The importance of quantum decoherence in brain processes
<|reference_start|>The importance of quantum decoherence in brain processes: Based on a calculation of neural decoherence rates, we argue that that the degrees of freedom of the human brain that relate to cognitive processes should be thought of as a classical rather than quantum system, i.e., that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the current classical approach to neural network simulations. We find that the decoherence timescales ~10^{-13}-10^{-20} seconds are typically much shorter than the relevant dynamical timescales (~0.001-0.1 seconds), both for regular neuron firing and for kink-like polarization excitations in microtubules. This conclusion disagrees with suggestions by Penrose and others that the brain acts as a quantum computer, and that quantum coherence is related to consciousness in a fundamental way.<|reference_end|>
@article{tegmark1999the,
    title={The importance of quantum decoherence in brain processes},
    author={Max Tegmark},
    journal={Phys.Rev.E61:4194-4206,2000},
    year={1999},
    doi={10.1103/PhysRevE.61.4194},
    archivePrefix={arXiv},
    eprint={quant-ph/9907009},
    primaryClass={quant-ph cond-mat.dis-nn cs.NE physics.bio-ph q-bio}
}