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  "slug": "brain-as-filter-an-information-theoretic-model-of-altered-states-of-consciousnes",
  "title": "Brain as Filter: An Information-Theoretic Model of Altered States of Consciousness",
  "authors": [
    "Rowan Brad Quni-Gudzinas"
  ],
  "abstract": "Clinicians, meditation instructors, and psychedelic‑assisted‑therapy researchers confront a persistent gap: measurable neural changes such as thalamocortical gating reduction and default‑mode‑network (DMN) suppression are documented, yet no quantitative framework links these changes to the invariant phenomenology of altered states—timelessness, unity, and presence. We model the brain as an information‑theoretic filter that limits the flow of a pre‑existing informational substrate (L3) into an embodied perspective (L2). Using a Shannon‑capacity channel with bandwidth B and signal‑to‑noise ratio SNR, we derive a baseline capacity of 3.46×10² bits s^-1 and an altered‑state capacity of 1.81×10² bits s^-1 under empirically motivated reductions (30 % bandwidth, 50 % SNR). The capacity drops by 48 % (to 52.3 % of baseline). The dominant eigenvectors of the filtered information space survive the capacity loss and correspond to the phenomenological invariants. The model yields a concrete, falsifiable prediction linking neural gating measures to capacity reductions, providing a quantitative bridge between neurophysiology and subjective experience.",
  "abstract_markdown": "Clinicians, meditation instructors, and psychedelic‑assisted‑therapy researchers confront a persistent gap: measurable neural changes such as thalamocortical gating reduction and default‑mode‑network (DMN) suppression are documented, yet no quantitative framework links these changes to the invariant phenomenology of altered states—timelessness, unity, and presence. We model the brain as an information‑theoretic filter that limits the flow of a pre‑existing informational substrate (L3) into an embodied perspective (L2). Using a Shannon‑capacity channel with bandwidth $B$ and signal‑to‑noise ratio SNR, we derive a baseline capacity of $3.46\\times10^{2}\\,\\text{bits s}^{-1}$ and an altered‑state capacity of $1.81\\times10^{2}\\,\\text{bits s}^{-1}$ under empirically motivated reductions (30 % bandwidth, 50 % SNR). The capacity drops by 48 % (to 52.3 % of baseline). The dominant eigenvectors of the filtered information space survive the capacity loss and correspond to the phenomenological invariants. The model yields a concrete, falsifiable prediction linking neural gating measures to capacity reductions, providing a quantitative bridge between neurophysiology and subjective experience.",
  "date": "2026-10-20",
  "first_published": "2026-10-20",
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  "url": "https://papers.qnfo.org/papers/brain-as-filter-an-information-theoretic-model-of-altered-states-of-consciousnes",
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    "titles": [
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        "title": "Brain as Filter: An Information-Theoretic Model of Altered States of Consciousness"
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