Experimental evidence of non-classical brain functions
📄 Original study ↗Plain English Summary
This is a bold one. Researchers claim they've found the first experimental evidence that quantum entanglement -- the spooky connection between particles that Einstein famously hated -- actually happens inside living human brains. They borrowed a clever detection method originally designed for quantum gravity research and applied it using brain scans (MRI) on 40 volunteers. What they found was remarkable: mysterious signal bursts popped up across most brain regions, with intensity jumps of up to 15%. These signals had all the telltale signatures of quantum behavior -- they followed precise mathematical patterns that classical physics simply cannot produce. Perhaps most fascinating, the signals depended on whether people were actually conscious: they faded away during sleep. If this holds up, it's a big deal for theories suggesting consciousness might rely on quantum mechanics, and it gives a potential physical basis for ideas about telepathy and mind-matter interaction that invoke non-local quantum connections.
Actual Paper 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 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.
Research Notes
First claimed experimental evidence for quantum entanglement in living brain tissue using a novel NMR witness protocol adapted from quantum gravity proposals. Directly relevant to quantum consciousness theories that underpin some psi hypotheses, particularly non-local models invoked for telepathy and mind-matter interaction.
Using proposals from quantum gravity that entanglement between two known quantum systems can witness non-classicality in a mediating system, this study applied zero quantum coherence (ZQC) NMR protocols to 40 human volunteers at rest in a 3T MRI scanner. Evoked signal bursts resembling heartbeat-evoked potentials appeared in most brain regions with up to 15% signal increases. These signals showed definitive ZQC characteristics (magic angle dependency R²=0.9958, optimal flip angle at 45° R²=0.9964, MTC immunity), had no classical NMR contrast correlates, surpassed classical bounds, and depended on conscious awareness—declining during sleep. The authors conclude these constitute experimental evidence of non-classical (quantum) brain functions.
Links
Related Papers
Companion
- The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox in the Brain: The Transferred Potential — Grinberg-Zylberbaum, Jacobo (1994)
- Evidence of Correlated Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Signals Between Distant Human Brains — Standish, Leanna J (2003)
- Quantum Aspects of the Brain-Mind Relationship: A Hypothesis with Supporting Evidence — Kauffman, Stuart A (2023)
- Biological Utilisation of Quantum NonLocality — Josephson, Brian D (1991)
- Does Consciousness Collapse the Wave-Packet? — Bierman, Dick J (2003)
- Correlations between brain electrical activities of two spatially separated human subjects — Wackermann, Jiří (2003)
- Extrasensory Perception and Quantum Models of Cognition — Tressoldi, Patrizio E (2010)
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📋 Cite this paper
Kerskens, Christian Matthias, López Pérez, David (2022). Experimental evidence of non-classical brain functions. Journal of Physics Communications. https://doi.org/10.1088/2399-6528/ac94be
@article{kerskens_2022_quantum_brain,
title = {Experimental evidence of non-classical brain functions},
author = {Kerskens, Christian Matthias and López Pérez, David},
year = {2022},
journal = {Journal of Physics Communications},
doi = {10.1088/2399-6528/ac94be},
}