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basis211Consciousness could be a side effect of 'entropy', say researchers
They looked at two datasets: first they compared the connectivity patterns when participants were asleep and awake; and then they looked at the difference when five of the epileptic patients were having seizures, and when their brains were in a normal, 'alert' state.
In both situations, they saw the same trend - the participants' brains displayed higher entropy when in a fully conscious state.
"We find a surprisingly simple result: normal wakeful states are characterised by the greatest number of possible configurations of interactions between brain networks, representing highest entropy values," the team writes.
This lead the researchers to argue that consciousness could simply be an "emergent property" of a system that's trying to maximise information exchange.
http://www.sciencealert.com/consciousness-could-be-a-result-of-entropy-say-researchers
They looked at two datasets: first they compared the connectivity patterns when participants were asleep and awake; and then they looked at the difference when five of the epileptic patients were having seizures, and when their brains were in a normal, 'alert' state.
In both situations, they saw the same trend - the participants' brains displayed higher entropy when in a fully conscious state.
"We find a surprisingly simple result: normal wakeful states are characterised by the greatest number of possible configurations of interactions between brain networks, representing highest entropy values," the team writes.
This lead the researchers to argue that consciousness could simply be an "emergent property" of a system that's trying to maximise information exchange.
http://www.sciencealert.com/consciousness-could-be-a-result-of-entropy-say-researchers
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