A quantum microtubule substrate of consciousness is experimentally supported and solves the binding and epiphenomenalism problems.

Recent experimental evidence indicates that inhalational anesthetics target intraneuronal microtubules, supporting the hypothesis that consciousness arises from a collective quantum state of microtubules, as predicted by the Orchestrated Objective Reduction theory. Evidence also shows functionally relevant quantum effects in microtubules at room temperature and a macroscopic quantum entangled state in the living human brain correlated with conscious state and working memory. The quantum model makes panprotopsychism a viable solution to the hard problem by solving the binding problem, but raises an epiphenomenalism problem. The author proposes the quantum approach can solve this, and the Orch OR theory accounts for nonalgorithmic understanding and the psychological arrow of time.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Recent experimental evidence, briefly reviewed here, points to intraneuronal microtubules as a functional target of inhalational anesthetics. This finding is consistent with the general hypothesis that the biophysical substrate of consciousness is a collective quantum state of microtubules and is specifically predicted by the Orchestrated Objective Reduction theory of Penrose and Hameroff. I also review experimental evidence that functionally relevant quantum effects occur in microtubules at room temperature, and direct physical evidence of a macroscopic quantum entangled state in the living human brain that is correlated with the conscious state and working memory performance. Having established the physical and biological plausibility of quantum microtubule states related to consciousness, I turn to consider potential practical advantages of a quantum brain and enormous theoretical advantages of a quantum consciousness model. In particular, I explain how the quantum model makes panprotopsychism a viable solution to physicalism's hard problem by solving the phenomenal binding or combination problem. Postulating a quantum physical substrate of consciousness solves the binding problem in principle but appears to leave us with an epiphenomenalism problem, meaning that consciousness seems to have no causal power to confer a fitness advantage, so its evolution remains as an inexplicable mystery. I propose that, contrary to a certain (zombie) intuition, the quantum approach can also solve this problem in a nontrivial way. The Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch OR) theory of Penrose and Hameroff embodies these advantages of a quantum model and also accounts for nonalgorithmic human understanding and the psychological arrow of time.