Le Chatelier's Principle in Sensation and Perception: Fractal-Like Enfolding at Different Scales

Le Chatelier's principle asserts that a disturbance, when applied to a resting system may drive the system away from its equilibrium state, but will invoke a countervailing influence that will counteract the effect of the disturbance. When applied to the field of sensation and perception, a generalized stimulus will displace the system from equilibrium, and a generalized adaptation process will serve as the countervailing influence tending to reduce the impact of the stimulus. The principle applies at all levels, from the behavioral to the neural, the larger enfolding the smaller in fractal-like form. Le Chatelier's principle, so applied, leads to the unification of many concepts in sensory science. Ideas as diverse as sensory adaptation, reflex arcs, and simple deductive logic can be brought under the umbrella of a single orienting principle. Beyond unification, this principle allows us to approach many questions in pathophysiology from a different perspective. For example, we find new direction toward the reduction of phantom-limb pain and possibly of vertigo.