A Spiking Neural Network Model of Elementary Self-Consciousness via Endogenous Default Mode Network Dynamics
How brain's resting network creates a sense of self
A computer model with 10,000 artificial neurons shows how the brain's default mode network—the system that stays active when you're not focused on anything—could generate basic self-awareness. The model demonstrates that a self-sustaining sense of "you" emerges when the brain's internal rhythms interact with incoming sensory information, rather than requiring constant external input.
Self-consciousness has long seemed like something only biological brains could produce, making it hard to understand what brain mechanisms make it happen. This model provides a testable explanation for how physical neural activity creates subjective experience, which could help researchers design better brain imaging studies and might eventually inform how we build artificial systems that can develop self-awareness.