#24 - Why neuroscience needs a quantum revolution

In episode 24 of the Quantum Consciousness series, Justin Riddle discusses why neuroscience is in need of a quantum revolution. This revolution is underway in the field of information technology and low-level biology. Quantum computers are actively being developed and are on the precipice of overcoming the computational power of digital computers. Meanwhile, biology is increasingly acknowledging the role that quantum mechanics plays in various processes, including photosynthesis and magnetic-field perception in birds. But what about neuroscience? Could quantum mechanics contribute to neural function and directly to our conscious experience? There are quite a few reasons why quantum computers align with the human experience: (1) Quantum computer design encourages the creation of a single large system, similar to the creation of single self within a body. (2) The collapse of the wave function in quantum mechanics may provide room for freewill. (3) Non-local influences in quantum mechanics provide novel ways to describe meaning beyond arbitrary associations in a physical world. While quantum mechanics provides novel solutions to solving the mysteries of consciousness, neuroscience reveals that the strongest correlate to human cognition is low-frequency electrical fluctuations in the brain. After a brief survey of recent research in the neural oscillatory basis of cognition, the potential alignment between neural oscillations and principles of quantum mechanics are discussed. While this connection is currently speculative, computational models of cognition are pointing towards human rationality exhibiting principles of quantum mechanics. There could be a very near future where descriptions of human psychology are quantum mechanical in nature and the parameters of these models relate to neural oscillations in the brain. While the details for how a quantum computer could be implemented in the brain is of critical need, cognitive neuroscience research can move forward utilizing these ideas in the meantime.