Temporal-Coherence Resonance Framework (TCRF): A Predictive Synchronization Model of Perceptual Integration

The Temporal-Coherence Resonance Framework (TCRF) proposes a mechanistic account of how conscious perception emerges from the dynamic synchronization of oscillatory neural assemblies distributed across cortical and subcortical networks. At its core is Predictive Resonance Alignment—a recursive, closed-loop neurodynamic process in which internal generative models continuously forecast forthcoming sensory, motor, and conceptual inputs and iteratively calibrate their phase, frequency, and amplitude signatures to reduce prediction error. This calibration emphasizes precise phase–frequency matching (not only amplitude- or rate-based adjustment), enabling temporal coherence in which internal predictions and external signals converge in timing and structure. TCRF integrates predictive processing (hierarchical error minimization) and oscillatory communication (synchronization as gating and routing) by formalizing their interaction within a single resonance–error loop. The framework offers a computationally tractable and falsifiable account of perceptual binding, bistable-stimulus disambiguation, surprise-induced fragmentation, skill-related automatization, and the temporal precision of conscious experience. In TCRF, disruptions in resonance—indexed by elevated resonance-error signals—predict perceptual instability, attentional lapses, and coherence breakdown in dissociative or pathological states. The framework generates methodologically grounded predictions for EEG/MEG phase-coupling analyses, laminar fMRI, intracranial recordings, and computational simulations, and it suggests applications in neurofeedback, brain–computer interfaces, and interventions for oscillatory dysrhythmias. By framing subjective reality as an emergent property of temporally regulated resonance rather than a passive readout or global broadcast, TCRF bridges oscillatory neuroscience, predictive coding, and phenomenological approaches to consciousness.