Macroscopic quantum effects in the brain: new insights into the fundamental principle underlying conscious processes

Empirical findings indicate that conscious states are inextricably linked to long-range synchronized activity patterns that result from phase transitions and exhibit the key features of self-organized criticality. This article builds a bridge between these neurophysiological characteristics of consciousness and the framework of quantum electrodynamics (QED), which provides the appropriate methodological resources for explaining the origin of phase transitions and critical dynamics. An essential ingredient of QED is a fluctuating ocean of energy, the ubiquitous electromagnetic zero-point field (ZPF), consisting of a spectrum of normal modes. It can be deduced from QED-based model calculations that the resonant interaction of the ZPF with the glutamate pool of cortical microcolumns is an important prerequisite for the initiation of phase transitions, giving rise to macroscopic quantum effects that play a crucial role in modulating the activity of ion channels and regulating the neuronal firing rate. The firing rate of pyramidal neurons and inhibitory interneurons determines the excitatory-inhibitory balance, which has been identified as the essential control parameter for establishing and maintaining the critical regime. Thus, taking all available pieces of evidence into account, profound new insights take shape, namely, that self-organized criticality arises from a bottom-up orchestration process involving the ZPF and that the fundamental principle behind the formation of conscious states is the resonant coupling of the brain to the ZPF. This coupling causes an amplification of the dynamically relevant ZPF modes, suggesting that the ZPF holds the key to the understanding of consciousness and that the necessary condition for the formation of a conscious state is the selective excitation of ZPF modes. These insights pave the way for novel experimental paradigms designed to systematically manipulate conditions in the brain, thereby collecting new data that can be used to empirically substantiate the significance of resonant brain-ZPF interaction for the formation of conscious states.