Photon entanglement could explain the rapid brain signals behind consciousness
A Chinese research team suggests photon entanglement may enhance neural communication speed within myelin sheaths, potentially explaining rapid synchronization of brain activity related to consciousness and neurobiological processes.
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A research team in China has proposed that photon entanglement may play a crucial role in the rapid signaling processes within the brain, potentially explaining the synchronization of neural activity that underlies consciousness. The study, published in Physical Review E, suggests that entangled photons can be generated within the myelin sheath that insulates nerve fibers, which could facilitate faster communication between neurons than previously thought possible. Traditional understanding posits that signals travel along axons at speeds below that of sound, insufficient to account for the rapid synchronization of millions of neurons. The researchers utilized cavity quantum electrohydrodynamics to model the interaction of photons within the myelin sheath, demonstrating that these photons can become highly entangled, allowing for instantaneous communication across distances. This phenomenon, unique to quantum mechanics, could enhance the signaling capabilities of neurons, potentially linking the entanglement of photons to the functioning of potassium ion channels in neurons. While the study does not claim a direct connection between consciousness and quantum entanglement, it aims to explore mechanisms of neural synchronization that could impact various neurobiological processes.
- Photon entanglement may explain rapid brain signaling and consciousness.
- Myelin sheaths in neurons could generate entangled photons for faster communication.
- Traditional signaling speeds in neurons are insufficient for rapid synchronization.
- The study uses quantum mechanics to model interactions within the myelin sheath.
- Research aims to explore neural synchronization mechanisms affecting brain functions.
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7 commentsBut electrical waves, which emerge as the collection of action potentials, move much faster. It’s related to the volleying approach of neuronal populations: the cortex can phase lock to 1000+ hz sound waves, even though individual neurons can only fire <200hz. Populations of neurons have faster responses than single neurons. Electrical oscillations in large neuronal populations can create fast electrical activity (such as resonance phenomena) over a large distance.
a research group in China has shown that many entangled photons can be generated inside the myelin sheath that covers nerve fibers. It could explain the rapid communication between neurons, which so far has been thought to be below the speed of sound, too slow to explain how the neural synchronization occurs.
"If the power of evolution was looking for handy action over a distance, quantum entanglement would be [an] ideal candidate for this role," said Yong-Cong Chen in a statement to Phys.org. Chen is a professor at the Shanghai Center for Quantitative Life Sciences and Physics Department at Shanghai University.
The paper is published in the journal Physical Review E.
Why?
Because, seeing the speeds needed for the type of computing the brain does, chemistry -- e.g. the classical changes in atoms due to classical interactions-- just doesn't seem fast enough to propagate across the volume of the brain.
Maybe the fields move fast enough... (By fields I mean electro-magnetic, etc.)
But, since entanglement is a thing, it would seem far fetched that the brain doesn't leverage it.
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