Chemical basis for minimal cognition
Open accessAbstract
We have developed a simple chemical system capable of self-movement in order to study the physicochemical origins of movement. We propose how this system may be useful in the study of minimal perception and cognition. The system consists simply of an oil droplet in an aqueous environment. A chemical reaction within the oil droplet induces an instability, the symmetry of the oil droplet breaks, and the droplet begins to move through the aqueous phase. The complement of physical phenomena that is then generated indicates the presence of feedback cycles that, as will be argued, form the basis for self-regulation, homeostasis, and perhaps an extended form of autopoiesis. We discuss the result that simple chemical systems are capable of sensory-motor coupling and possess a homeodynamic state from which cognitive processes may emerge.
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Oil droplets have shown many responsive behaviors.
“as well as oil droplets do (Hanczyc and Ikegami, 2010; Parilla Gutierrez et al., 2014; Čejková et al., 2017).”
From Wetware network-based AI: a chemical approach to embodied cognition for robotics and artificial intelligence (2026) · cites this paper as Hanczyc and Ikegami, 2010
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Čejková, J., Banno, T., Hanczyc, M. M., & Štěpánek, F. (2017) · Artificial Life · doi:10.1162/artl_a_00243 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
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Brancazio, N., & Meyer, R. (2023) · European Journal for Philosophy of Science · doi:10.1007/s13194-023-00547-4 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
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Sims, R. (2025) · Synthese · doi:10.1007/s11229-025-05074-8 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“I am interested here in how environmental variables can keep track of tasks performed by the system.”
Damiano, L., Fleres, A., Roli, A., & Stano, P. (2026) · Frontiers in Robotics and AI · doi:10.3389/frobt.2025.1694338 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Coacervates are also interesting microcompartments which have shown many responsive behavior (Gobbo, 2020; Gao et al., 2021; Yin et al., 2023), as well as oil droplets do (Hanczyc and Ikegami, 2010; Parilla Gutierrez et al., 2014; Čejková et al., 2017).”
- Authors
- Hanczyc, M. M., & Ikegami, T.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern Denmark (DK)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- Venue
- Artificial Life
- Publisher
- MIT Press
- Published
- 2010-07
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 233-243
- ISSN
- 1064-5462 (ISSN-L)
- 1530-9185
- OpenAlex
- W2039922706
- Cited by
- 72
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 3.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Artificial Life (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Southern Denmark Research Portal (University of Southern Denmark) (publishedVersion)
- Institutional Research Information System (Università degli Studi di Trento) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Complex Systems and Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Embodied and Extended Cognition
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computational Theory and Mathematics › Cellular Automata and Applications
- Keywords
- self-motion, oil droplets, symmetry breaking, feedback loops, homeostasis, autopoiesis, sensory-motor coupling, emergence of cognition
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cell Physiological Phenomena, Cognition, Computer Simulation, Feedback, Humans, Models, Theoretical, Movement, Robotics, Thermodynamics, Personal Autonomy
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