Creative exploration as a scale-invariant search on a meaning landscape

Area of Science:

• Systems Biology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience

Background:

• Scale invariance enables sensory systems to adapt to environmental signals across vast magnitudes.
• Cellular systems, like bacteria using fold-change detection (FCD) for nutrient search, exhibit scale invariance.
• Scale invariance is observed in human cognition, but underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if systems biology principles, specifically FCD, can explain cognitive processes like human creative search.
• To identify the dynamic equation topology that best models creative search dynamics.
• To explore the link between cellular sensory mechanisms and human cognitive functions.

Main Methods:

• Screening various dynamic equation topologies to model creative search.
• Applying the fold-change detection (FCD) model to describe creative search dynamics.
• Comparing model predictions with behavioral data on meaning perception.

Main Results:

• An FCD model was identified as the best fit for describing creative search dynamics.
• The FCD model demonstrated robustness to variations in meaning perception.
• Model predictions aligned with existing behavioral data.

Conclusions:

• Fold-change detection (FCD) is proposed as a specific mechanism underlying scale-invariant search in human cognition.
• This research bridges the understanding of sensory processes in cells and cognitive processes in humans.
• The study highlights the potential of systems biology approaches to elucidate complex cognitive functions.