Cognition coming about: self-organisation and free-energy

TL;DR

This paper proposes a model where embryogenesis and cognition emerge through self-organisation driven by free-energy minimisation, using the Markov blanket formalism within the Free Energy Principle framework.

Contribution

It introduces a novel formalism linking embryogenesis and cognition as self-organising processes based on free-energy minimisation, extending existing models.

Findings

Embryogenesis can be modeled as a self-organising process minimizing free-energy.

The formalism explains the autonomous emergence of cognition in the brain.

The approach unifies developmental and cognitive processes under a common theoretical framework.

Abstract

Wright and Bourkes compelling article rightly points out that existing models of embryogenesis fail to explain the mechanisms and functional significance of the dynamic connections among neurons. We pursue their account of Dynamic Logic by appealing to the Markov blanket formalism that underwrites the Free Energy Principle. We submit that this allows one to model embryogenesis as self-organisation in a dynamical system that minimises free-energy. The ensuing formalism may be extended to also explain the autonomous emergence of cognition, specifically in the brain, as a dynamic self-assembling process.