Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 18, 2026
26:41
Perspectives on Neuroscience
Published on: July 31, 2007
Quantum mechanics and brain uncertainty
1Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado, 38 Rock Ridge Dr. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87122-2007, USA. ronaldjmacgregor@msn.com
Journal of Integrative Neuroscience
|November 28, 2006
Summary
Quantum mechanics may influence brain function. Molecular structures in the brain could convert quantum fluctuations into neural signals, impacting brain activity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Quantum Biology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- The brain utilizes molecular governing structures like receptors and ion channels.
- These structures often operate at the nanoscale with limited particles.
- The link between quantum mechanics and neural signaling remains largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose that molecular structures can mediate quantum effects in neural signaling.
- To explore the potential role of quantum fluctuations in brain function.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical analysis of molecular structures and quantum mechanics.
- Review of existing literature on neuroscience and quantum phenomena.
Main Results:
- Molecular governing structures are proposed as potential transducers of quantum mechanical fluctuations.
- These structures may convert subatomic events into macroscopic neural signals.
Conclusions:
- Quantum mechanical fluctuations could be a factor in normal-level neural signaling.
- This highlights a potential new avenue for understanding brain mechanisms.
Related Concept Videos
04:08The Uncertainty Principle
Werner Heisenberg considered the limits of how accurately one can measure properties of an electron or other microscopic particles. He determined that there is a fundamental limit to how accurately one can measure both a particle’s position and its momentum simultaneously. The more accurate the measurement of the momentum of a particle is known, the less accurate the position at that time is known and vice versa. This is what is now called the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. He mathematically...
02:45The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom
Shortly after de Broglie published his ideas that the electron in a hydrogen atom could be better thought of as being a circular standing wave instead of a particle moving in quantized circular orbits, Erwin Schrödinger extended de Broglie’s work by deriving what is now known as the Schrödinger equation. When Schrödinger applied his equation to hydrogen-like atoms, he was able to reproduce Bohr’s expression for the energy and, thus, the Rydberg formula governing hydrogen spectra. Schrödinger...
00:59Uncertainty: Overview
In analytical chemistry, we often perform repetitive measurements to detect and minimize inaccuracies caused by both determinate and indeterminate errors. Despite the cares we take, the presence of random errors means that repeated measurements almost never have exactly the same magnitude. The collective difference between these measurements - observed values - and the estimated or expected value is called uncertainty. Uncertainty is conventionally written after the estimated or expected value.
02:18The Bohr Model
Following the work of Ernest Rutherford and his colleagues in the early twentieth century, the picture of atoms consisting of tiny dense nuclei surrounded by lighter and even tinier electrons continually moving about the nucleus was well established. This picture was called the planetary model since it pictured the atom as a miniature “solar system” with the electrons orbiting the nucleus like planets orbiting the sun. The simplest atom is hydrogen, consisting of a single proton as the nucleus...
02:32The de Broglie Wavelength
In the macroscopic world, objects that are large enough to be seen by the naked eye follow the rules of classical physics. A billiard ball moving on a table will behave like a particle; it will continue traveling in a straight line unless it collides with another ball, or it is acted on by some other force, such as friction. The ball has a well-defined position and velocity or well-defined momentum, p = mv, which is defined by mass m and velocity v at any given moment. This is the typical...
00:59Propagation of Uncertainty from Random Error
An experiment often consists of more than a single step. In this case, measurements at each step give rise to uncertainty. Because the measurements occur in successive steps, the uncertainty in one step necessarily contributes to that in the subsequent step. As we perform statistical analysis on these types of experiments, we must learn to account for the propagation of uncertainty from one step to the next. The propagation of uncertainty depends on the type of arithmetic operation performed on...