As physicists endeavor
to build bigger and better quantum computers, a powerful one may have already
been lurking inside our heads all along.
In a new study
published this month in the Journal of Physics Communications, a team of
scientists from Trinity College Dublin suggest that our brains could actually
be using quantum computation.
If confirmed —
something that will require extensive investigation — the finding could help
explain why, in certain respects, our brains still outdo supercomputers.
Quantum Cerebrum
Their conclusion relies
on the idea of quantum entanglement, a phenomenon describing particles changing
each other's quantum state, even when they are separated by a large distance.
"We adapted an
idea, developed for experiments to prove the existence of quantum gravity,
whereby you take known quantum systems, which interact with an unknown
system," said Christian Kerskens, study co-author and lead physicist at
the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, in a statement.
"If the known
systems entangle, then the unknown must be a quantum system, too," he
explained. "It circumvents the difficulties to find measuring devices for
something we know nothing about."
In the case of this experiment,
the proton spins of the water in our brains served as the "known
system." Kerskens and his team then used a special form of MRI imaging to
detect if any of the proton spins were quantum entangled.
Curiously, the
scientists ended up detecting a specific kind of electrical brain signal known
as heartbeat evoked potentials, which they say is normally not detectable with
MRIs.
What allowed them to
detect those potentials, the scientists suggest, is quantum entanglement in
proton spins in the brain.
"If entanglement
is the only possible explanation here then that would mean that brain processes
must have interacted with the nuclear spins, mediating the entanglement between
the nuclear spins," Kerskens concluded. "As a result, we can deduce
that those brain functions must be quantum."
Entangled Thoughts
All in all, it's an
intriguing suggestion, but there's a lot more that needs to be proven. For one,
the study rides on relatively recent proposals in the field of quantum gravity.
And, as the scientists
in the study admit, their efforts were largely undertaken through the
perspective of quantum physics.
In short, to prove
their theory, it'd require a substantial multidisciplinary effort, especially
considering the complexity of the human brain — but it's a tantalizing
possibility, nonetheless.
0 Comments