What question did this study set out to answer?

The research aims to establish a unified biological framework that connects the emergence of life and consciousness.

February 23, 20260 citationsOpen Access

From Non-Sentience to Cellular Sentience: A Unified Biological Framework for Consciousness, Cognition, Emotion, and Agency

Key Points

The research aims to establish a unified biological framework that connects the emergence of life and consciousness.
Introduction of a two-substrate ontology: Tier 2 (non-sentient) and Tier 3 (sentient).
Development of models such as Glial-Orchestrated Cognition, Mortality-Rooted Emotion Model, and Information-Fear-Benefit Free Will Model.
Integration of various biological components to outline a causal arc connecting multiple domains.
Introduced cellular sentience as the initial biological expression of Tier 3 consciousness.
Identified fear as a universal modulation rule influencing emotions across organisms.
Described the emergence of agency resulting from biological constraints.

Abstract

This manuscript presents a unified biological framework in which the emergence of life and the emergence of sentience are the same event. The model introduces a two‑substrate ontology: Tier 2, the non‑sentient domain of physics, information, energy, and chemistry; and Tier 3, the sentient substrate that appears with the first living cell. Cellular sentience (CAHC) is reframed as the first biological expression of Tier 3 consciousness. Glial‑Orchestrated Cognition (GOC) explains how sentience scales in multicellular organisms, the Mortality‑Rooted Emotion Model (MREM) identifies fear as the universal modulation rule, and the Information‑Fear‑Benefit Free Will Model (IFB‑FW) describes how agency emerges from biological constraints. The manuscript integrates these components into a continuous causal arc connecting physics, life, consciousness, cognition, emotion, and agency.

问 AI

Bookmark

View Full Paper