What question did this study set out to answer?

The central aim is to propose a theoretical framework for understanding consciousness through biological convergence.

February 19, 20260 citationsOpen Access

Systemic Architecture of Consciousness: Biological Convergence of the Striatal Hourglass, the Body Sensor, and Phylogenetic Conservation

Key Points

The central aim is to propose a theoretical framework for understanding consciousness through biological convergence.
Integrates findings from evolutionary neurobiology and computational psychiatry.
Builds on the neural hourglass mechanism in the striatum and motor cortex.
Explores the implications for consciousness related to affective urgency and interoceptive signals.
Hypothesizes that consciousness emerges from the gating of affective urgency in the striatum.
Suggests that mental health conditions may arise from failures in this gating mechanism.
Proposes a synthesis of consciousness across different biological and evolutionary contexts.

Abstract

This document presents a proposal for a theoretical synthesis of consciousness, integrating findings from evolutionary neurobiology, computational psychiatry, and the Free Energy Principle. Building upon the recent discovery of the "neural hourglass" mechanism in the motor cortex and striatum (Yang, Inagaki et al., Nature 2026), this proposal extends the metaphor to the domain of subjective experience. It hypothesizes that the striatum acts as a temporal integrator for interoceptive signals ("Body Sensor"), where consciousness emerges not from cortical complexity alone, but from the successful "gating" of affective urgency. The paper discusses implications for mental health, proposing that conditions like depression and psychosis may represent specific failures (pausing vs. rewinding) of this striatal hourglass.

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