Wehavedevelopedasimplechemicalsystemcapableofselfmovementinorderto studythephysicochemicaloriginsofmovement,perceptionandcognition.The systemconsistssimplyofanoildropletinanaqueousenvironment.Achemical reactionembeddedintheoildropletinducesinstability,thesymmetryoftheoil dropletbreaksandthedropletbeginstomovethroughtheaqueousphase.The complementofphysicalphenomenathatisthengeneratedarguesforthepresence offeedbackcyclesthatformthebasisforselfregulation,homeostasis,and autopoiesis.Weargueherethatsimplechemicalsystemsarecapableofsensory motorcouplingandpossessahomeodynamicstatefromwhichcognitiveprocesses mayemerge.
Martin M. Hanczyc, Takashi Ikegami