The idea that human consciousness is quantum-mechanical in nature was speculated by Bohr and Bohm. More recently, a definite proposal has been put forward by Sir Roger Penrose in collaboration with Stuart Hameroff, attracting much attention through Penrose's book The Emperor's New Mind. Their 'Orchestrated Objective reduction' (Orch-OR) theory holds that tubulin units are quantum qubits that form coherent superpositions of the interfering charge-transfer state whose quantum coherence is extended by Frohlich condensation before collapsing into definite classical states under quantum gravity. We show that their biological model is fundamentally flawed, with a proposed vibrational motion interchanging the two conformers being instead an irreversible chemical reaction. Also, we demonstrate that Frohlich condensation cannot deliver the required quantum coherence under physiological conditions. However, weak manifestations of Frohlich condensation involving non-thermal enhancement of some specific vibrational modes is feasible and may help explain unusual results concerning biological effects of high-power MHz-THz radiation.

Electron transfer, biological phonon condensates, and the "Quantum Consciousness" hypothesis

245th National Meeting (2013)

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