Neuroscience Correlates
This page lists candidate neural correlates that may be interpreted through the DEF lens.
The intent is not to claim a definitive mapping, but to identify testable correspondences between:
- closure / integration,
- bounded self-reference,
- constraint tension,
- and phase ordering.
What counts as a correlate in DEF
Section titled “What counts as a correlate in DEF”A DEF-compatible correlate should be:
- state-dependent (changes with wakefulness, anesthesia, sleep, etc.),
- sensitive to global integration rather than only local processing,
- and informative about recovery (Resolution) vs. breakdown (divergence).
DEF expects that no single marker is sufficient.
Correlates likely come as profiles across multiple measures.
Candidate marker classes
Section titled “Candidate marker classes”1) Event-related potentials and “access” signatures
Section titled “1) Event-related potentials and “access” signatures”Candidate family:
- P3-family components (especially paradigms that dissociate early sensory responses from later access-related components)
DEF interpretation:
- early components: local processing (Entry-like)
- later components: high coupling and stabilization (Crisis → Resolution)
- absence or reduction: failure to resolve crisis or reduced cross-kernel binding
2) Recurrent and feedback-dependent activity
Section titled “2) Recurrent and feedback-dependent activity”Candidate family:
- late recurrent processing
- top-down feedback integrity
DEF interpretation:
- bounded self-reference is required for closure stability
- strong feed-forward without recoverable recurrence can support processing without access
3) Perturbational complexity and reactivity
Section titled “3) Perturbational complexity and reactivity”Candidate family:
- perturbation responses (e.g. TMS/EEG-like logic, or other perturbational probes)
- complexity/reactivity measures across states
DEF interpretation:
- closure-stable regimes should support rich but bounded responses
- too little response: insufficient integration
- runaway response: divergence risk / loss of constraint satisfaction
4) Long-range connectivity profiles
Section titled “4) Long-range connectivity profiles”Candidate family:
- changes in effective connectivity across wake, sleep, anesthesia
DEF interpretation:
- conscious access requires not just connectivity, but constraint-regulated integration
- connectivity without recoverability is not sufficient
5) State transitions and metastability
Section titled “5) State transitions and metastability”Candidate family:
- dwell times, switching structure, metastable state dynamics
DEF interpretation:
- phases correspond to ordered traversal through integration tension
- pathological regimes may show prolonged crisis without resolution (or unstable rapid cycling)
A minimal interpretative template
Section titled “A minimal interpretative template”For any marker M, DEF asks:
- Does M track closure stability rather than mere activation?
- Does M increase during high coupling and decrease after resolution?
- Does M distinguish recoverable crisis from divergent breakdown?
- Does M remain robust across modalities and tasks (regime property)?
This template is intended to make hypotheses falsifiable.
This page is intentionally conservative.
- It does not assign precise anatomical loci.
- It does not claim unique predictions.
- It does not treat correlates as identity claims.
It provides a structured lens for selecting experiments and interpreting profiles.