Neural Coding Abstract. Quantum models of higher level brain functions such as conscious experience, suggest that the neural correlate of mentation requires dynamical properties instantiated at the Planck-scale. Several candidate quantum processes have been suggested, but it remains to be seen how these quantum properties can relate to the established classical signals in the brain involving physical action twenty magnitudes above the quantum domain. In this paper we show the results of a systematic analysis of Lagrangian action order to brain processes at different scales of resolution. The results encompass processes at the macroscopic single cell level to processes at the sub-molecular and concerted molecular population level. It is shown that the state of ions in the permeation filter of channel proteins, as for example indicated by the MacKinnon KcsA K+ channel model, is a quantum phenomenon involving a Lagrangian in the order of 10–34 Js. Further, we show that the brain spans at least 20 orders of magnitudes of physical action with physiologically significant signal properties. We suggest that the quantum-classical correspondence in the brain is resolved by the spread of quantum-witness states that correlate with the gating states of voltage sensitive ion channels. 1.
Neural Coding Abstract. Quantum models of higher level brain functions such as conscious experience, suggest that the neural correlate of mentation requires dynamical properties instantiated at the Planck-scale. Several candidate quantum processes have been suggested, but it remains to be seen how these quantum properties can relate to the established classical signals in the brain involving physical action twenty magnitudes above the quantum domain. In this paper we show the results of a systematic analysis of Lagrangian action order to brain processes at different scales of resolution. The results encompass processes at the macroscopic single cell level to processes at the sub-molecular and concerted molecular population level. It is shown that the state of ions in the permeation filter of channel proteins, as for example indicated by the MacKinnon KcsA K+ channel model, is a quantum phenomenon involving a Lagrangian in the order of 10–34 Js. Further, we show that the brain spans at least 20 orders of magnitudes of physical action with physiologically significant signal properties. We suggest that the quantum-classical correspondence in the brain is resolved by the spread of quantum-witness states that correlate with the gating states of voltage sensitive ion channels. 1.
The “quantum mind” hypothesis, the notion that quantum phenomena are causal and perhaps even essential in mentation and particularly consciousness, has met with fierce resistance. This has been particularly the case over the past 20 years, and the first task of this paper is to show that while there are indeed strong - mainly empirical - arguments against the thesis, the ‘in principle arguments published to date evince premature closure. The burgeoning field of “Quantum cognition” has established that quantum models are appropriate for decision-making, and that of “Quantum biology” has now made the notion of quantum effects at physiological temperatures plausible. If quantum effects are relevant to consciousness, they are likely to be seen in the contrast between attended to and not attended to streams of information. An exciting confirmation of this theme is the fact that attended to streams involve a decorrelation of the informational fluctuations in streams not so attended to. This gives rise to the idea that perhaps what enters our consciousness is the result of such a decorrelation from a superposed state. Decorrelation for the purposes of sparsification is prevalent in the brain; what may enter consciousness in the schema proposed here is mental processes with a duration greater than the sampling rate of consciousness (about 80ms) the wave function of which is undergoing state-vector reduction in a manner described by the Quantum Zeno effect. This allows also for truly voluntary action in the manner Von Neumann suggested. This is distinct from the situation with binocular resolution dichoptic stimuli which is a mixture, and is an example of what Fodor calls a “vertical” module with its operation mandatory. There is nothing to be gained by making binocular synthesis subject to voluntary choice. Likewise, it is realistic to propose that attention in lower animals with their less complex brains involves a much simpler mechanism than human consciousness. A model of the individual neuron as a harmonic oscillator is outlined, with a causal role for ion channels in the generation of the oscillations. It is clear that ion channels are critical for attention. Moreover, at a mesoscopic level, it is demonstrated that the brain enters a quiet “shutter” mode several times a second in which quantum effects may be appropriately amplified. If quantum effects exist in the brain, it is likely that this complex of phenomena will be central to them. The de Barros and Suppes models, in addition to the similar formalism due to Henry Stapp, are also briefly described.
The present knowledge of the brain neurology, collectively, is insufficient to explain higher mental processes such as (self)-consciousness, qualia, intuition, meditative states, transpersonal experiences as well as ultra rapid brain responses and functional binding between distant parts of the brain. It is proposed that super-causal space-time configurations may function as an interface between molecular transitions and the particular higher mental functions. As super-causal principles, the iso-energetic brain model as well as various quantum brain theories, are treated. Iso-energetic states of the brain may enable protein perturbation mediated information processing within a tenth of a millisecond and make use of subjective space-time configuration created in life as an emergent modality of the neural system. In addition, elementary quantum processes are seen as essential for higher brain functions, since our central nervous system forms an integral part of a dynamic universe as a non-local information processing modality. In this respect, quantum physics also allows the build-up of an individual mental knowledge domain on the basis of self-selective imprinting of a geometric space/time dimension, as induced by wave/ particle transitions in the brain. The central hypothesis of the present paper is that a versatile and rapid responding brain function requires complementary information processing mechanisms both at the iso-energetic and quantum (macro- and micro-) levels, enabling bottom up and top down information processing. This requires a nested organization of fine-tuned neural micro-sites that enable coherence/de-coherence transitions as a basis for information transfer. For a rapid and causally effective flux of information, as well as a continuous updating of a personal information domain, a “bi-cyclic” mental workspace is conceived, housing interacting and entangled wave and protein-based perturbations that build-up and retrieve information from a universal knowledge domain.
The quantum theory of mind allows a shift from the Mind/Brain metaphysical problem to the Quantum Mind/Classical Brain scientific problem: how could systematic and coherent quantum processes - assumed to be the physical support of our conscious experiences - occur in a macroscopic system as the brain? I discuss a solution based on a neurobiological model that attributes to quantum computation in intra-neuronal signal-transduction pathways the role of directly supporting phenomenal experience. In this model, quantum coherence is created or prepared by classical mechanisms as recurrent neuronal networks, oscillatory synchrony and gated membrane channels, thus avoiding common theoretical constraints for the existence of quantum communication and computation, as ultra-cold temperatures and quasi-isolation from the environment.
Consciousness presents a structural puzzle: a unified, context-sensitive, globally integrated mode of experience emerging from distributed neural dynamics. While classical neuroscience has mapped synaptic, oscillatory, and network-level mechanisms with increasing precision, debate persists as to whether classical formalisms fully capture the integrative and contextual features of conscious processing. This review examines whether quantum principles offer explanatory leverage in two distinct senses: as formal mathematical frameworks for modeling contextual cognition, and as mechanistic hypotheses proposing biologically instantiated non-classical states. We surveyed empirical and theoretical developments spanning zero-quantum-coherence in MRI signals, entanglement-structured learning paradigms, quantum-inspired computational models, and proposed neural substrates, including microtubules, nuclear spins, and photonic architectures. Although certain findings have been interpreted as consistent with a non-classical structure, no study to date has demonstrated entanglement, long-lived coherence, or collapse dynamics in neural tissue under operational criteria comparable to those used in controlled quantum systems. Replication remains limited, biological entanglement witnesses are not yet established, and nonlinear classical dynamics can reproduce many putative quantum signatures. Accordingly, the decisive question is not whether the brain is quantum, but whether its dynamics exceed the explanatory reach of rigorously defined classical models. Progress hinges on replication, adversarial scrutiny, and operational criteria precise enough to discriminate genuine non-classical correlations from classical complexity. Whether quantum mechanisms ultimately prove necessary or refined classical models remain sufficient, this inquiry compels a deeper understanding of integration, contextuality, and the physical constraints shaping conscious experience.
Current quantum theories of consciousness suggest a configuration space of an entangled ensemble state as global work space for conscious experience. This study will describe a procedure for adjustment of the singlet evolution of a quantum computation to a classical signal input by action potentials. The computational output of an entangled state in a single neuron will be selected in a network environment by "survival of the fittest" coupling with other neurons. Darwinian evolution of this coupling will result in a binding of action potentials to a convoluted orbit of phase-locked oscillations with harmonic, m-adic, or fractal periodicity. Progressive integration of signal inputs will evolve a present memory space independent from the history of construction. Implications for mental processes, e.g., associative memory, creativity, and consciousness will be discussed. A model for the generation of quantum coherence in a single neuron will be suggested.
Identifying the physiological processes in the central nervous system that underlie our conscious experiences has been at the forefront of cognitive neuroscience. While the principles of classical physics were long found to be unaccommodating for a causally effective consciousness, the inherent indeterminism of quantum physics, together with its characteristic dichotomy between quantum states and quantum observables, provides a fertile ground for the physical modeling of consciousness. Here, we utilize the Schrödinger equation, together with the Planck–Einstein relation between energy and frequency, in order to determine the appropriate quantum dynamical timescale of conscious processes. Furthermore, with the help of a simple two-qubit toy model we illustrate the importance of non-zero interaction Hamiltonian for the generation of quantum entanglement and manifestation of observable correlations between different measurement outcomes. Employing a quantitative measure of entanglement based on Schmidt decomposition, we show that quantum evolution governed only by internal Hamiltonians for the individual quantum subsystems preserves quantum coherence of separable initial quantum states, but eliminates the possibility of any interaction and quantum entanglement. The presence of non-zero interaction Hamiltonian, however, allows for decoherence of the individual quantum subsystems along with their mutual interaction and quantum entanglement. The presented results show that quantum coherence of individual subsystems cannot be used for cognitive binding because it is a physical mechanism that leads to separability and non-interaction. In contrast, quantum interactions with their associated decoherence of individual subsystems are instrumental for dynamical changes in the quantum entanglement of the composite quantum state vector and manifested correlations of different observable outcomes. Thus, fast decoherence timescales could assist cognitive binding through quantum entanglement across extensive neural networks in the brain cortex.