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Peer-reviewedCC BYCell Reports

Thermodynamics of consciousness: Non-equilibrium brain dynamics track conscious states

  • Tomas Berjaga-Buisan1
  • J M Monti2
  • Martina Cortada3
  • Michele A. Colombo4
  • Sebastián Geli5
  • Gianluca Gaglioti4
  • Simone Sarasso4
  • Morten L. Kringelbach
  • Maurizio Corbetta6
  • Maria Victoria Sanchez-Vives7
  • Marcello Massimini8
  • Yonatan Sanz Perl9
1 more authors
  • Gustavo Deco10
10 affiliations
  1. 1Center for Brain and Cognition, Computational Neuroscience Group, Department of Engineering, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: [email protected]
  2. 2Instituto de Física Rosario CONICET-UNR, Rosario 2000, Argentina; Laboratorio de Colisiones Atómicas, FCEIA, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Rosario 2000, Argentina
  3. 3Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), 08036 Barcelona, Spain; Facultat de Física, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), 08028 Barcelona, Spain
  4. 4Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20157 Milan, Italy
  5. 5Center for Brain and Cognition, Computational Neuroscience Group, Department of Engineering, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
  6. 6Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padova, 35129 Padova, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy; Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM), 35129 Padova, Italy
  7. 7Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), 08036 Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Spain
  8. 8Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20157 Milan, Italy; IRCCS, Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi Onlus, 20148 Milan, Italy
  9. 9International Centre for Flourishing, Universities of Oxford (UK), Aarhus (Denmark) and Pompeu Fabra (Spain), Oxford OX3 9BX, UK; Department of Engineering, Universidad de San Andrés, Buenos Aires B1644BID, Argentina; Center for Brain and Cognition, Computational Neuroscience Group, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
  10. 10International Centre for Flourishing, Universities of Oxford (UK), Aarhus (Denmark) and Pompeu Fabra (Spain), Oxford OX3 9BX, UK; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Spain; Center for Brain and Cognition, Computational Neuroscience Group, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
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Abstract

The quest for reliable and objective measures of consciousness is critical in basic and clinical neuroscience. Across species, the perturbational complexity index (PCI) has emerged as a robust empirical marker by directly perturbing the brain, yet its relationship to broader physical principles remains unclear. Here, we address this gap by introducing a non-invasive framework based on generative whole-brain models of non-equilibrium brain dynamics. Using these models, we identify violations of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT) in humans and rodents across wakefulness, anesthesia, and disorders of consciousness (DoC). Mirroring PCI, FDT violations decrease in unresponsive DoC and anesthesia compared with conscious conditions. These findings reveal a robust empirical link between PCI and non-equilibrium dynamics in spontaneous brain signals, suggesting that non-equilibrium dynamics capture an important aspect of perturbational complexity. Overall, this framework opens non-invasive, model-based avenues for understanding consciousness and supports efforts to assess its loss and recovery in health and disease.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{berjagabuisan2026thermodynamics,
  title = {{Thermodynamics of consciousness: Non-equilibrium brain dynamics track conscious states}},
  author = {Tomas Berjaga-Buisan and J M Monti and Martina Cortada and Michele A. Colombo and Sebastián Geli and Gianluca Gaglioti and Simone Sarasso and Morten L. Kringelbach and Maurizio Corbetta and Maria Victoria Sanchez-Vives and Marcello Massimini and Yonatan Sanz Perl and Gustavo Deco},
  journal = {Cell Reports},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  doi = {10.1016/j.celrep.2026.117782},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2026.117782},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Thermodynamics of consciousness: Non-equilibrium brain dynamics track conscious states
AU  - Tomas Berjaga-Buisan
AU  - J M Monti
AU  - Martina Cortada
AU  - Michele A. Colombo
AU  - Sebastián Geli
AU  - Gianluca Gaglioti
AU  - Simone Sarasso
AU  - Morten L. Kringelbach
AU  - Maurizio Corbetta
AU  - Maria Victoria Sanchez-Vives
AU  - Marcello Massimini
AU  - Yonatan Sanz Perl
AU  - Gustavo Deco
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/31
JO  - Cell Reports
DO  - 10.1016/j.celrep.2026.117782
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2026.117782
AB  - The quest for reliable and objective measures of consciousness is critical in basic and clinical neuroscience. Across species, the perturbational complexity index (PCI) has emerged as a robust empirical marker by directly perturbing the brain, yet its relationship to broader physical principles remains unclear. Here, we address this gap by introducing a non-invasive framework based on generative whole-brain models of non-equilibrium brain dynamics. Using these models, we identify violations of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT) in humans and rodents across wakefulness, anesthesia, and disorders of consciousness (DoC). Mirroring PCI, FDT violations decrease in unresponsive DoC and anesthesia compared with conscious conditions. These findings reveal a robust empirical link between PCI and non-equilibrium dynamics in spontaneous brain signals, suggesting that non-equilibrium dynamics capture an important aspect of perturbational complexity. Overall, this framework opens non-invasive, model-based avenues for understanding consciousness and supports efforts to assess its loss and recovery in health and disease.
SN  - 2211-1247
SN  - 2639-1856
ER  -