5-Level Model of Psychical Homeostasis – A periodic table of emotions
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: The contemporary landscape of psychology is characterized by a profound epistemological rift between phenomenological clinical practice and the mathematical precision of computational neuroscience. This paper proposes a five-layer spherically nested framework for psychical homeostasis that bridges this gap by integrating principles of affective neuroscience with Active Inference and Reinforcement Learning. I postulate that the diversity of psychological states emerges from a systematic combinatory logic of 24 Phylogenetic Core Functions organized into twelve reciprocal subcortical processing axes. While the framework provides the formal state-equations of psychical homeostasis, it acknowledges these as the necessary substrate for phenomenological emergence, rather than a replacement for the subjective richness of lived experience. The framework formalizes this architecture through an expanded Active Inference equation, where the probability of action selection is the sum of expected free energies across all 12 axes, weighted by individual axial precisions. Inner tension is defined as the mathematical divergence between evolutionarily fixed biological anchors in tier 1 and neocortical global priors (Core Beliefs) on tier 5. The model accounts for the emergence of stable Ego-States (Guardians and Allies) through top-down valence inversion and explains global Belief Systems via Active Inference Clamping. By shifting the paradigm from descriptive clinical metaphors to falsifiable state-equations, this model provides a scalable framework for computational psychiatry. It offers specific, testable neurophysiological predictions and invites for methodological verification.
Author: Michael Jirsch
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W7166127369
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