The Atlas of Social Complexity: Mapping Complexity's Adjacent Possible in Psychology and the Life Sciences

• Speaker: Brian Castellani, Durham University
• Abstract: Although the complexity sciences have done much to advance the social sciences, over the last decade the field has run into some hard situations ' thirteen to be exact. Some are self-imposed, others come from how 21st century science is conducted. Examples include ignoring the wider social sciences; privileging computational modelling over qualitative research; and being tone-deaf about the real world. These situations presently prevent the study of social complexity from becoming the disruptive, transdisciplinary field it originally sought to be in the 1990s when the complexity turn in the social sciences took place. Fortunately, a small but growing global network of scholars are charting new territory. They are part of a fresh turn in complexity, the social science turn, which fosters a transdisciplinary, social complexity imagination that, in one way or another, addresses the field's thirteen situations to create new areas of disruptive and highly innovative social inquiry. The Atlas of social complexity (forthcoming, Edward Elgar, 2024) charts this new territory, seeking to map its present future. Organised around five major themes ' (1) Cognition, emotion and consciousness, (2) Dynamics of human psychology, (3) Living in social systems, (4) Advancing a new methods agenda, and (5) The unfinished space, the Atlas functions as a tour guide, surveying over thirty leading-edge research areas (some still under construction) that readers can variously combine and develop. The Atlas is a practical guide for those seeking new ideas and new avenues of study to pursue, all in the hope of fostering the transdisciplinary social complexity imagination needed to address some of the biggest global challenges we, as a world community, presently face. The purpose of this paper is to focus on themes 1 and 2 and their relevance for complexity research in psychology and the life sciences.

Entropy reduction questioned: The "Throw & Catch" principle in natural systems

• Speaker: Irina Trofimova, McMaster University
• Abstract: "Throw & Catch" (T&C) principle in neurodynamics refers to the pro-active, neurophysiologically expensive, massive and, therefore, a paradoxical topical increase of entropy ("Throw"). The Throw occurs within brain development, electrodynamics and neurotransmission whenever there is an uncertainty in the selection of degrees of freedom (DFs). The "Catch" systems are represented by the positioning of receptors and neurons that follows the strategic preferences of the body. The T&C in the nervous system also proceeds as the relay-like processes during the selection of DFs in behaviour at many neuro-physiological levels. The "Throw" works as an internally generated "flashlight" that, contrary to the expectations of entropy reduction, locally increases entropy and variance observed in the processes related to orientation and action formation. The neural regulation of behaviour appears to be a fluid, constructive process, constantly upgrading the choice of behavioural DFs, to ensure the compatibility between the environment and an individual’s needs and capacities. The T&C is common in nature, including natural selection. This suggests that regulatory mechanisms in biological and social systems go beyond quantum mechanical algorithms, even though they use stochastic dynamics. These mechanisms also contradict "entropy reduction" principle advocated by Friston and others but supports Walter Freeman’s work on anticipatory chaotic attractors in neurodynamics.

Humans as Systems of Systems

• Speaker: Sam Leven, TPI, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
• Abstract: The elderly among us recall the radical claim, “The computer is the network,” the argument [eventually victorious] that defining the operations of an isolated electrical box as knowledge processing understates the value of the invention. The study of human health and behavior faces a similar dilemma. As Cianucca and Levin write, cognition can be seen as a multiscale web of dynamic information processing distributed across a vast array of complex cellular (e.g. neuronal, immune, and others) and network systems, operating across the entire body, and not just in the brain. [bioRxiv 2023]. We argue, with an experiment to illustrate our claim, that we must consider humans to contain [many] interacting systems ' and these are embedded in environments [social, physical, cultural] which continually co-adapt with them. We heal in contexts. We shall demonstrate that Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation [NIBS] may have benefits across several organs, enhancing the patient's ability to thrive in multiple ways. Understanding these dimensions allows isolated treatments to enhance health beyond the defined therapeutic “target.” An impressive case of the benefits of recognizing the dexterity of human biochemistry is the gene protein complex Brain Derived Neurotrophin Factor. My group believes a standard psychological therapy, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation [TMS], may be able to address a variety of diseases pervasive among human organs. As Pasquale Leone [2023] summarized, TMS treats a variety of affective and behavioral disorders by stimulating the production of BDNF and by increasing connectivity among targeted brain regions. This non-invasive procedure mitigates the effects of organic conditions as well, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinsonism among others. Pascual Leone has reported that TMS patients with heart conditions have often reported improved cardiovascular function; he emphasizes these are correlational results which remain to be fully tested. But the apparent systemic effect of the increase in BDNF is suggestive. The brain produces seventy-five percent of the body's BDNF. And, while exercise provides a modest increase [associated with enhanced mood and learning], there are limits to its effects. Yet demands for increases in BDNF are not modest. Kermani and Hempstead [2019] tell us BDNF heels the cardiovascular system by modulating contractility, migration, neoangiogenesis, aptosis and survival of a variety of critical cells. Ye and associates [2022] determined BDNF plays a crucial role in preventing bone loss and promoting bone formation. Zhang et al [2023] found that BDNF promotes supply of airway smooth muscle cells mitigating asthmatic conditions. Jameson's group [2022] found skin barrier integrity crucial to resisting environmental triggers of infection and immune processes in which BDNF plays a crucial role. Perhaps most surprising is the centrality of BDNF in the pro regenerative healing produced by extracellular signal related kinase [ERK, Seifert 2023]. We propose to test the increased availability of BDNF for organ healing. We shall measure organ-specific blood proteins before and after a TMS program [thirty-six treatments] among healthy naïve patients. A significant increase in those levels may indicate TMS could provide critical aid to a number of patients. We expect this to be among a common inquiry, treating whole humans.