Quantum Mechanics: Link Between The Quantum & Classical Realms Of Consciousness

Johnjoe McFadden is an incredible scientist but the work of his and Jim Al-Khalili has been largely ignored in current scientific paradigms. Their knowledge of quantum level biology, chemistry and physics and its role in consciousness is remarkable. Perhaps due to peer pressure, not wanting to lose 'scientific' face/credibility, they write conservatively, almost disregarding their work in relation to human consciousness. Neuroscience is opening up and when they do, the knowledge in 'Life on the Edge' will hopefully be in all university syllabi.

A hidden gem: Life On The Edge by Johnjoe McFadden & Jim Al-Khalili

A Focus On Quantum Behaviour Phenomena in Neuronal Ion Channels.

Ion channels, tiny nanometre‑scale pores in neuronal membranes, are central to neural signalling. They allow ions like K⁺ and Na⁺ to pass through in single file but at remarkable speeds and with precise selectivity. Classical explanations for this efficiency and selectivity face challenges given the minuscule scales involved.

An exciton consists of an electron that has been knocked out of its orbit in an atom, together with the hole it leaves behind.

In 2012, Gustav Bernroider and Johann Summhammer conducted a quantum‑mechanical simulation of a single ion (potassium) traversing a voltage‑gated channel. They found the ion behaves more like a delocalised quantum wave than a localised particle, exhibiting coherent oscillations and resonating with the protein environment. This interaction effectively cools the ion, therefore reducing its kinetic energy roughly by half, and helps sustain its quantum state by mitigating decoherence. Consequently, quantum coherence appears integral to rapid ion transport, and may also contribute to channel selectivity:

constructive interference favours K⁺

while destructive interference inhibits Na⁺ transport

Later studies reinforced this notion. For instance, quantum-mechanical coherence of K⁺ wave packets was shown to speed conduction by shortening non-conductive intervals relative to classical behaviour Similarly, research on the selectivity filter suggests quantum coherence plays a critical role in reconciling the channel's high throughput with its high ion selectivity; simulations using the Lindblad equation show coherence can persist even under decoherence-inducing conditions. Resonances in periodically driven channels have been proposed as experimentally detectable signatures of such quantum coherence.

From Quantum Ion Transport to Neural Computation

While these quantum phenomena aren’t proposed to function as traditional quantum bits (qubits), they have clear roles in neural computation: ion channels underlie action potentials, the nerve impulses responsible for thought and sensation. Thus, the quantum‑classical boundary in brain activity may hinge on the coherent quantum behaviour of ions during membrane conduction.

Bernroider and Summhammer further explored whether quantum entanglement might affect action potential initiation. By modifying the Hodgkin‑Huxley model to include entangled ion states or gating states, they could mimic the observed rapid onset of action potentials, or even slow initiation, suggesting subtle quantum effects might influence macroscopic neural dynamics.

Consciousness, The Role of Coherence & Electromagnetic Fields

Bu how do these micro‑level quantum effects scale up to explain consciousness, the binding of thoughts and perceptions into unified experience? One hurdle is that quantum coherence or entanglement across ion channels in disparate neurons seems unfeasible in the brain’s warm, wet, noisy environment.

An attractive complement is the brain’s electromagnetic (EM) field, generated by collective neural activity and visible via EEG or MEG. Although often dismissed as a mere epiphenomenon, several researchers like Johnjoe McFadden, suggest the EM field may actively influence neural firing, creating a feedback loop: neural firing generates the EM field, which in turn can modulate synchrony in firing across widespread networks. Experiments have shown that external EM fields, similar in strength and structure to those naturally produced by the brain, can coordinate neuron firing and prompt synchrony, a known correlate of conscious awareness.

Synchrony matters: for instance, when searching for an object in the visual field, neurons may fire whether or not the object is consciously perceived, but only when their firing becomes synchronous do we consciously see it. The brain’s EM field could be the binding medium that unifies disparate quantum‑level events into a coherent conscious experience.

So, even though quantum coherence in ion channels may not directly encode conscious content, it potentially contributes to neural information processing at a level that interacts with higher‑order EM‑mediated synchrony.

1. Quantum coherence in ionic conduction through channels enhances selectivity and speed of ion transport.

2. These effects underpin classical neural signalling (action potentials) essential for thought.

3. The brain’s EM field, generated by this neural activity, may synchronise firing across regions, binding distributed processes into unified conscious experience.

4. Quantum coherence in ion channels thus connects to consciousness not by acting as qubits, but by fuelling the classical neural dynamics that allow EM‑mediated binding.

   
   

   

This theory avoids metaphysical leaps, relying instead on physically grounded mechanisms (ion conduction, field interactions, resonance, synchrony) yet remains speculative in current scientific paradigms. Critics point out that such quantum coherence in the brain hasn’t been directly observed in vivo, and that many aspects of consciousness may not require quantum explanations. Nonetheless, the proposal offers a plausible, physically-informed bridge between quantum processes and classical neural phenomena underpinning consciousness.

Below is a passage from the book demonstrating such avoidance of discussions of 'wishy washy' subjects such as consciousness.

(We should stress that invoking ideas such as brain EM fields, or indeed quantum coherent ion channels, in order to explain consciousness does not in any way provide support for so-called 'paranormal phenomena' such as telepathy, since both concepts are only capable of influencing neural processes going on inside a single brain - they do not allow communication between different brains! And, as we have pointed out when considering Penrose's Gödelian argu-ment, there is in fact no evidence that quantum mechanics is actually needed at all to account for consciousness - unlike other biological phenomena that we have considered in this book such as enzyme action or photosynthesis.)