Neuroscience

A Non-Hermitian Potential Well Formalism for Conscious--Preconscious--Subliminal Processing

Vasily Lubashevskiy, Ihor Lubashevsky

Featured July 13, 2026

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Simply

A new model uses a quantum-like equation to show how brain activity, influenced by attention and a 'mental landscape,' determines if we consciously perceive something, keep it preconscious, or miss it entirely.

In depth

The paper introduces a novel phenomenological model of the Global Neuronal Workspace (GNW) where high-level stimulus representations are described by a cloud function

Ψ (x, t)

evolving in a complex-valued GNW landscape. Its dynamics are governed by a nonlinear Schrödinger-type equation with a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian that naturally separates into components for recognition (localization) and information broadcasting (spreading). Conscious access is achieved when a stable bound state of the cloud function emerges, requiring both sufficient landscape depth and top-down attention.

Key Takeaways

1
A non-Hermitian Schrödinger-type equation is proposed to model the dynamics of high-level stimulus representations, unifying conscious, preconscious, and subliminal processing.
2
Conscious access is explicitly linked to the emergence of a stable bound state of a cloud function, which requires both the GNW landscape depth and top-down attention to exceed specific thresholds.
3
The model provides a unified dynamical framework for sensory processing, attention, and conscious access, leveraging a complex-valued GNW landscape to explain complementary neural processes like recognition and broadcasting.

Conceptual Flow

HIGH LEVEL

Methodology: How Brain Activity Becomes Conscious

The model uses a special math equation to show how brain signals, like a cloud, move through a mental landscape, deciding if we notice something or not.

Brain Signals

Mental Landscape

Attention Level

Combine & Transform

Conscious Thought

Preconscious Idea

Unnoticed Input

Results: When Perception Becomes Conscious

They found that for something to become conscious, the mental landscape must be deep enough, and we need to pay enough attention.

Shallow Mental Landscape

Low Attention

No Stable Thought

Unnoticed Input