Workshop on Biological Mentality

To view any of the presentations below, click on the icon on the top right of the title slide: "Open in a new tab".

One additional presentation by Chanelle Jumper (last set of slides) is not on the Program.

"Our results provide the first evidence that quantum mechanical properties are needed to explain a fundamental biological property such as ion-selectivity in trans-membrane ion-currents and the effect on gating kinetics and shaping of classical conductances in electrically excitable cells."

See Gustav Bernroider

"Recently, the view is emerging of computing systems as goal directed agents, evolving during problem solving toward improved world models and better task performance. A full realization of this vision requires a new logic for computing that incorporates learning from experience as an intrinsic part of the logic, and that permits full exploitation of the quantum nature of the physical world."

See Kathryn Blackmond Laskey

[Adrian Kent slides not available]

I sketch a line of thought about consciousness and physics that gives some motivation for the hypothesis that conscious observers deviate – perhaps only very subtly and slightly – from quantum dynamics.

See Adrian Kent

"My hope is to find a possible unifying role for consciousness and responsible free will from electrons and fermions at measurement up to a responsible free will and non-epiphenomenal consciousness in humans."

See Stuart Kauffman

"We outline a framework of multilevel neurocognitive mechanisms that incorporates representation and computation. We argue that paradigmatic explanations in cognitive neuroscience fit this framework and thus that cognitive neuroscience constitutes a revolutionary break from traditional cognitive science. Whereas traditional cognitive scientific explanations were supposed to be distinct and autonomous from mechanistic explanations, neurocognitive explanations aim to be mechanistic through and through."

See Gualtiero Piccinini

"We suggest a possible way to integrate experimental neuroscience with quantum models in order to address outstanding issues in psychopathology. A key role is played by the phenomenon called the “stream of consciousness”, which can be linked to the so-called “Gamma Synchrony”(GS), which is clearly demonstrated by EEG data."

See Jack Tuszynski

"It is argued that the problem of interpreting quantum mechanics, and the philosophical problem of consciousness, both have their roots in the same set of misguided Cartesian assumptions."

See Marcus Appleby

"Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that—despite significant local network changes—a global scale-free organization was preserved across consciousness, anesthesia, and recovery. These findings are consistent with “adaptive reconfiguration,” a previously identified process in which the brain maintains a globally optimal state (i.e ., scale-free organization) despite local changes."

See UnCheol Lee

"The radical possibility we wish to investigate is that, when humans are used to decide the settings (rather than various types of random number generators), we might then expect to see a violation of Quantum Theory in agreement with the relevant Bell inequality. Such a result, while very unlikely, would be tremendously significant for our understanding of the world (and I will discuss some interpretations)."

See Lucien Hardy

"Plausibility arguments for the conditions favoring a quantum mechanism of signal propagation along a microtubule are provided. Overall we find that coherent energy transfer in tubulin and microtubules is biologically feasible."

See Travis Craddock

"Here, we aim to reflect mainly on whether quantum-like phenomena might play a role or have explanatory power at higher levels of organization including the cellular, organ, and even whole organism level."

See Martin Robert

"The meaning of the DNA depends on the presence of numerous subagents within the cell (e.g., RNA-and DNA-polymerases, ribosomes, and transcription factors). Although manufacturing of these subagents is encoded in some portion of the DNA, the cell requires a minimal number of physically-existing subagents to interpret the DNA. Thus, organisms are not just digital, they require material subagents to process these digital signs."

See Alexei Sharov

"The Orch OR proposal suggests conscious experience is intrinsically connected to the fine-scale structure of space–time geometry, and that consciousness could be deeply related to the operation of the laws of the universe."

See Stuart Hameroff

"Because of their unpredictability, symbol-handling agents introduce a heretofore overlooked source of irreversibility into physics, even when the equations they write on the blackboard are invariant under t → −t."

See John Myers

"Even though representation of numbers as strings of qubits or as strings of bits in classical work is widespread, it is not essential. Other representations are possible and may be useful. One of these is based on the observation that the 0s in a qubit or bit string serve only as place holders. They do not contribute to the value of the number."

See Paul Benioff

"In summary, it stands to show that the very way we think about biological systems is not yet consistent or well defined across fields. Addressing difficult questions as far reaching as the nature of consciousness requires multidisciplinary action, advanced experimental techniques, and a foundation incorporating the “special feature” which differentiates living from non-living matter."

See Chanelle Jumper