Coherence Time in Biological Oscillator Assemblies Bounds the Rate of State Registration

This paper models coherence time as one possible bottleneck in distributed biological coordination — the waiting time for multiple semi-independent oscillator modules to align within a stated tolerance before a registration criterion is crossed. In the modular regime, the model produces a speed–flexibility trade-off as coordination depth grows.

Coherence time grows exponentially with coordination depth in the modular approximation where the framework is intended to apply. The selected neural parameters reproduce the 30–50 ms order of magnitude of visual binding windows, and modular Kuramoto simulations reproduce the expected scaling (R² = 0.97). All-to-all and sparse topologies serve mainly as regime-boundary diagnostics; the simulation fit is not yet broad empirical validation.

The paper also develops exploratory extensions: a pre-commit phase-delta regime, candidate biophysical substrates for pre-commit coordination dynamics, and qualitative predictions linking effective dimensionality and commit rate to subjective temporal structure. These are presented as hypotheses tied to measurable quantities, not as settled empirical results.

This paper gives a concrete first-passage model for why coordination can take time even when individual components are fast. In the modular regime studied, deeper coordination produces a speed–flexibility trade-off. Proposed links to psychedelic time experience, expertise, and mind-wandering are exploratory hypotheses, not consequences already established by the formula. The useful next step is to test whether measured coordination depth predicts registration latency under stated network and tolerance conditions.