The “entropic brain hypothesis” holds that the quality of conscious states depends on the system’s entropy (Carhart-Harris et al., 2014). Brain activity is said to become “more random and so harder to predict in primary states – of which the psychedelic state is an exemplar.” Psychedelic-induced brain activity would be associated with elevated entropy in some of its aspects with respect to normal wakeful consciousness. This would indicate that psychedelic-induced brain activity would exhibit criticality, while normal wakeful consciousness would be subcritical. But can entropy be a unique indicator of the “quality of consciousness?” Are there reasons to believe that psychedelic-induced activity is not critical?
Commentary: The entropic brain: A theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs
Papo D.
2016
Abstract
The “entropic brain hypothesis” holds that the quality of conscious states depends on the system’s entropy (Carhart-Harris et al., 2014). Brain activity is said to become “more random and so harder to predict in primary states – of which the psychedelic state is an exemplar.” Psychedelic-induced brain activity would be associated with elevated entropy in some of its aspects with respect to normal wakeful consciousness. This would indicate that psychedelic-induced brain activity would exhibit criticality, while normal wakeful consciousness would be subcritical. But can entropy be a unique indicator of the “quality of consciousness?” Are there reasons to believe that psychedelic-induced activity is not critical?I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
