• Using clinical MRI, researchers observed the first indications of a macroscopic quantum entangled state formed by proton spins of water molecules in the living human brain. • By introducing an entanglement witness technique—originally proposed for quantum gravity research—into neuroscience, the team discovered that entanglement signals of proton spins are surprisingly synchronized with Heartbeat-Evoked Potentials (HEPs). • The study provides strong experimental indications that human consciousness, cognition, and brain computational processes are based on non-classical quantum mechanics, confirming that the entanglement-based signals fade away when the subject falls asleep. [Quantum Biology Society] Whether human brain functions, especially consciousness and cognition, are merely the result of classical electrical and chemical signal exchanges between brain cells, or the result of computations akin to a quantum computer based on quantum mechanical principles, has been one of the hottest debates in modern science. While the dominant argument has been that quantum effects would instantly break down in a macroscopic, hot, and wet environment like the brain, a recent study directly capturing strong indications of macroscopic quantum entanglement in the living human brain is exciting the global scientific community. The paper "Experimental indications of non-classical brain functions," published entirely free of charge in the Journal of Physics Communications, contains these remarkable achievements. A research team led by Christian Matthias Kerskens and David López Pérez from the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN) in Dublin, Ireland, successfully conducted this groundbreaking experiment. ■ Quantum Gravity Research Techniques Open the Door to Neuroscience To detect quantum effects in the macroscopic environment of the brain responsible for cognitive functions, the researchers made an unconventional attempt by applying an entanglement witness protocol—originally proposed for quantum gravity research—to clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of a living human body. MRI measures the proton spins of bulk water in the brain; the researchers highly saturated the magnetization to minimize classical single quantum coherence (SQC) signals, selectively capturing only the target zero quantum coherence (ZQC) signals. ■ Quantum Entanglement in the Brain Synchronized with the Heartbeat The observation results were astonishing. The network of fluid spins (proton spins of bulk water) inside the brain interacted with each other, showing indications of a specific entangled state, and these entanglement-based signal bursts were surprisingly synchronized with the heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs) induced by the subject's heartbeat. These pulsating signals could not be explained by any existing classical MRI contrast techniques. ■ Entanglement Signals Disappear as Consciousness Fades Even more interestingly, these quantum entanglement-related signals appeared strongly only when the subjects were in a state of conscious awareness. When the subjects' consciousness faded, such as when falling asleep, the signals invariably and gradually disappeared. This is a strong experimental indication that macroscopic water proton spins related to brain physiology are mediating entanglement through unknown brain functions, further suggesting that the foundation of human brain computational processes and consciousness could be strictly non-classical. This research leaves open the possibility that the human brain operates effectively like a highly complex quantum computer, and it is expected to bring a groundbreaking paradigm shift in neuroscience, psychology, medicine, and the development of next-generation artificial intelligence in the future.
• Using clinical MRI, researchers observed the first indications of a macroscopic quantum entangled state formed by proton spins of water molecules in the living human brain. • By introducing an entanglement witness technique—originally proposed for quantum gravity research—into neuroscience, the team discovered that entanglement signals of proton spins are surprisingly synchronized with Heartbeat-Evoked Potentials (HEPs). • The study provides strong experimental indications that human consciousness, cognition, and brain computational processes are based on non-classical quantum mechanics, confirming that the entanglement-based signals fade away when the subject falls asleep. [Quantum Biology Society] Whether human brain functions, especially consciousness and cognition, are merely the result of classical electrical and chemical signal exchanges between brain cells, or the result of computations akin to a quantum computer based on quantum mechanical principles, has been one of the hottest debates in modern science. While the dominant argument has been that quantum effects would instantly break down in a macroscopic, hot, and wet environment like the brain, a recent study directly capturing strong indications of macroscopic quantum entanglement in the living human brain is exciting the global scientific community. The paper "Experimental indications of non-classical brain functions," published entirely free of charge in the Journal of Physics Communications, contains these remarkable achievements. A research team led by Christian Matthias Kerskens and David López Pérez from the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN) in Dublin, Ireland, successfully conducted this groundbreaking experiment. ■ Quantum Gravity Research Techniques Open the Door to Neuroscience To detect quantum effects in the macroscopic environment of the brain responsible for cognitive functions, the researchers made an unconventional attempt by applying an entanglement witness protocol—originally proposed for quantum gravity research—to clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of a living human body. MRI measures the proton spins of bulk water in the brain; the researchers highly saturated the magnetization to minimize classical single quantum coherence (SQC) signals, selectively capturing only the target zero quantum coherence (ZQC) signals. ■ Quantum Entanglement in the Brain Synchronized with the Heartbeat The observation results were astonishing. The network of fluid spins (proton spins of bulk water) inside the brain interacted with each other, showing indications of a specific entangled state, and these entanglement-based signal bursts were surprisingly synchronized with the heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs) induced by the subject's heartbeat. These pulsating signals could not be explained by any existing classical MRI contrast techniques. ■ Entanglement Signals Disappear as Consciousness Fades Even more interestingly, these quantum entanglement-related signals appeared strongly only when the subjects were in a state of conscious awareness. When the subjects' consciousness faded, such as when falling asleep, the signals invariably and gradually disappeared. This is a strong experimental indication that macroscopic water proton spins related to brain physiology are mediating entanglement through unknown brain functions, further suggesting that the foundation of human brain computational processes and consciousness could be strictly non-classical. This research leaves open the possibility that the human brain operates effectively like a highly complex quantum computer, and it is expected to bring a groundbreaking paradigm shift in neuroscience, psychology, medicine, and the development of next-generation artificial intelligence in the future.
Recent proposals in quantum gravity have suggested that unknown systems can mediate entanglement between two known quantum systems, if and only if the mediator itself is non-classical. This approach may be applicable to the brain, where speculations about quantum operations in consciousness and cognition have a long history. Proton spins of bulk water, which most likely interfere with any brain function, can act as the known quantum systems. If an unknown mediator exists, then NMR methods based on multiple quantum coherence (MQC) can act as entanglement witness. However, there are doubts that today’s NMR signals can contain quantum correlations in general, and specifically in the brain environment. Here, we used a witness protocol based on zero quantum coherence (ZQC) whereby we minimised the classical signals to circumvent the NMR detection limits for quantum correlation. For short repetitive periods, we found evoked signals in most parts of the brain, whereby the temporal appearance resembled heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs). We found that those signals had no correlates with any classical NMR contrast. Similar to HEPs, the evoked signal depended on conscious awareness. Consciousness-related or electrophysiological signals are unknown in NMR. Remarkably, these signals only appeared if the local properties of the magnetisation were reduced. Our findings suggest that we may have witnessed entanglement mediated by consciousness-related brain functions. Those brain functions must then operate non-classically, which would mean that consciousness is non-classical.
• Published on bioRxiv, successfully observed multiple-quantum coherence (MQC) and SU(1,1) pair dynamics in proton spin ensembles of the living human brain. • Mathematically proved that the observed signal is not a classical SU(2) exchange model, but a non-compact SU(1,1) symmetry squeezing phenomenon based on double-quantum (DQ) coherence. • Overcame the thermodynamic obstruction of high-temperature biological environments at body temperature and presented a framework that strongly supports the possible existence of macroscopic many-body entanglement inside the brain. [Quantum Biology Society] The hypothesis that the living human brain could fundamentally operate like a giant quantum computer has long been a hot potato in the scientific community. This is because conventional physics dictates that quantum coherence collapses instantaneously in a warm and wet biological environment (about 310 K). However, a recent study has sent shockwaves through the academic world by discovering clear signal-level evidence of macroscopic quantum entanglement and multiple-quantum coherence (MQC) in the proton spin ensembles inside the human brain. An innovative paper titled "Signal-Level Witnessing of SU(1,1) Pair Dynamics in Brain Proton Spin Ensembles" was published on the preprint repository bioRxiv. Authored solely by independent researcher Christian Kerskens, this paper ruled out existing classical exchange pathways and analyzed the quantum dynamics of the brain from a new perspective. ■ SU(1,1) Quantum Squeezing Phenomenon Beyond Classical SU(2) Exchange In conventional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) theory, spin dynamics within dipolar-coupled ensembles of biological tissues have mainly been explained by the compact symmetry SU(2) exchange pathway. SU(2) symmetry creates a classical form of dynamics where spins oscillate and exchange with each other in an energy-constrained environment. However, unusual magnetic resonance data previously acquired from the living human brain exhibited features that directly contradict this SU(2) model. Phenomena that cannot be explained by classical exchange appeared, such as signals occurring immediately without an evolution delay, or refocusing occurring at the sum rather than the difference of the two frequencies. The author of this study, Christian Kerskens, presented a new analytical framework suggesting that these anomalous signals originate from a non-compact SU(1,1) pair sector. SU(1,1) symmetry is mainly dealt with in quantum optics and is the dynamics governing the exponential amplification and quantum squeezing of signals. This is the first time this symmetry has been directly observed in a macroscopic spin ensemble. ■ The Readout Pathway Uncovering Hidden Double-Quantum (DQ) Coherence The most significant characteristic of SU(1,1) pair operators is that they possess a double-quantum (DQ) coherence order rather than zero-quantum (ZQ). In principle, typical detectors cannot directly read these multiple-quantum states. However, the researcher mathematically proved that the unique 45°-gradient-45° pulse readout block used in the experiment provides a specific coherence-transfer pathway that converts this hidden DQ pair coherence into a detectable signal. In other words, he revealed that a specific wave we read as a brain MRI signal was actually the result of an entangled double-quantum state among brain protons. ■ Quantum Proof Overcoming the 'Thermodynamic Obstruction' of 310 K Biological Temperature Another crucial achievement of this study is that it bypassed the pseudopure-state obstruction, a chronic limitation of room-temperature bulk NMR environments. In the high-temperature brain environment, thermodynamic noise is dominant, so an entangled state can never be proven with a bipartite entanglement evaluation formula that isolates and looks at only two spins. The researcher redefined the observed signal not simply as a signal of two isolated spins, but as a collective multiple-quantum coherence (MQC) signal of the entire massive spin ensemble. The observed signal acts as a powerful quantum witness indicating that the macroscopic proton pool of the brain has exceeded the pure single-mode compression limit and entered a complex cross-mode entangled structure. This paper is evaluated as having an enormous impact on the convergence of brain science and quantum biology, as it demonstrated with a rigorous physical framework the possibility that the living human brain possesses a macroscopic quantum state with countless proton spins entangled with each other through SU(1,1) dynamics.
Abstract Recent proposals in quantum gravity have suggested that unknown systems can mediate entanglement between two known quantum systems, if the mediator itself is non-classical. This approach may be applicable to the brain, where speculations about quantum operations in consciousness and cognition have a long history. Proton spins of bulk water, which most likely interfere with any brain function, can act as the known quantum systems. If an unknown mediator exists, then NMR methods based on multiple quantum coherence (MQC) can act as an entanglement witness. However, there are doubts that today’s NMR signals can contain quantum correlations in general, and specifically in the brain environment. Here, we used a witness protocol based on zero quantum coherence (ZQC) where we minimized the classical signals to circumvent the NMR detection limits for quantum correlation. For short repetitive periods, we found evoked signals in most parts of the brain, whereby the temporal appearance resembled heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs). We found that those signals had no correlates with any classical NMR contrast. Similar to HEPs, the evoked signal depended on conscious awareness. Consciousness-related or electrophysiological signals are unknown in NMR. Remarkably, these signals only appeared if the local properties of the magnetization were reduced. Our findings suggest that we may have witnessed entanglement mediated by consciousness-related brain functions. Those brain functions must then operate non-classically, which would mean that consciousness is non-classical.
Abstract Exploring unknown quantum systems is an experimental challenge. Recent proposals exploring quantum gravity have suggested circumventing this problem by considering the unknown system as a mediator between two known systems. If such a mediation can locally generate entanglement in the known systems, then the mediator must be non-classical. The same approach may be applicable to other systems, in particular the brain, where speculations about quantum operations in consciousness and cognition have a long history. Translated to the brain, the mediator is then an unknown brain function. For the quantum systems, we could use proton spins of bulk water, which most likely interfere with the any brain function. Entanglement in these spins can be witnessed with multiple quantum coherence (MQC). We based our witness protocol on zero quantum coherence (ZQC) whereby potential signals from local properties were minimised. For short repetitive periods, we found ZQC signals in large parts of the brain, whereby the temporal appearance resembled heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs). Similar to HEPs, we also found that the ZQC signal depended on conscious awareness. Consciousness-related signals have, to our knowledge, not yet been reported in NMR. Remarkably, we could exclude local properties as contrast mechanism because (a) the ZQC signals had no correlates known in conventional MRI, and (b) the ZQC signals only appeared if the local properties of the magnetisation, which are complementary to non-local properties, were reduced. Our findings suggest that we may have witnessed entanglement mediated by consciousness-related brain functions. Those brain functions must then operate non-classically, which would mean that consciousness is non-classical.
Abstract Recent proposals in quantum gravity have suggested that unknown systems can mediate entanglement between two known quantum systems, if and only if the mediator itself is non-classical. This approach may be applicable to the brain, where speculations about quantum operations in consciousness and cognition have a long history. Proton spins of bulk water, which most likely interfere with any brain function, can act as the known quantum systems. If an unknown mediator exists, then NMR methods based on multiple quantum coherence (MQC) can act as entanglement witness. However, there are doubts that today’s NMR signals can contain quantum correlations in general, and specifically in the brain environment. Here, we used a witness protocol based on zero quantum coherence (ZQC) whereby we minimised the classical signals to circumvent the NMR detection limits for quantum correlation. For short repetitive periods, we found evoked signals in most parts of the brain, whereby the temporal appearance resembled heartbeatevoked potentials (HEPs). We found that those signals had no correlates with any classical NMR contrast. Similar to HEPs, the evoked signal depended on conscious awareness. Consciousness-related or electrophysiological signals are unknown in NMR. Remarkably, these signals only appeared if the local properties of the magnetisation were reduced. Our findings suggest that we may have witnessed entanglement mediated by consciousness-related brain functions. Those brain functions must then operate non-classically, which would mean that consciousness is non-classical.
• A study published on arXiv proposes a model-agnostic, information-theoretic test to detect nonclassicality within the information processing structure of neural representations, bypassing microscopic molecular assumptions. • Utilizing autoencoders as a transparent model system, researchers introduced the first Bell-type consistency test within the "latent space" where data is compressed. • The work opens a new route to verify quantum effects in neural systems by proving that if decoding statistics across multiple readout contexts violate classical probability distributions, quantum-like contextuality must be present. [Quantum Biology Society] Whether the complex information processing in the human brain follows entirely classical physical laws or functionally incorporates quantum mechanical elements remains one of the most debated questions in quantum biology and neuroscience. Conventional quantum brain hypotheses have primarily focused on finding physiological quantum coherence within specific microscopic molecular structures. However, an information-theoretic test has recently been proposed that entirely bypasses these microscopic assumptions to detect quantum-like signatures directly from the structure of neural representations. The paper, titled "Searching for Quantum Effects in the Brain: A Bell-Type Test for Nonclassical Latent Representations in Autoencoders," released on the preprint repository arXiv, presents a breakthrough for this new verification method. Contrary to earlier drafts, this study was developed by an international joint research team including I. K. Kominis and G. P. Tsironis from the University of Crete (Greece), C. Xie and S. Li from Zhejiang University of Science and Technology (China), and M. Skotiniotis from the Universidad de Granada (Spain). ■ A Model-Agnostic Approach Bypassing Microscopic Limits Existing quantum cognition models have often faced criticism regarding the sustainability of quantum states in warm, noisy biological environments. To circumvent these debates, the research team adopted a model-agnostic approach. Instead of analyzing biological hardware at a microscopic level, they sought to identify "nonclassicality" that cannot be explained by classical physics within the software-like representations through which neural networks process information. ■ A Bell-Type Test Introduced to Latent Space To demonstrate this test, the team utilized autoencoders—a type of artificial neural network—as a transparent model system. They introduced a Bell-type consistency test, originally designed to verify entanglement, into the "latent space" where the autoencoder compresses data. This process involves strictly tracking how the network encodes data and then decodes it under various readout "contexts". ■ Proving Quantum Contextuality The analysis showed that if a collection of decoding statistics cannot be jointly explained by a single positive classical latent probability distribution, it confirms the presence of quantum-like "contextuality" within the computational process. This research is regarded as a milestone, providing a completely new physical testing route to experimentally verify nonclassical computational characteristics within neural systems or complex artificial intelligence networks.