There is a heated debate in the scientific community about whether our consciousness results from quantum effects. Roger Penrose, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2020, believes it is – he has speculated that quantum effects underpin consciousness.
The first detailed theory of quantum consciousness emerged in the 1990s from Penrose and anaesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff from the University of Arizona. Their “orchestrated objective reduction” (Orch OR) theory has undergone several revisions since its inception. Generally, it asserts that quantum computations in cellular structures known as microtubules affect the firing of neurons and, by extension, consciousness.
Quantum Effects in the Brain
Quantum effects in the brain are similar to those in neural processes. Nerve cells have three main elements – the cell body, dendrites, and axons. Signals pass between nerves where the axon terminal of one nerve cell meets the dendritic spines of the next at the synaptic cleft. As a signal moves through a nerve cell and reaches the axon terminal, it triggers the release of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft. Neurotransmitters bind to receptors on the neural membrane of dendritic spines, opening ion channels and thus altering the next cell’s membrane potential, passing along the signal.
Within the nerve cell, microtubules and mitochondria are key players when discussing quantum effects. Microtubules are formed by the mitochondria, giving structure to the cell and playing an essential role in cell division. Likewise, the mitochondria create ATP, which powers biological processes.
All biology, like all matter, is quantum mechanical – made up of atoms and subject to the physical laws of atomic structures. Quantum biology focuses on exploring quantum phenomena at the cellular level that defy our classical explanations of the behavior of matter, including superposition states, coherence, tunneling, and entanglement.
Nerve Cells and Quantum Coherence
Nerve cells make up the brain. Information is passed to and from the brain by neurons firing (or not firing), a process determined by the cell’s electrochemical potential. This potential depends on the spread of charged ions across the cell membrane, making either side of the membrane more or less positive. For a nerve to fire, its resting potential must increase to the requisite threshold potential. Neurotransmitters manage this neural communication altering its electrochemical gradient and causing neural activation.
How do quantum effects contribute to electronic transfer processes in biological systems? In photosynthesis, researchers have postulated that the generation of energy from the sun appears to manifest the quantum effect of coherence. Specifically, the energy transfer does not move from one level to another (as expected) but exists simultaneously on multiple levels.
Quantum coherence is rooted in the superposition principle – the phenomenon where a single quantum state simultaneously consists of multiple states. For example, all objects have wave-like properties. Quantum coherence states that when an object’s wave splits in two, the two waves coherently interact, forming a single state (the superposition of the two states).
Quantum Entanglement
A second phenomenon, quantum entanglement, also involves superposition. In this case, the two entangled particles remain connected via superposition. The connection between the two entangled particles is so strong that a measurement of one particle instantly affects the other, even when separated by a significant distance.
Coherence and entanglement are operationally equivalent based on their behavior. This connection has a far-reaching impact on the developing field of quantum biology – which brings us back full circle to the quantum effect on the brain.
Researchers regard the brain as the most complex anatomical structure in the human body. Electromagnetic brainwaves are responsible for various functions (thoughts and emotions). If brainwaves were subject to quantum effects, like other subatomic waves, then they would experience coherence and entanglement.
How does the brain create the unity we perceive from the diversity we know exists? Christoph Von Der Malsburg contends this is a technical issue rather than a philosophical one. He defines consciousness as a state of high coherence among modalities. Furthermore, consciousness does not reside in any specialized faculty of mind or localized structure of the brain but is a cooperative phenomenon of the whole brain or mind.
Coherence and Entanglement in the Brain
According to Montecucco, the law of coherence explains the physical force behind self-awareness and consciousness. The coherent electromagnetic field enables different areas of the brain to communicate with each other. High values of coherence correlate with psychophysical integrity and well-being, while low values correlate with conflict and depression. This framework helps us understand how billions of individual brain cells become a single, integrated living consciousness with self-awareness, free will, and the ability to perceive the divine.
In another study, physicists using modified MRI machines found quantum entanglement between the heart and brain, again pointing to the source of consciousness. Dr. Christian Kerskens, the lead physicist, stated, “Most neuroscientists would say that it’s not possible to find entanglement in the brain. However when I studied the dynamics of blood flow, I thought something is going on there that you can’t explain with just classical physics.”
Brain Heart Connection
In the experiment, Kerskens scanned 40 test subjects using MRI machines, allowing him to observe proton spins within the brain fluid. Within these spins, he detected signals from the heart called heartbeat-evoked potentials. Kerskens believes he could detect the heartbeat signals through the MRI static because the proton spins in the brain and heart were entangled, a quantum effect. Under this assumption, the brain works like a quantum computer by mediating the entangled protons at the quantum level.
If quantum effects power consciousness, then our thoughts and emotions will follow the rules of quantum mechanics. Luckily we don’t need to understand how coherence and entanglement work to benefit from their healing potential. As acupuncturists, we similarly work with Qi energy. No one knows for certain what Qi is, where it comes from, or how it heals the body. But we do know how to regulate Qi with needles to effect powerful healing. It’s entirely possible that the quantum effect also powers Qi energy.
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