Integrated information in discrete dynamical systems: motivation and theoretical framework.

ABSTRACT: This paper introduces a time- and state-dependent measure of integrated information, phi, which captures the repertoire of causal states available to a system as a whole. Specifically, phi quantifies how much information is generated (uncertainty is reduced) when a system enters a particular state through causal interactions among its elements, above and beyond the information generated independently by its parts. Such mathematical characterization is motivated by the observation that integrated information captures two key phenomenological properties of consciousness: (i) there is a large repertoire of conscious experiences so that, when one particular experience occurs, it generates a large amount of information by ruling out all the others; and (ii) this information is integrated, in th

SUBMITTER: Balduzzi D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2386970 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature