Introduction to the special issue on physics of mind

Life and self-organization on the way to artificial intelligence for collective dynamics

This work is dedicated to the study, modeling, and simulation, of the collective dynamics of interacting living entities. The first perspective is to develop a mathematical theory of swarm intelligence for the above mentioned systems. The second perspective is to design the conceptual tools for a theory of artificial intelligence. The aim is to model a dynamics where interacting entities learn from other entities as well as from the environment and external actions. Then, out of this collective learning process, each entity develops a strategy to pursue specific goals through a decision making process that leads to the dynamic. The approach is based on developments of the kinetic theory of active particles. This paper does not naively state that the problem of artificial intelligence for collective dynamics has been exhaustively considered, but some hints are proposed to contribute to such a challenging perspective in view of further developments.

"Stopping for knowledge": The sense of beauty in the perception-action cycle

According to a millennial-old philosophical debate, aesthetic emotions have been connected to knowledge acquisition. Recent scientific evidence, collected across different disciplinary domains, confirms this link, but also reveals that motor inhibition plays a crucial role in the process. In this review, we discuss multidisciplinary results and propose an original account of aesthetic appreciation (the stopping for knowledge hypothesis) framed within the predictive coding theory. We discuss evidence showing that aesthetic emotions emerge in correspondence with an inhibition of motor behavior (i.e., minimizing action), promoting a simultaneous perceptual processing enhancement, at the level of sensory cortices (i.e., optimizing learning). Accordingly, we suggest that aesthetic appreciation may represent a hedonic feedback over learning progresses, motivating the individual to inhibit motor routines to seek further knowledge acquisition. Furthermore, the neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies we review reveal the presence of a strong association between aesthetic appreciation and the activation of the dopaminergic reward-related circuits. Finally, we propose a number of possible applications of the stopping for knowledge hypothesis in the clinical and education domains.