Does Consciousness Collapse the Wave Function

A replication of the Hall experiment tested whether a quantum event is physically real only when consciously observed. The delay between a pre-observer and a final observer viewing the same event was extended to 1 second, and the final observer's early brain responses (EEG) were measured before they became conscious of the event. Significant differences in brain responses occurred depending on whether the pre-observer looked at the quantum event, supporting the 'subjective reduction' interpretation. Alternative normal explanations were considered and rejected, and the authors conclude that further research is warranted.

Study at a glance

Abstract

A conceptual replication of the Hall-experiment to test the 'subjective reduction' interpretation of the measurement problem in Quantum Physics is reported. Two improvements are introduced. First the delay between pre-observation and final observation of the same quantum event is increased from a few microseconds in the original experiment to 1 second in this replication. Second, rather than using the observers conscious response as the dependent variable, we use the early brain responses as measured by EEG. These early responses cover a period where the observer is not yet conscious of the quantum event. Results support the 'subjective reduction' hypothesis because significant differences between the brain responses of the final observer are found dependent upon the pre-observer looking or not looking at the quantum event (exact binomial p < 0.02). Alternative 'normal' explanations are discussed and rejected. It is concluded that the present results do justify further research along these lines.