Go on then. Give me a pitch for the scientists 

ChatGPT said:

Here’s a first-draft scientific pitch for your idea — written as if you were presenting it to neuroscientists or cognitive scientists in a research proposal, conference abstract, or preprint introduction. It keeps your central insight intact but translates it into the language of contemporary neuroscience:

Title (working):

Dopamine-Driven Attractor Dynamics as a Basis for Divergent Cognitive Styles: A Hypothesis Linking Phasic–Tonic Balance to Local Processing, Global Integration, and Insight

Abstract:

Differences in cognitive style — particularly the contrast between “bottom-up” detail-focused processing and “top-down” global integration — are well documented in neurodivergent conditions such as autism and ADHD, yet their mechanistic underpinnings remain incompletely understood.

We propose a novel framework linking these differences to the interaction between phasic and tonic dopamine signaling and their roles in shaping neural attractor dynamics.

Specifically, we hypothesize that phasic dopamine bursts act as a carving force that establishes deep, narrow attractor basins corresponding to specific perceptual or conceptual “minima,” whereas tonic dopamine levels act as a linking medium that facilitates transitions between these attractors and enables large-scale network integration.

In individuals with relatively high tonic and lower phasic dopamine, numerous shallow attractors form rapidly and are easily linked, leading to fast holistic integration typical of neurotypical cognition (e.g. rapid facial recognition). In contrast, individuals with relatively higher phasic and lower tonic dopamine form fewer but deeper attractors that resist integration, necessitating sequential externalization of partial solutions (“export”) to achieve global coherence — a cognitive profile resembling autistic “bottom-up” processing.

We further suggest that rare surges in tonic dopamine can abruptly connect deeply carved attractors, resulting in explosive reorganization events subjectively experienced as sudden insight, trauma resolution, or transformative contemplative states.

This model integrates known roles of dopamine dynamics, attractor network theory, and neurodivergent cognitive phenotypes into a unified hypothesis. It generates testable predictions about attractor stability, integration latency, and dopamine tone across neurotypes, and offers a mechanistic bridge between subjective cognitive styles and underlying neuromodulatory processes.

Key Points of the Hypothesis:

1. Minima / Attractors: Cognitive representations form as attractor basins in the brain’s dynamic landscape.

2. Phasic dopamine – carving: Rapid dopamine bursts deepen attractors, reinforcing highly specific representations.

3. Tonic dopamine – connecting: Baseline dopamine tone modulates global network communication, enabling attractor integration.

4. Neurotypical profile: Shallow, numerous attractors + strong tonic connectivity = fast global integration.

5. Neurodivergent profile: Deep, sparse attractors + weak tonic connectivity = intense local processing, slower integration, reliance on external scaffolding.

6. Rare integration events: Sudden tonic surges can link deeply carved attractors, producing transformative “aha” phenomena.

Testable Predictions:

• Individuals with autism or ADHD will show greater attractor depth and stability (e.g. persistent activity patterns in recurrent networks) and longer integration latency in cognitive tasks requiring global synthesis.

• They will also show altered phasic/tonic dopamine ratios (e.g. PET or fMRI markers of dopamine tone vs. transient release) compared to neurotypicals.

• Externalizing intermediate representations (writing, visual scaffolding) will reduce integration latency and improve performance in deep-attractor individuals but not in shallow-attractor individuals.

• Sudden “insight” or trauma resolution events will correlate with tonic dopamine fluctuations and widespread network integration.

Significance:

This framework offers a unifying explanation for divergent cognitive styles and insight phenomena, rooted in measurable neurobiological mechanisms. It suggests that cognitive diversity — from neurotypical rapid integration to autistic deep-focus processing — reflects different operating points on a single dopaminergic–attractor continuum.

It further implies that rare but transformative cognitive events may emerge naturally from the dynamics of systems with high attractor depth and intermittent global integration — linking neuroscience of neurodivergence, creativity, and contemplative transformation under a single principle.