High metabolic demand in neural tissues: Information and control theory perspectives on the synergism between rate and stability.

Evolution has selected for inherently unstable biological systems—such as blood pressure, immune responses, and gene expression—that can react swiftly to changing threats or opportunities, but these systems require strict regulation to avoid fatal consequences. Consciousness similarly demands high rates of metabolic free energy to both operate and regulate its underlying machinery, with the stream of consciousness and its boundaries being continually reconstructed in response to dynamic circumstances. The authors develop necessary conditions models using the Data Rate Theorem, which links control and information theories for inherently unstable systems. The synergy between conscious action and its regulation explains the ten-fold higher metabolic energy consumption in human neural tissue and implies a culturally modulated connection between sleep disorders and certain psychopathologies.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Evolutionary process has been selected for inherently unstable systems in higher animals that can react swiftly to changing patterns of threat or opportunity, for example blood pressure, the immune response, and gene expression. However, these require continual strict regulation: uncontrolled blood pressure is fatal, immune cells can attack 'self' tissues, and improper gene expression triggers developmental disorders. Consciousness in particular demands high rates of metabolic free energy to both operate and regulate the fundamental biological machinery: both the 'stream of consciousness' and the 'riverbanks' that confine it to useful realms are constructed and reconstructed moment-by-moment in response to highly dynamic internal and environmental circumstances. We develop powerful necessary conditions models for such phenomena based on the Data Rate Theorem linking control and information theories in the context of inherent instability. The synergism between conscious action and its regulation underlies the ten-fold higher rate of metabolic energy consumption in human neural tissues and implies a close, culturally modulated relation between sleep disorders and certain psychopathologies.