  The framework of Modern Theory of Critical State Transitions considers the
relation between different levels of organization in complex systems in terms
of Critical State Transitions. A State Transition between levels entails
changes of scale of observables and, concurrently, new formats of description
at reduced dimensionality. It is here suggested that this principle can be
applied to the hierarchic structure of the Nervous system, whereby the
relations between different levels of its functional organization can be viewed
as successions of State Transitions. Upon State Transition, the lower level
presents to the higher level an abstraction of itself, at reduced
dimensionality and at a coarser scale. The re-scaling in the State Transitions
is associated with new objects of description, displays new properties and
obeys new laws, commensurate to the new scale. To illustrate this process, some
aspects of the neural events thought to be associated with Cognition and
Consciousness are discussed. However, the intent is here also more general in
that State Transitions between all levels of organization are proposed as the
mechanisms by which successively higher levels of organization emerge from
lower levels.
