Neurophysiological evidence of the cognitive cycle and the emergence of awareness

Abstract

As part of the developing body of research about neural correlates of higher cognitive functions and awareness we have recently reported that the creation of knowledge and meaning could be manifested via Cortical Singularities. In this work we present new neurophysiological evidence of the hypothesized cognitive cycle in the emergence of awareness when a presumable meaningful stimuli is presented to an animal. This stimulus is manifested in the neocortex, as the creation of the knowledge necessary for intentional behavior and decision making. The results are interpreted through the concept of Pragmatic Information, which is complementary to the Shannon Entropy Index. We identify large-scale synchronization across broad frequency band as potential manifestation of the `aha' effect, indicating the construction of knowledge and meaning from input sensory data and leading to awareness experience.