The Problem Is Not the Signal, But the State: Dynamic State Validation in the Cortical Field

This Perspectives/Opinion paper formalizes the claim that cortical signal integration fails not because signals are absent, but because the receiving system cannot sustain the dynamical state required for integration. Within the Cortical Informational Field Theory (CIFT) framework, we introduce the concept of dynamic state validation: a continuous, state-dependent process by which the cortical field Φ(x,t) selects which perturbations can be sustained as functional trajectories and which dissipate as noise.

We derive two simultaneous necessary conditions encoded in the Stjepovic equation (a Ginzburg-Landau gradient-flow): C1[Φ] (globally ordered phase, λ > 0) and C2[Φ] (spatial differentiation, δΦ ≠ 0). The near-critical regime RC³ (Quasi-Critical Cortical Regime) is identified as a specific failure mode where both conditions are transiently satisfied but temporally unstable — producing the characteristic pattern of high sensitivity, variable persistence, and intermittent executive breakdown observed in ADHD.

The paper generates three falsifiable predictions: (1) RC³ individuals exhibit elevated coherence length ξ and reduced N_eff in resting-state EEG/MEG; (2) methylphenidate and caffeine produce measurable shifts in ξ and R rather than event-related potentials; (3) trial-by-trial behavioral variability correlates with temporal fluctuations in C1[Φ], not signal characteristics.