Self-Return: The FVC Loop on an Empirical Spine

This work presents the Fascia–Vestibular–Cortex (FVC) Framework, a theoretical model of embodied self-stabilization based on dynamical systems principles. The framework proposes that the stability of the self-model emerges through coordinated interactions between three biological domains: slow structural and proprioceptive body-state representation, vestibular inertial reference, and cortical predictive processing.

Rather than locating the basis of embodied selfhood within a single neural substrate, the FVC Framework describes the self as a dynamically maintained biological reference state — a continuously stabilized body–brain loop that supports coherent perception, agency, and an integrated first-person perspective.

The model integrates concepts from embodied cognition, predictive processing, active inference, biological tensegrity, proprioception, and vestibular neuroscience. It proposes that disruptions to cross-scale coordination within this loop may alter the stability of self-representation, and it outlines potential experimental approaches involving physiological measurements, neural oscillatory dynamics, vestibular-cortical interactions, and changes during altered states such as anesthesia.

This document presents the theoretical foundation of the FVC Framework, its proposed mechanisms, testable predictions, and implications for understanding the biological basis of embodied selfhood.