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The ‘Conscious Pilot’ Stuart Hameroff University of Arizona
Non-conscious/ Unconscious Conscious
• Chalmers Easy problems Hard problem• Crick/Koch Zombie modes Consciousness • Block (?) Access Cs. Phenomenal Cs. • McCrone Habitual Conscious• Hodgson Auto-pilot
Non-conscious/ Unconscious Conscious
• Chalmers Easy problems Hard problem• Crick/Koch Zombie modes Consciousness • Block (?) Access Cs. Phenomenal Cs. • McCrone Habitual Conscious• Hodgson Auto-pilot Conscious pilot (SH)
Cognitive brain functions are conducted in either non-conscious or conscious modes
• Sensory processing• Control of behavior• Learning• Memory• Attention• Sleep• Eye movements• Visceral/Sexual functions…either accompanied by consciousness, or not …what is the distinction?
Cognitive brain functions are conducted in either non-conscious or conscious modes
• Sensory processing• Control of behavior• Learning• Memory• Attention• Sleep• Eye movements• Visceral/Sexual functions…either accompanied by consciousness, or not …what is the distinction?
Gamma synchrony EEG
Non-conscious/ Unconscious
• Chalmers Easy problems • Crick/Koch Zombie modes • Block (?) Access Cs. • McCrone Habitual • Hodgson Auto-pilot
…are accounted for by neuronal network computation based on axonal-dendritic feed-forward and feed-back synaptic networks….Brain as computer with neuronal firings as ‘bits’ …..classical ‘neuro’computation…
We can explain the non-conscious computerized activities of the auto-pilot
We can explain the non-conscious computerized activities of the auto-pilot
By computation in brain neuronal networks
Ramon-y-Cajal:brain composed of individual cells – “neurons”
Computing in the brain…
Integrate
Fire
What about consciousness?
We can explain the computerized activities of the auto-pilot
Where’s the pilot?
The conscious pilot (NCC) is dendritic synchrony,
moving through the brain’s neuronal networks
to mediate consciousness
Where in the brain does consciousness occur?
BING!!!
Consciousness with attention involves activity in both prefrontal and posterior regions.. …top-down, bottom-up, recurrent feedback ….more or less global
But sensations of pure color arise from isolated activity in visual cortex color area V4 (Zeki)
BING!!!
Deeper emotional feelings occur in emotional core
BING!!!
Dopaminergic paths in VTA/nucleus accumbens cingulate/limbic
“emotional core”
So some process/activity is specific for consciousness
In the brain consciousness can occur • Globally (e.g. attention-mediated, bottom-up/top-down; ?holographic)
• Locally (e.g. Zeki and pure color experience in V4)
• Regionally (posterior cortex, e.g. Malach; brainstem/limbic, Panksepp, Damasio)
‘Here, there or everywhere’
In the brain consciousness can occur • Globally (e.g. attention-mediated, bottom-up/top-down; ?holographic)
• Locally (e.g. Zeki and pure color experience in V4)
• Regionally (posterior cortex, e.g. Malach; brainstem/limbic, Panksepp, Damasio)
‘Here, there or everywhere’Accompanied by gamma synchrony EEG
Sideways Synchrony
Neuronal network dendrites linked by gap junctions (“dendritic webs”) depolarize coherently in gamma synchrony
Dendritic post-synaptic potentials are synchronized, may drive coherent spikes
BING
BING
BING
BING
Sideways synchrony Dendritic webs embedded in neuronal networks
…allowing collective, synchronized integration phases in laterally-connected input/integration layers
BING BING BING
BING!!!
The Halle Berry neuron (Koch)
BING!!! BING!!! BING!!!
BING!!! BING!!! BING!!!
BING!!! BING!!! BING!!! FIRE
In the brain..
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
BING!!!
CPU
Top/Up (Frontal cortex)
BING!!!
Down/Bottom (Thalamus; Posterior cortex)
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Top (Frontal cortex)
Intermediate BING!!! (Jackendoff, Gray) “Handshake”
Bottom (Thalamus; Posterior cortex)
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Top (Frontal cortex)Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Consciousness
ExecutiveCortex
Sensory Inputs
Emotions
Memory
Thalamo-corticalProjections
Cortex
Thalamus
Bottom Thalamus; Posterior cortex)
BING!!! BING!!!
BING!!!
BING!!!
BING!!!
BING!!! BING!!! BING!!!
W H E R E‘S
T H E
B I N G
?
Caffeine THC Marijuana LSD
Nicotine MDMA Ecstasy Chocolate
Psychoactive drugs have quantum ring structures
,
Conscious Anesthetized
…in which anesthetic gases act via quantum London forces to selectively erase consciousness Hameroff S (2006) Anesthesiology 105:400-412
Proteins involved in conscious processes have quantum pockets controlling state: “Schrödinger’s proteins”
Where’s the BING?
quantum superposition of different states
Consciousness is linked to quantum gravity/ fundamental spacetime geometry
Quantum superpositions which avoid decoherence grow to meet threshold Sir Roger Penrose given by E=h/t, undergo spontaneous “self-collapse” objective reduction a fundamental moment of consciousness Consciousness IS a sequence of quantum state reductions (e.g. Whitehead, Henry Stapp)
BING!!!
B ING
BING!!! BING!!! BING!!! BING!!!
BING!!! BING!!! BING!!! BING!!!
By E=h/t, a 25 msec gamma synchrony moment of consciousness requires superposition of tubulins in ~100,000 neurons
But the brain is too warm and wet for delicate quantum effects !? Decoherence Max Tegmark calculated microtubule decoherence Time based on solitons of 10-13 seconds, too brief.
Considering Orch OR stipulations
• Superposition separation of atomic nucleus diameter, 7 orders of magnitude more stable
• Debye plasma layer surrounding/shielding microtubules
• Ordered water polymerized actin gel state embedding microtubules
• Laser-like Frohlich pumped coherence
• Topological quantum error correction
• Hydrophobic pocket London forces
Hagan, Hameroff and Tuszynski, Physical Reviews E, 2002 65:061901
Tubulin subunits have negatively charged tails extending outward, attracting positive ions and creating a Debye plasma layer shield
Quantum London forces are protected within hydrophobic pockets
Microtubules are transiently Embedded in dense actin gel (lower left); Isolated from environment
Microtubule Fibonacci lattice may be ideally designed for topological quantum error tolerance/correction (Penrose, 1998)
Theory is nice, but…Engel et al Nature 446, 782-786, 2007 Evidence for wavelike energy transfer through quantum coherence in photosynthetic systems
Quantum coherence in protein scaffolding surroundingchlorophyll structures in photosynthesis at warm temperatures
Ouyang & Awschalom (Science 301:1074-78, 2003) studied quantum spin transfer between quantum dots connected by benzene rings (the same as in electron resonance amino acids)
and observed superposition of the spin states….
Where’s the BING?
OR
BING
Essence of experience was embedded in fundamental spacetime geometry,reproduced in the brain
BING!!
Mind Matter
Objective Decoherence or Reduction Measurement
Quantum Spacetime
Neutral MonismQuantum Consciousness
Conclusions
• Dendritic synchrony moves through the brain’s neurocomputational networks to mediate consciousness – the ‘conscious pilot’ (NCC)
Conclusions
• Dendritic synchrony moves through the brain’s neurocomputational networks to mediate consciousness – the ‘conscious pilot’ (NCC)
Is conscious experience thick or thin?
It depends on the conscious pilot
Conclusions
• Dendritic synchrony moves through the brain’s neurocomputational networks to mediate consciousness – the ‘conscious pilot’ (NCC)
• Quantum computations in microtubules are coupled to dendritic synchrony by Penrose OR.
Conclusions
• Dendritic synchrony moves through the brain’s neurocomputational networks to mediate consciousness – the ‘conscious pilot’ (NCC)
• Quantum computations in microtubules are coupled to dendritic synchrony by Penrose OR.
• To solve the ‘hard problem’, consciousness must be considered as a process in fundamental spacetime geometry coupled to brain function (psychophysical bridging to pan-protopsychism)
www.quantumconsciousness.org
BING!!!