Generation of the Stream of Consciousness by Neuronal Synaptic Interaction

Conscious experience may arise from discrete neuronal spikes and discontinuous synaptic transmission through a quantum operations model of energy dissipation. Previous work modeled a single sensory neuron's experience as a continuous variable estimated statistically from evoked responses. The current work adopts amplitude damping from quantum operations to explain how smooth evolution of conscious experience could emerge from the brain's discrete, all-or-none neural events.

Study at a glance

Abstract

In previous work, a quantum mathematical formalism associated an element of experience with a single sensory neuron, as a local reduction of a global mental state. In contrast to the binary objective states of neuronal polarisation/depolarisation, neuronal experience was modeled as a continuous variable, the instantaneous value of which could only be estimated statistically from an ensemble of evoked responses to stereotyped stimulus presentation. In the present work, the quantum operations formalism of energy dissipation through amplitude damping is adopted to explain how smooth evolution of conscious experience might arise from discrete spikes and discontinuous synaptic transmission between neurons.