Quantum Processes in the Brain: A Scientific Basis of Consciousness

Abstract

The question whether neural activities in the brain can be correlated with conscious action is as old as brain research itself. Even in view of the remarkable progress of neuroscience in recent years, the question is far from being settled. The difficulties arise from the fact that the qualia of consciousness connected with thoughts, emotions, free decisions, can hardly be reconciled with the concept of a causal, computer-like neural net. A new and intriguing view of the relation between brain and consciousness arises, however, if quantum processes play a decisive role in brain activity. The quantum state reduction, or selection of amplitudes, offers a doorway for a new logic, the quantum logic, with its unpredictability for a single event. Brain activity consists of a constant firing of neural cells, regulated by synaptic switches which establish the connections between neurons. Conscious action, e.g. intention, is a dynamical process which forms temporal patterns in some areas of the brain. We discuss how synaptic activity in the form of exocytosis of transmitter molecules can be regulated effectively by a quantum trigger based on an electron transfer process in the synaptic membrane. Conscious action is hereby essentially related to quantum state reduction.