From Disturbance To Presence: Towards An Empirical Model Of Conscious Integration Through Multilevel Neurostimulation A View From The Theory Of Emergent Flow

This paper proposes an innovative experimental model to empirically explore the sequential emergence of consciousness, from its autonomic bases to its self-referential expression. Integrating Emergent Flow Theory (EFT) with neurostimulation and neuroimaging tools such as transcutaneous vagal stimulation (tVNS), electroencephalography (EEG), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and the Perturbation Complexity Index (PCI), a two-phase protocol is proposed. In the first, the role of the Sensory Autonomic Network (RAS) as an initiator of perceptual flows prior to the Self is studied; in the second, cortical integration is evaluated using TMS and PCI. This approach allows us to reinterpret Libet's experiment, proposing that the interval between intention and action reflects a hierarchical dynamic of informational integration rather than a denial of free will. The proposal establishes a conceptual and methodological bridge between TFE and theories such as Tononi's Integrated Information (IIT), providing an embodied, quantifiable and rhizomatic vision of consciousness.