Consciousness, biology and quantum hypotheses.
Physics of Life Reviews September 1, 2012 Bernard J Baars, David B Edelman
Consciousness is a distinct kind of brain event arising from massive, parallel interactions in the cortico-thalamic system, not from quantum computations in microtubules. The authors argue that while natural phenomena are reducible to quantum events in principle, quantum-level proposals such as the Orch-OR hypothesis do not explain the prominent empirical features of consciousness, such as its ∼100 ms duty cycle, its role in coping with novel and valued life events, and the fact that many neuronal processes (e.g., vestibular input) never become conscious. They contend that the burden of proof for quantum-level theories has not been met, and no non-biological examples of consciousness are known.