Theory suggests that consciousness is a quantum process, connecting us all to the entire universe

Our minds feel very private and unique to each of us, yet many researchers suspect our consciousness might plug into something far bigger. A controversial new framework says a quantum entanglement trick could happen inside microtubules, the tiny protein tubes that scaffold every neuron in your head.

Mike Wiest, a neuroscientist at Wellesley College, thinks those tubes may carry quantum information that never stays put.

Understanding quantum entanglement

Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in quantum physics where two or more particles become so deeply linked that the state of one instantaneously influences the state of the other, no matter how far apart they are.

When particles are entangled, their properties – such as spin, polarization, or momentum – are correlated in such a way that measuring one particle’s state automatically determines the other’s.

This strange connection defies classical logic and puzzled Einstein, who famously dismissed it as “spooky action at a distance.”

Despite its counterintuitive nature, scientists have experimentally confirmed entanglement countless times, and it now plays a crucial role in technologies like quantum computing and quantum cryptography.

Quantum events and consciousness

The notion traces back to Nobel‑winning mathematician Roger Penrose and anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff, who argued that quantum events inside microtubules create conscious moments faster than neurons can fire.

Their “orchestrated objective reduction” model claims that each wave‑function collapse sparks awareness, and those collapses might entangle with particles anywhere in space.

Wiest’s group recently tested one prediction in Rattus norvegicus.

Rats given a microtubule‑stabilizing drug stayed awake 69 seconds longer under isoflurane than untreated littermates, suggesting the gas pulls the plug by scrambling quantum signals in the tubes. 

Quantum calculations inside warm brains

Critics argue that warm, wet tissue kills quantum fragility. A 2022 magnetic‑resonance study of 40 healthy volunteers found deep brain regions buzzing with activity at temperatures above 104 °F (40 °C) in the afternoon, yet cognition carried on. 

Physics is catching up. A 2024 Physical Review E paper shows that the fatty myelin coating of axons can act like a cylindrical cavity, spitting out entangled photon pairs at body temperature. 

Lab evidence for long‑lived quantum states inside microtubules keeps stacking.

In Alberta, Jack Tuszynski and his team blasted tubulin with ultraviolet photons and watched coherence last five nanoseconds, thousands of times longer than textbook estimates.

Colleagues at the University of Central Florida hit microtubules with visible light and detected re‑emission for up to a second, plenty of time for a neuron to talk to its neighbors. 

Consciousness and quantum entanglement

If the idea sounds eerie, remember photosynthesis. Quantum coherence helps pigments in bacteria explore every path from a leaf’s surface to its reaction center at once, boosting efficiency above 95 percent.

Conscious brains need speed too. Billions of spikes firing every second must sync without overheating, so borrowing the same superposition trick inside microtubules could make sense.

Quantum effects usually demand refrigerators at near -460 °F (-273°C), yet nature keeps finding loopholes.

The myelin biphoton study shows entanglement survives at 98 °F (36.7°C), while plant complexes stay coherent at room temperature.

Together these results erode the biggest objection to a quantum mind.

“The mind, as a quantum phenomenon, would shape the way we think about a wide variety of related questions, such as whether coma patients or nonhuman animals are conscious. We will have entered a new era in our understanding of who we are,” commented Wiest.

Cosmic quantum entanglement

Because quantum entanglement links objects instantly, regardless of distance, every collapse in your cortex might already be braided with particles beyond Earth.

Penrose’s equations even allow those linkages to stretch across the cosmos, hinting that subjective experience could share the same physical substrate as spacetime itself.

Skeptics point out that correlation is not causation; anesthetics also modulate GABA receptors. Yet the rat data show that tweaking microtubules alone meaningfully delays loss of righting reflex, so the tubes can’t be mere bystanders.

Critics still want clearer answers

Not all researchers are convinced that microtubules are doing anything more than keeping neurons structurally intact.

The idea that quantum events in the brain drive consciousness still lacks direct confirmation in humans, and many neuroscientists argue that existing brain imaging already maps consciousness without needing quantum physics.

Some physicists also remain skeptical because the predicted effects are subtle, hard to isolate, and often overlap with classical explanations.

They point out that without a repeatable, testable prediction that is unique to quantum consciousness, one that can’t be explained by ordinary biology, the theory risks sounding more philosophical than scientific.

Next steps for quantum consciousness theory

Engineers are developing noninvasive terahertz scanners that lock onto microtubule resonances through the skull, hoping to watch consciousness flicker on and off during sleep and surgery.

Early prototypes detect subtle electromagnetic signatures that vanish when animals go under anaesthetic and rebound on waking.

If future trials map those signatures to perception, therapies might follow. Stabilizing microtubules could ease anesthesia in chemotherapy patients or counteract disorders of awareness.

Reversible entanglement clues might even inspire brain‑wide quantum networks that are faster than today’s silicon.

For now, the universe‑wide consciousness model remains a daring explanation rather than proven fact. Still, each year brings fresh data that chip away at the classical firewall between mind and matter, and the conversation is shifting from “if” to “how.”

The studies were published in eNeuro and Physical Review E.

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