THE ENTANGLED LOOP
A new framework for the architecture of consciousness
This page is the home of The Entangled Loop, a research programme led from the International Centre for Flourishing, in collaboration between Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, the Universities of Oxford and Aarhus, and partners worldwide. The programme is set out in three companion preprints, published together in June 2026 on bioRxiv and psyArXiv, that together establish a mathematical unification of brain dynamics, an architectural theory of conscious experience that the unification scaffolds, and a first promising application to predicting adolescent depression and anxiety.
The three companion preprints
The trilogy is designed to be read together. Each paper stands alone, but the argument they make jointly is more than the sum of its parts.
One operator to rule them all. The mathematical unification. Three of the principal mathematical languages of brain dynamics, namely connectome harmonics, turbulence and complex harmonics, are three readings of one self-adjoint operator under the functional calculus. The identity is tested with an LSD perturbation in which a single scalar coupling parameter predicts shifts in two mathematically independent functional domains. Kringelbach and Deco (2026). [Read the paper.](papers/#one-operator)
The Entangled Loop. The architectural theory. The unification scaffolds an account of conscious experience in which emotion is architecturally primary, the binding of conscious content is quantum-like rather than classical Bayesian, and hierarchical orchestration coordinates the two. All three architectural features are derived from a single thermodynamic constraint, the requirement to remain far from equilibrium at minimal energy cost. Kringelbach, Rosas, Laukkonen, Chandaria, Sanz Perl and Deco (2026). [Read the paper.](papers/#entangled-loop)
A canary in the mind. A first promising application. A signature of entanglement derived from the same operator, computed from a single baseline brain scan, predicts depression and anxiety symptoms one year later in a sample of 150 adolescents aged 14 to 17 from the Human Connectome Project BANDA cohort. The result rests on internal cross-validation and requires external replication before it can be treated as robust. Deco, Sanz Perl, Vohryzek J., Garcia-Guzman, Pizzagalli, Laukkonen, Chandaria and Kringelbach (2026). [Read the paper.](papers/#canary)
What to read first
If you are a journalist or a general reader, the argument walks through the trilogy in three steps in accessible language.
If you are a neuroscientist, mathematician, physicist or computer scientist, the One Operator paper is the natural entry point.
If you are interested in the philosophy of mind or in theories of consciousness, the Entangled Loop is the natural entry point.
If you are a clinician, a psychiatrist or someone working in adolescent mental health, the Canary in the Mind paper sets out the empirical application, with the wider framework as context.
If you have general questions about the trilogy, read our FAQ.
Background
The Entangled Loop builds on the Beautiful Loop framework of Laukkonen, Friston and Chandaria (2025). For the methodological background to the whole-brain modelling used throughout the trilogy, see the open-access book Whole-brain modelling: Cartography of the dynamics of mind by Deco and Kringelbach (Oxford University Press, 2025).
Latest update
A dated launch entry will appear here on upload day, and subsequent updates as the work progresses. See the updates page for the full log.
How to cite
The full citation, BibTeX and RIS for each paper are on the papers page. The trilogy may also be cited collectively as “Kringelbach, Deco and colleagues, the Entangled Loop trilogy (2026)” where space is limited.