TL;DR Anesthesia removes consciousness, finding the mechanism of anesthesia brings us closer to what causes consciousness. A series of studies provides compelling evidence that this mechanism of interaction is a quantum based one within neuronal microtubules.
To briefly list and summarize I think are the key significant findings from a series of experiments that point towards consciousness being a quantum-based phenomena. A lot of these experiments from various researchers are part of the canon of evidential support for the Orch OR theory of consciousness (Orchestrated Objective Reductionism model by Stuart Hameroff and Sir Roger Penrose) – see here for a good entry point video of their model which posited as far back as the early 90s that consciousness occurs due to quantum effects in microtubules, rather than classical neuronal firing.
1) A review study in 2008 sets the overall context in the field of anesthesia study, finding that traditional membrane receptors of neurons have been so far insufficient to account for the mechanism of anesthesia, calling for a needed “new paradigm” (Eger II et al.)
2) 2013 study finds anesthetic interaction occurs in tadpoles microtubules, with the authors stating it contributes to the loss of consciousness (Emerson et al)
3) Two studies find that taking microtubule stabilizing drugs has the effect of delaying anesthesia onset times, or requiring a higher dosage – in both rats and in humans (Linganna et al (2015), ; Khan et al (2024))
That 3rd experiment is really crucial, if anyone wants to debate that microtubules aren’t the primary site of anesthetic interaction, then one needs to provide an alternative explanation for why these MT stabilizing drugs have these effects?
One might say: slow down buddy… this don’t mean it’s quantum… as many have found classical EMR/electrical effects in microtubules. (2020 review by Kalra et al). Other studies however, help this case:
4) An intrinsically quantum effect of ‘ballistic conductance’ – an increased efficiency of energy transfer due to quantum coherence – was found in microtubules by Bandyopadhyay et al in 2013.
5) The intrinsically quantum phenomena of ‘superradiance’ was found in microtubules in 2024 by Babcock et al. This got a lot of publicity for evidence of quantum effects in MT’s, demonstrating it’s possible.
6) Quantum optical effects are diminished in MT’s after administration of anesthesia (Kalra et al, 2023)
7) Anesthetic potency varies based on the property of spin of different anesthetic xenon isotopes; integer spin is more potent than spin-half xenon. Spin is an intrinsically quantum property, indicating an interaction takes place within the quantum state and disrupts consciousness. Pauli’s Exclusion Principle likely explains why this occurs IMO, but that’s its own can of analysis to be opened up for sure. (Li et al, 2018)
Number 7 is the clincher for me, as when you dig into it, it implies a quantum-on-quantum interaction must be occurring to cause this disruption of consciousness, implicating that consciousness must necessarily be a quantum based phenomena.
There’s more studies that could potentially be cited to support this overall case, but that to me is a collection of some of the strongest evidence for quantum consciousness to date (solely related to anesthesia)
I had to do some quick research on this topic. Can’t comment to much yet. It’s true that anesthesia disrupts consciousness. But you never lose subjective experience even when you come back.
Issues I will have to dive into is the fact that the proposed quantum angle is the micotubules only have fraction of a fraction of a second where their heat state is in alignment that could be considered quantum, or superimposition. I’ll be back.
Counter argument: The microtubules only have a fraction of a second where they could be in alignment for being in a quantum state. These Tubules are not connected to anything outside of the cells they are in, so there is no cross connection, where they are all connected together to keep consciousness in a static state. Basically I’m saying, it’s a broken chain.
Thanks for the comments! Responding to your points below:
1) For the microtubules not being able to sustain a state of superposition for a long enough time to sustain meaningful quantum effects such as entanglement, this critique usually comes back to Max Tegmark’s critique of Orch OR. He built a model around microtubules and calculated the decoherence times to be 10^-13 seconds, too short for any physiological effects.
However, when using equations that actually correspond to the Orch OR model, the decoherence times are much slower at about 10^-4 or 10^-3 seconds. This timeframe corresponds with measurements in microtubules which have found they have resonance at the KHz range – which is at 10^-4 seconds – enough to have physiological effects.
Source: Hameroff & Penrose 2014 – Consciousness in the universe: A review of the ‘Orch OR’ theory. Search for “Tegmark” for a more technical explanation.
The microtubules KHz frequencies have also been shown to play a crucial role in governing neuronal synchrony, a correlate of consciousness to solve the “Binding Problem” you refer to. Without microtubules, no synchrony occurs (sources: Bandyopadhyay et al, 2021, 2).
2) The broken chain argument is a good one. However “gap junctions” serve as connecting doorways between the dendrites of neurons, allowing them to share voltage states and essentially share their internal cellular milieu. Michael Levin talks about this a lot with his work on bioelectricity. This enables cells to be connected to each other rather than individually isolated.
Furthermore, there’s a phenomena called “zero-phase lag gamma synchrony” where neurons oscillate in the same wave-phase across the brain in synchrony. The initiation of this phenomena that is hard to explain through classical means without invoking quantum entanglement. Classical EMR fields “are shunted by glia and too weak to account for long-range coherence”. Action potential transmission is similarly too slow to account for the speed required. (source: Hameroff 2006)
We may need quantum entanglement to explain this phenomena!