New findings regarding anesthesia have uncovered significant insights into the physical aspects of consciousness within the brain.
For many years, a key and puzzling issue in neuroscience has been understanding the physical foundation of consciousness in the brain. The majority of researchers support traditional models grounded in classical physics; however, a smaller group believes that consciousness might have a quantum nature, suggesting that its basis stems from a collective quantum vibration of “microtubule” proteins found in neurons.
Recent studies led by Mike Wiest, a professor at Wellesley College, alongside a team of undergraduate students, have produced crucial experimental findings pertinent to this discussion by investigating how anesthesia impacts the brain. Wiest and his team discovered that when rats were administered a drug that binds to microtubules, they took considerably longer to lose consciousness when exposed to anesthetic gas. The drug that binds to microtubules interfered with the anesthetic effects, lending support to the notion that anesthetics operate on microtubules to induce unconsciousness.
“Given that we are unaware of another (i.e., classical) mechanism through which anesthetics binding to microtubules would typically diminish brain activity and lead to unconsciousness,” Wiest elaborates, “this outcome reinforces the quantum perspective on consciousness.”
The ramifications of the classical versus quantum debate on consciousness are substantial, asserts Wiest, who is an associate professor of neuroscience at Wellesley. “If we come to accept that the mind is a quantum event, it would mark the beginning of a revolutionary phase in our comprehension of our existence,” he states. This new viewpoint “would enhance our grasp of how anesthesia functions and influence our thoughts on a variety of related queries, including whether coma patients or non-human animals possess consciousness, how enigmatic substances like lithium influence conscious experience to stabilize mood, and how conditions like Alzheimer’s or schizophrenia alter perception and memory, among others.”
More generally, understanding consciousness through a quantum lens “provides a perspective of the universe that connects us to it in a more inherent and holistic manner,” Wiest notes. He intends to continue his research in this area and aspires to elucidate and explore the quantum consciousness theory in a book aimed at the general public.
Students from Wellesley who collaborated on the paper with Wiest include Sana Khan ’25, Yixiang Huang ’25, Derin Timucin ’27, Shantelle Bailey ’24, Sophia Lee ’23, Jessica Lopes ’26, Emeline Gaunce ’26, Jasmine Mosberger ’25, Michelle Zhan ’24, Bothina Abdelrahman ’26, and Xiran Zeng ’27.
Published on September 1 in eNeuro, this Wellesley study illustrates that anesthesia functions by binding to microtubules within neurons, thereby offering crucial evidence for a quantum theory of consciousness and rekindling interest in the role of microtubules in anesthesia.
