Internalized Morphogenesis: Growth, Division-like Behavior, and Regenerative Recovery through Local Token Exchange...

This study proposes an internalized morphogenesis model in which a body generates and reorganizes its own form through local token exchange among occupied modules. In contrast to conventional reaction-diffusion or cellular automaton models that update the entire coordinate space, the proposed model confines computation to the body domain itself. Each module generates a unit token quantity, exchanges token quantities only with adjacent modules, and stores accumulated quantities with integer-valued aging labels. A potential value computed from younger and older token populations provides an internal analogue of local activation and longer-range inhibition. Tokens sent from boundary modules toward empty space are not stored externally but dissipate; thus, the body boundary acts as a sink that converts morphology into internal potential gradients. Through the feedback between token dynamics, boundary-mediated dissipation, growth, and degeneration, the morphology evolves toward dynamic equilibria without an external blueprint or global coordinate system. Simulations on a hexagonal lattice showed the emergence of limb-like growth, mesh-like expansion, division-like separation under sensitive parameter conditions, and regeneration-like recovery after artificial amputation. Multi-seed analyses confirmed reproducible qualitative regimes while preserving stochastic morphological diversity. These results suggest that growth, division-like behavior, and regenerative recovery can arise from minimal internal information processing based on local exchange, token aging, and boundary dissipation. The model provides a concise computational framework for studying self-organizing morphogenesis as a body-internal process, rather than as patterning imposed on an external spatial field.