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Perhaps our brains are actually part of the universe.
A new study suggests that the brain isn't too warm or wet for consciousness to exist as a quantum wave connecting to the rest of the universe.
When people talk about consciousness or reason, it's always a little vague. The scientific explanation of where it comes from or where it is located is still not universally accepted. However, new research in the physics, anatomy, and geometry of consciousness is beginning to reveal its possible form. Perhaps soon we will be able to define the real architecture of consciousness.
Building on a theory first proposed by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Roger Penrose and anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff in the 1990s, new research claims that consciousness is a quantum process facilitated by microtubules in the brain's nerve cells. These microtubules are made up of protein lattices and are part of the cell's structural network.
Penrose and Hameroff suggested that consciousness is a quantum wave passing through these microtubules. This wave, like any quantum wave, has properties such as superposition (the ability to be in many places at the same time) and entanglement (the ability to connect two particles at a great distance).
To illustrate the principles of quantum consciousness, Hameroff recently suggested that it should be scale-invariant, similar to fractals. In everyday life, we encounter simple manifestations of consciousness, such as self-awareness. However, in moments of heightened consciousness, quantum perception is activated, allowing you to feel your presence at different points in space at the same time. In this way, our consciousness can interact with quantum particles far beyond our brain, perhaps even in the most remote corners of the universe.
Many scientists quickly rejected this theory, considering it too simple. Until recently, it was thought that quantum coherence — the state in which quantum particles retain their wave properties without becoming separate measurable particles-was possible only under tightly controlled, cold conditions. If you remove quantum particles from such a medium, their wave properties will disappear. Given that the brain is a warm, moist, and soft structure, it seemed impossible that quantum properties could be preserved in it.
However, recent research in the field of quantum biology has shown that living organisms are able to use quantum properties, even under conditions that are far from ideal.
The study of quantum phenomena in living systems, such as superposition and quantum entanglement, shows that they play a key role in biological processes occurring at the micro level.
Consider photosynthesis. This process allows plants to convert light energy into chemical energy. When light hits a plant, it generates an exciton — a special particle that transfers energy to the place of its accumulation in the reaction center of the plant. However, in order to reach this center, the exciton needs to go through a complex path inside the plant, which can be compared to traveling through an unfamiliar city. The main task of an exciton is to deliver energy to its destination without losing it along the way. The researchers suggest that the exciton uses quantum superposition to efficiently find the optimal path, which allows it to simultaneously consider many possible routes.
New evidence suggests that microtubules in our brains may even better guard this quantum coherence than chlorophyll. One of the scientists who worked with the Orch OR team, physicist and cancer professor Jack Tushinsky, Ph. D., recently conducted an experiment with a computational model of a microtubule. His team modeled light hitting a microtubule, something like a photon sending an exciton through a plant's structure. They tested whether the transmission of light energy in the microtubule structure could remain coherent, as it does in plant cells. The idea was that if the light lasted long enough before being emitted (a fraction of a second is enough), it would indicate quantum coherence.
Specifically, Tushinsky's team simulated sending tryptophan fluorescence (photons of ultraviolet light invisible to the human eye) to microtubules. In a recent interview, Tushinsky reports that in 22 independent experiments, tryptophan excitation led to quantum reactions that lasted up to five nanoseconds. This is thousands of times longer than would be expected with respect to microtubule coherence. This time is also more than enough to perform the necessary biological functions. "So we're really confident that this process lasts longer in tubulin than... in chlorophyll," he says. The team published their findings in the journal ACS Central Science earlier this year.
Simply put, the conditions in the brain — heat and humidity-are not an obstacle to the existence of consciousness in the form of a quantum wave that can connect with the universe.
Tushinsky points out that his group of researchers is not the only one who conducts experiments with microtubule illumination. Colleagues at the University of Central Florida also covered microtubules. According to Tushinsky, during these experiments, it was observed that microtubules emit light for a time comparable to the time of a person's reaction to various stimuli. This may indicate the stability of the assumed quantum states in microtubules, which, in turn, may indicate their role in the processes of consciousness.
Although final confirmation of the theory remains to be obtained, the current data are very promising. Penrose and Hameroff continue their research, collaborating with experts in various fields, including spiritual leader Deepak Chopra.
A new study suggests that the brain isn't too warm or wet for consciousness to exist as a quantum wave connecting to the rest of the universe.
When people talk about consciousness or reason, it's always a little vague. The scientific explanation of where it comes from or where it is located is still not universally accepted. However, new research in the physics, anatomy, and geometry of consciousness is beginning to reveal its possible form. Perhaps soon we will be able to define the real architecture of consciousness.
Building on a theory first proposed by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Roger Penrose and anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff in the 1990s, new research claims that consciousness is a quantum process facilitated by microtubules in the brain's nerve cells. These microtubules are made up of protein lattices and are part of the cell's structural network.
Penrose and Hameroff suggested that consciousness is a quantum wave passing through these microtubules. This wave, like any quantum wave, has properties such as superposition (the ability to be in many places at the same time) and entanglement (the ability to connect two particles at a great distance).
To illustrate the principles of quantum consciousness, Hameroff recently suggested that it should be scale-invariant, similar to fractals. In everyday life, we encounter simple manifestations of consciousness, such as self-awareness. However, in moments of heightened consciousness, quantum perception is activated, allowing you to feel your presence at different points in space at the same time. In this way, our consciousness can interact with quantum particles far beyond our brain, perhaps even in the most remote corners of the universe.
Many scientists quickly rejected this theory, considering it too simple. Until recently, it was thought that quantum coherence — the state in which quantum particles retain their wave properties without becoming separate measurable particles-was possible only under tightly controlled, cold conditions. If you remove quantum particles from such a medium, their wave properties will disappear. Given that the brain is a warm, moist, and soft structure, it seemed impossible that quantum properties could be preserved in it.
However, recent research in the field of quantum biology has shown that living organisms are able to use quantum properties, even under conditions that are far from ideal.
The study of quantum phenomena in living systems, such as superposition and quantum entanglement, shows that they play a key role in biological processes occurring at the micro level.
Consider photosynthesis. This process allows plants to convert light energy into chemical energy. When light hits a plant, it generates an exciton — a special particle that transfers energy to the place of its accumulation in the reaction center of the plant. However, in order to reach this center, the exciton needs to go through a complex path inside the plant, which can be compared to traveling through an unfamiliar city. The main task of an exciton is to deliver energy to its destination without losing it along the way. The researchers suggest that the exciton uses quantum superposition to efficiently find the optimal path, which allows it to simultaneously consider many possible routes.
New evidence suggests that microtubules in our brains may even better guard this quantum coherence than chlorophyll. One of the scientists who worked with the Orch OR team, physicist and cancer professor Jack Tushinsky, Ph. D., recently conducted an experiment with a computational model of a microtubule. His team modeled light hitting a microtubule, something like a photon sending an exciton through a plant's structure. They tested whether the transmission of light energy in the microtubule structure could remain coherent, as it does in plant cells. The idea was that if the light lasted long enough before being emitted (a fraction of a second is enough), it would indicate quantum coherence.
Specifically, Tushinsky's team simulated sending tryptophan fluorescence (photons of ultraviolet light invisible to the human eye) to microtubules. In a recent interview, Tushinsky reports that in 22 independent experiments, tryptophan excitation led to quantum reactions that lasted up to five nanoseconds. This is thousands of times longer than would be expected with respect to microtubule coherence. This time is also more than enough to perform the necessary biological functions. "So we're really confident that this process lasts longer in tubulin than... in chlorophyll," he says. The team published their findings in the journal ACS Central Science earlier this year.
Simply put, the conditions in the brain — heat and humidity-are not an obstacle to the existence of consciousness in the form of a quantum wave that can connect with the universe.
Tushinsky points out that his group of researchers is not the only one who conducts experiments with microtubule illumination. Colleagues at the University of Central Florida also covered microtubules. According to Tushinsky, during these experiments, it was observed that microtubules emit light for a time comparable to the time of a person's reaction to various stimuli. This may indicate the stability of the assumed quantum states in microtubules, which, in turn, may indicate their role in the processes of consciousness.
Although final confirmation of the theory remains to be obtained, the current data are very promising. Penrose and Hameroff continue their research, collaborating with experts in various fields, including spiritual leader Deepak Chopra.
