Quantum Consciousness: A Molecular Perspective Involving Glycoprotein-Tunnelling Hypothesis (GPTH).

Abstract

Long-term memory exhibits a remarkable problem: it is extraordinarily stable over decades, yet it supports rapid, flexible cognition, logic, and conscious awareness. Classical neuroscience has largely attributed memory to synaptic plasticity and networklevel dynamics; however, these mechanisms alone do not adequately explain the molecular durability of memory traces in the face of continuous protein turnover. A hypothesis advanced by the author proposes that memory is encoded in stable, folded glycoprotein patterns, particularly within synaptic and peri-synaptic environments. This review examines how such structurally persistent molecular architectures could support dynamic information processing through quantum-enabled chemical mechanisms. Considering recent advances in glycobiology, enzymology, quantum biology, and medicinal chemistry, it is suggested that proton and electron tunnelling provide a plausible and experimentally grounded mechanism for reading out stable glycoprotein-encoded information without requiring large-scale molecular rearrangement or long-lived macroscopic quantum coherence. Such an approach reconciles molecular stability with cognitive flexibility and yields testable predictions that are relevant to neurodegenerative disease and drug discovery.