Quantum-delocalized information systems in the brain: nonclassical pathways to the emergence of consciousness

Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical model proposing that quasiparticle-mediated proton (H+) dynamics, modulated by dipolar excitations across π-conjugated organic molecules, specifically at amphipathic membrane proteins and interfaces, give rise to emergent hybrid modes—termed tripartite quasipolaritons—under nonequilibrium steady-state conditions. These modes arise from light-matter-vibration coupling dynamics. Quasiparticle-mediated proton dynamics within the hydrophobic pockets of amphipathic complexes occur through their non-closure under nonequilibrium steady-state conditions. We explore how quantum optical effects facilitate light-matter interactions, enhancing photoprotection, involving vibrational modes when anti-entropic conditions prevail for delocalized π-excitations while maintaining conserved epistemic quantum entropy. Dipolar excitations through patterns of energetic uncertainties play a role in establishing the conditions needed for a unified and interconnected informational system of photon pathways in aromatic amino acid residues. This system is proposed to link localized biochemical processes involving π-H+ interactions and π-π stacking of amino acids in neuroproteins with the coupling dynamics that give rise to quantum optical effects. Quantum-delocalized information systems, involving the interplay between π-electron dynamics, localized electromagnetic fields, and proton interactions, create a quantum bridge between quantum optical effects and quantum memory. This may provide pathways through which intrinsic quantum phenomena, such as quantum memory, directly contribute to consciousness by enabling the action selection mechanism in quantum-delocalized systems. Our model proposes that such systems may underlie consciousness, supported by the quantum architecture of the multiscale brain. This framework uncovers a previously hidden mechanism for the interconnectedness of informational pathways between amino acids in proteins and among neural protein networks within and across neuropil microcavities, revealing a quantum foundation for functional unity.