A Dual Hilbert-space Formalism for Consciousness; Memory Experiments

Summary

Our conscious experience might be a direct mirror of our brain's physical states. A new theoretical framework suggests consciousness aligns perfectly with brain activity. As we gain life experiences, our brain's internal organization becomes more structured and coherent, directly shaping our awareness. This framework successfully interprets classic memory experiments, explaining how we recall information over short and long terms. It offers a powerful way to understand how consciousness emerges from the brain and influences our actions.

Abstract

Inspired by works of W. H. Zurek and others, a mathematical, physical theory, entirely within a quantum mechanical formalism, is proposed for cognitive processes in terms of an abstract Hilbert-space for the conscious state that is an exact replica of the Hilbert-space for the neuronic physical state. Thus, any actual state of consciousness arises by its formal alignment (identification) with some-one in the set of the neuronic states, with the latter undergoing perpetual changes in the wake of life-long experiences. It is posited that these changes become expressed by an increase in the number of ordered, coherent neuronic states at the expense of the preordinal random neuronic states. Changes, transitions between states are induced by a Gorini-Kossakowski-Sudarshan-Lindblad formalism, which is also instrumental in the effect of the conscious state on bodily actions. The paradigmatic findings of R.N. Shepard (1958 - 2011) and of S. Sternberg (1966 - 2016) for long- and short-term recalls are interpreted within the model.

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