Mirror-induced origination process of human self-consciousness—restructuring consciousness-based cognitive theory
Frontiers in Psychology June 24, 2026 Xiaodong Luo
Self-consciousness originated in an animal ancestor when repeated exposure to its own mirror image triggered illusory transformations and discontinuous leaps in the brain's conscious reaction, eventually leading to mental self-consciousness. The Mirror-Induced Leap of Consciousness (MLC) model formalizes this eight-stage evolutionary process. Consciousness is defined as the brain's reaction to a percept's attribute, formalized as C = R(a(p)). The principle of percept drift explains how repetitive mirror stimulation drives conscious change, supported by the rubber hand illusion experiment. The framework integrates behavioral experiments, logical reasoning, and mathematical modeling to address the generation, transformation, and definition of consciousness.