Inbal Algom

Contemporary theories of consciousness have made important conceptual advances, yet a persistent explanatory gap remains between mechanistic accounts of neural activity and the subjective qualities of experience. The ConCrit (Consciousness and Criticality) framework proposes that consciousness is fundamentally associated with neural dynamics organized near criticality. In this work, we propose a unified framework by situating the ConCrit model of consciousness within Spinoza's ontological monism, arguing that this synthesis does not merely add a philosophical layer to neuroscience, but dissolves the explanatory gap at its conceptual root. Spinoza's psycho-physical parallelism, the principle that mind and body are parallel attributes of a single underlying substance, provides the metaphysical foundation for this integration. Under this framework, neural dynamics and conscious experience are not causally linked across separate ontological domains; they are two expressions of the same reality. Within the proposed ConCrit-Spinozist synthesis, what appears under the attribute of Extension as brain dynamics near criticality is the same phenomenon that, under the attribute of Thought, constitutes conscious experience. No additional mechanism is required to bridge them, because there is nothing to bridge. Building on this synthesis, we identify three properties that are maximized when the brain operates near criticality, and show that each corresponds, under Spinoza's parallelism, to a distinct structural dimension of conscious experience. Entropy, understood as representational capacity, corresponds to experiential richness: the breadth and diversity of possible subjective states, in proportion to the body's capacity to be disposed in many ways simultaneously. Internal susceptibility, the sensitivity of a system to its own prior states, corresponds to reflexive capacity: the mind's ability to monitor and modulate itself, which Spinoza associated with greater autonomy and distinct understanding. Scale-free dynamics correspond to structural adequacy: the formal property of ideas that grasp what is common to all things and present equally in parts and whole, enabling generalized and integrated understanding. These three properties co-emerge near criticality and are deeply interdependent. Their convergence at the critical point is not coincidental. Under Spinoza's parallelism, it constitutes a single psycho-physical event whose mental and physical dimensions are inseparable. The divide between phenomenal and access consciousness thus dissolves not by theoretical fiat but as a natural consequence of the ontology itself. This framework also reinterprets leading theories of consciousness as complementary descriptions of a shared underlying reality. Integrated Information Theory's intrinsic cause-effect power aligns with entropy and internal susceptibility under Extension. Global Neuronal Workspace Theory's ignition dynamics, threshold-based, nonlinear bursts of recurrent activation, arise naturally near criticality, where small perturbations trigger large-scale state transitions. The Entropic Brain Hypothesis echoes Spinoza's claim that greater bodily complexity supports a richer and more differentiated mind. Rather than competing, these frameworks describe facets of the same critical regime viewed under different attributes. By grounding ConCrit within Spinoza's monism, consciousness is reframed not as an emergent mystery or epiphenomenal byproduct, but as the parallel manifestation, under the attribute of Thought, of the universal organizational principles that define criticality. This synthesis offers a philosophically coherent and empirically tractable framework for consciousness research.

Inbal Algom is a direct-track PhD student in computational neuroscience at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, supervised by Prof. Oren Shriki and collaborating with Prof. Moti Salti. Her research focuses on quantitative measures of consciousness grounded in critical brain dynamics, combining EEG-based empirical work in surgical settings with theoretical framework development. She is co-author of the ConCrit framework (Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2025, Q1) and first author of the manuscript submitted for this presentation, currently under review at Neuroscience of Consciousness following major revision. She has participated in the Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness course in Venice (2023) and serves as a teaching assistant at the Embodied Brain Technology Practicum at Brown University's Carney Institute.