Reflex Congestion Theory: A Computational Account of Bandwidth Depletion in Addiction, Waking Life and Attentional Capture
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866901314905047040 |
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| author | Gilbey, Daniel |
| author_facet | Gilbey, Daniel |
| contents | <p>This working paper introduces Reflex Congestion Theory (RCT), a unifying framework proposing that salient experiences are encoded as automated sensorimotor-cognitive loops through Hebbian consolidation, and that their accumulation produces a measurable state of depleted conscious bandwidth. The theory extends incentive-sensitization theory to explain cross-sensitization across substance and behavioural addictions, and proposes that modern digital environments produce congestion through a distinct mechanism: the colonisation of fallow time — low-stimulation periods historically available for endogenous clearing processes.</p> <p>The paper introduces the clearing deficit hypothesis, a neurochemical substrate hypothesis concerning endogenous tryptamine systems, and a somatic suppression model with evolutionary grounding. It proposes operationalisation through a composite Reflex Load Index (RLI) and derives 27 falsifiable hypotheses with explicit falsification criteria and experimental designs.</p> <p>The central reframe is from optimisation to recovery: what we experience as normal adult perception may be systematically degraded by accumulated reflex congestion, and interventions that work (meditation, somatic practice, fallow protection, psychedelics) may work because they clear what accumulated rather than enhance what exists.</p> <p><em>AI language tools (Claude, Anthropic) were used to assist with drafting and structural organisation. Full disclosure in manuscript. All theoretical contributions are the sole work of the author.</em></p> |
| format | Recurso digital |
| id | zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_19427697 |
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| publishDate | 2026 |
| publisher | Zenodo |
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| spellingShingle | Reflex Congestion Theory: A Computational Account of Bandwidth Depletion in Addiction, Waking Life and Attentional Capture Gilbey, Daniel reflex congestion attentional bandwith addiction incentive sensitization fallow time default mode network predictive processing hebbian plasticity digital attention capture endogenous dmt somatic encoding recovery medicine <p>This working paper introduces Reflex Congestion Theory (RCT), a unifying framework proposing that salient experiences are encoded as automated sensorimotor-cognitive loops through Hebbian consolidation, and that their accumulation produces a measurable state of depleted conscious bandwidth. The theory extends incentive-sensitization theory to explain cross-sensitization across substance and behavioural addictions, and proposes that modern digital environments produce congestion through a distinct mechanism: the colonisation of fallow time — low-stimulation periods historically available for endogenous clearing processes.</p> <p>The paper introduces the clearing deficit hypothesis, a neurochemical substrate hypothesis concerning endogenous tryptamine systems, and a somatic suppression model with evolutionary grounding. It proposes operationalisation through a composite Reflex Load Index (RLI) and derives 27 falsifiable hypotheses with explicit falsification criteria and experimental designs.</p> <p>The central reframe is from optimisation to recovery: what we experience as normal adult perception may be systematically degraded by accumulated reflex congestion, and interventions that work (meditation, somatic practice, fallow protection, psychedelics) may work because they clear what accumulated rather than enhance what exists.</p> <p><em>AI language tools (Claude, Anthropic) were used to assist with drafting and structural organisation. Full disclosure in manuscript. All theoretical contributions are the sole work of the author.</em></p> |
| title | Reflex Congestion Theory: A Computational Account of Bandwidth Depletion in Addiction, Waking Life and Attentional Capture |
| topic | reflex congestion attentional bandwith addiction incentive sensitization fallow time default mode network predictive processing hebbian plasticity digital attention capture endogenous dmt somatic encoding recovery medicine |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19427697 |