The Vortex Model of Consciousness: Physical Origin of Subjective Experience

The hard problem of consciousness concerns the physical origin of subjective experience. This paper proposes the Consciousness Flow Vortex Model-Hypothesis (CFVM-H), which is supported by a 2025 study using intracranial stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG) in humans that found the centromedian/parafascicular (CM/Pf) thalamic nuclei activate before the prefrontal cortex during conscious perception, driving global synchronization via theta-wave phase modulation and acting as a gating hub. These results validate the core hypothesis that thalamic nuclei serve as the vortex core of consciousness, with recursive closed loops as the structural foundation. The vortex, centered on the central thalamic nucleus, forms a closed rotational flow field encompassing the internal medullary lamina, various thalamic nuclei, and the entire neural network. Its three dynamical characteristics—closed-loop cyclicity, vortex-core focusing, and global synchrony—are proposed as fundamental drivers of subjective experience.

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Abstract

The "hard problem" of consciousness lies in the unclear physical origin of subjective experience. This paper proposes the Consciousness Flow Vortex Model-Hypothesis (CFVM-H). In 2025, a study by Fang Zepeng's team published in *Science* utilized intracranial stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG) in human subjects to confirm that the centromedian/ parafascicular (CM/Pf) thalamic nuclei activate prior to the prefrontal cortex during conscious perception, driving global synchronization of the thalamo-prefrontal circuit through theta-wave phase modulation, thereby serving as the gating hub of consciousness. These experimental results provide direct electrophysiological evidence from human subjects for the "Consciousness Vortex Theory" proposed in this paper, validating the core hypothesis that "thalamic nuclei act as the vortex core of consciousness, with recursive closed loops as the structural foundation." This vortex, centered on the central thalamic nucleus as its vortex core, forms a closed rotational vortex flow field encompassing the internal medullary lamina, various thalamic nuclei, and the entire neural network structure. Its three dynamical characteristics— closed-loop cyclicity, vortex-core focusing, and global synchrony—are the fundamental drivers underlying the emergence of subjective experience. The establishment of this theory and the localization of the vortex lay the most basic theoretical foundation and framework for consciousness research and neuroscience.