How do migratory birds, herding dogs, and navigating sea turtles do the amazing things that they do? For hundreds of years, scientists and philosophers have struggled over possible explanations. In time, one word came to dominate the discussion: instinct . It became the catch‐all explanation for those adaptive and complex abilities that do not obviously result from learning or experience. Today, various animals are said to possess a survival instinct, migratory instinct, herding instinct, maternal instinct, or language instinct. But a closer look reveals that these and other ‘instincts’ are not satisfactorily described as inborn, pre‐programmed, hardwired, or genetically determined. Rather, research in this area teaches us that species‐typical behaviors develop —and they do so in every individual under the guidance of species‐typical experiences occurring within reliable ecological contexts. WIREs Cogn Sci 2017, 8:e1371. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1371
This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Genes and Environment
Psychology > Comparative Psychology
Neuroscience > Development
This article addresses the relation between aesthetic emotions, knowledge-acquisition, and meaning-making. We briefly review theoretical foundations and present experimental data related to aesthetic chills. These results suggest that aesthetic chills are inhibited by exposing the subject to an incoherent prime prior to the chill-eliciting stimulation and that a meaningful prime makes the aesthetic experience more pleasurable than a neutral or an incoherent one. Aesthetic chills induced by narrative structures seem to be related to the pinnacle of the story, to have a significant calming effect and subjects describe a strong empathy for the characters. We discuss the relation between meaning-making and aesthetic emotions at the psychological, physiological, narratological, and mathematical levels and propose a series of hypotheses to be tested in future research.
This publication also contains a detailed review of extensive studies if involvement with music improves performance in other disciplines; though this topic is not a primary subject of this paper. Here we explore the mechanism of how music influences cognition. The main novel contribution of this paper is that music helps to overcome cognitive dissonance. The referenced publication has discussed in details that the cognitive dissonance have been actually involved.
Aesthetic chills occur in artistic, scientific and religious context. We introduce a theoretical framework relating them to humans’ vital need for cognition. We discuss the implications of such a framework and the plausibility of our hypothesis. Numerous references to chills are introduced (quotes from, inter alios, artists, physicists and mathematicians).
We successfully replicated a study about aesthetic emotions in a different socio-cultural environment. The present results suggest that incoherence is a strong inhibitor for aesthetic chills and verify a positive correlation between pleasure and meaning. These results allow for a scientific study of aesthetic emotions as it is now possible for the experimenter to have two groups of subjects, both exposed to the same stimulation, one group experiencing measurable aesthetic emotions whereas the other does not. We review the literature on the problem of both positive and negative psychogenic shivering and relate this phenomenon to the instinct of knowledge. We discuss the implications of our findings, stress the importance of studying the psychological and physiological effects of incoherence on the central nervous system, introduce a series of hypotheses to be tested in further research and conclude with a plausible explanation for the relation between temperature and cognition in humans.
This paper draws attention to a powerful human motive that has not yet been incorporated into economics: the desire to make sense of our immediate experience, our life, and our world. We propose that evolution has produced a ‘drive for sense-making’ which motivates people to gather, attend to, and process information in a fashion that augments, and complements, autonomous sense-making. A large fraction of autonomous cognitive processes are devoted to making sense of the information we acquire: and they do this by seeking simple descriptions of the world. In some situations, however, autonomous information processing alone is inadequate to transform disparate information into simple representations, in which case, we argue, the drive for sense-making directs our attention and can lead us to seek out additional information. We propose a theoretical model of sense-making and of how it is traded off against other goals. We show that the drive for sense-making can help to make sense of a wide range of disparate phenomena, including curiosity, boredom, ‘flow’, confirmation bias and information avoidance, esthetics (both in art and in science), why we care about others’ beliefs, the importance of narrative and the role of ‘the good life’ in human decision making.