This theory was discarded in the 1990s due to a lack of experimental evidence. Now experiments on how anesthetics alter the behavior of tiny structures found in neurons reinforce the controversial idea that quantum effects in the brain could explain consciousness.
Consciousness May Carry More Weight Than Scientists Estimated
It is something that comes from afar. The nature of consciousness has puzzled human beings for a long time. One idea, traditionally seen as far-fetched even by scientists themselves, is that unusual laws that govern the quantum world could be behind what allows us to experience consciousness.
We have to go back to when, in the 1990s, the British mathematical physicist Roger Penrose (known for his contributions to the theory of general relativity and cosmology) and the American anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff suggested that the tiny microtubules, hollow tubes that make up the “skeletons” of plant and animal cells could allow a break in the fabric of space-time that disrupts quantum superposition, the fundamental principle of quantum mechanics that posits that a physical system can exist in two states at the same time.
What allows consciousness to exist is the breaking down of these superimpositions. This is what is known as the theory of orchestrated objective reduction.
Tests
A team of scientists led by Jack Tuszynski of the University of Alberta (Canada) has proposed precisely a key piece of evidence to add weight to this unusual hypothesis.
The researchers carried out a series of experiments that showed that anesthetic drugs do reduce the time during which small structures in brain cells can withstand the supposed effects of quantum excitations. This is because anesthesia turns consciousness on and off.
What would these results imply?
That these structures, called microtubules, would be a nexus of our conscious experience. They found that light trapped inside an energy trap was re-emitted after a mysterious delay, something that would be born from the quantum world.
It is too early to say that the experiment is capable of explaining what allows us to be conscious, although it is a remote possibility, for many.
Reference: Experiment suggests that consciousness may be rooted in quantum physics. University of Alberta (Canada) April 19, 2022.
