The emergence of integrated information, complexity, and consciousness at criticality

Using the critical Ising model of the brain, integrated information as a measure of consciousness is measured in toy models of generic neural networks. Monte Carlo simulations are run on 159 random weighted networks analogous to small 5 node neural network motifs. The integrated information generated by this sample of small Ising models is measured across the model parameter space. It is observed that integrated information, as a type of order parameter not unlike a concept like magnetism, undergoes a phase transition at the critical point in the model. This critical point is demarcated by the peaks of the generalized susceptibility of integrated information, a point where the `consciousness9 of the system is maximally susceptible to perturbations and on the boundary between an ordered and disordered form. This study adds further evidence to support that the emergence of consciousness coincides with the more universal patterns of self-organized criticality, evolution, the emergence of complexity, and the integration of complex systems.