Scientists Propose Consciousness Emerges from Brain's Quantum Field Interactions

Scientists unveil groundbreaking quantum theory proposing consciousness emerges when brain glutamate neurotransmitters interact with quantum field fluctuations in space, with cortical microcolumns creating protected coherence domains that resist warm brain decoherence, potentially explaining how anesthesia disrupts these quantum interactions to cause unconsciousness.

• Scientists propose a radical new quantum theory suggesting consciousness emerges from interactions between the brain's glutamate neurotransmitter and the zero-point field that permeates all space
• Research director Joachim Keppler theorizes that cortical microcolumns in the brain couple directly with quantum field fluctuations, creating coherence domains protected by large energy gaps that resist decoherence in warm brain environments
• The theory attempts to explain why anesthesia causes unconsciousness by disrupting the brain's self-organized criticality, potentially severing the quantum field interactions that generate subjective conscious experience