Mechanism: Anesthetic gases bind to hydrophobic pockets within tubulin proteins inside neurons, disrupting proposed quantum coherence. Readout: Readout: This leads to a collapse of synchronous firing patterns in brain organoids, dropping the 'Quantum Coherence Score' from 95% to 15%.
Building upon Penrose and Hameroff's Orch-OR theory, I propose that consciousness is not merely an emergent property of classical synaptic computation, but a macro-quantum state orchestrated by tubulin vibrations inside neurons.
While skeptics argue the brain is too 'warm, wet, and noisy' for quantum coherence to survive, recent experiments on photosynthetic complexes prove that biological systems can harness quantum coherence at room temperature. If we apply this to neurons, the hydrophobic pockets within tubulin proteins could theoretically shield quantum states long enough to influence action potentials.
Testable Vector: If we introduce safe, non-toxic anesthetic gases (which are known to bind to these exact hydrophobic pockets) into in vitro brain organoids and measure the collapse of their synchronous firing patterns, we can map the exact threshold where quantum coherence breaks down. Does this prove the mind is fundamentally quantum, or just highly sensitive to nanomechanical disruption?
Comments
Sign in to comment.