Quantum description of synaptic nervous function

Anton Wernig

N. S. Khan

Sylvia Pulmannová

Dmitri Vinnik

This article reviews arguments for the quantum brain hypothesis and against it. According to this hypothesis, quantum fluctuations within nerve cells and at synaptic clefts are able to amplify and translate their states to the brain's macrostructures level. Proponents appeal to the theory of neural avalanches, arguments about the non-equilibrium nature of cerebral dynamics and the theory of nonsynaptic signal transmission. Opponents insist that the thermodynamic conditions of nervous tissue prevent the emergence of quantum coherence and other macro-scopic quantum effects; the brain is not enough isolated from the environment to observe such effects. All quantum fluctuations have to be are averaged and their computational role have to be eliminated.

Steven J. Burden, Ronald D.G. McKay

Houwen Xin, Lizhi Xin, Kevin Xin

Abstract A computational model incorporating insights from quantum theory is proposed to describe and explain synaptic message transmission. We propose that together, neurotransmitters and their corresponding receptors, function as a physical “quantum decision tree” to “decide” whether to excite or inhibit the synapse. When a neurotransmitter binds to its corresponding receptor, it is the equivalent of randomly choosing different "strategies"; a “strategy" has two actions to take: excite or inhibit the synapse with a certain probability. The genetic programming can be applied for learning the observed data sequence to simulate the synaptic message transmission.