Hypothesis
Version 1
This version is not peer-reviewed
On the Emergence of Cognition and Consciousness: From Catalytic Closure to Neuroglial Closure
Version 1
: Received: 15 February 2020 / Approved: 16 February 2020 / Online: 16 February 2020 (15:01:47 CET)
How to cite: Perez Velazquez, J. L. On the Emergence of Cognition and Consciousness: From Catalytic Closure to Neuroglial Closure. Preprints 2020, 2020020222 Perez Velazquez, J. L. On the Emergence of Cognition and Consciousness: From Catalytic Closure to Neuroglial Closure. Preprints 2020, 2020020222
Abstract
In an analogous manner as occurred during the development of a connected metabolism that at some point reached characteristics associated with what is called ‘life’ ―due mainly to a catalytic closure phenomenon when chemicals started to autocatalyze themselves forming a closed web of chemical reactions― it is here proposed that cognition and consciousness (or features associated with them) arose as a consequence of another type of closure within the nervous system, the brain especially. Proper brain function requires an efficient web of connections and once certain complexity is attained due to the number and coordinated activities of the brain cell networks, the emergent properties of cognition and consciousness take place. Seeking to identify main features of the nervous system organization for optimal function, it is here proposed that while catalytic closure yielded life, neuroglial closure produced cognition/consciousness.
Keywords
consciousness; cognition; life; equivalence relation; synchrony; compartmentalization; closure; connectivity
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Neuroscience and Neurology
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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