Talk Description:

Most view the brain as a computer of neurons, with consciousness emerging as an output. On the other hand, spiritual and contemplative traditions, and some scientists and philosophers consider consciousness to be intrinsic, ‘woven into the fabric of the universe’.

The Penrose-Hameroff 'Orch OR' model seeks to bridge these 2 theories & suggests consciousness is an intrinsic feature of the fine scale structure of the universe, connected to the brain by quantum processes in microtubules inside neurons.

The nature of consciousness remains deeply mysterious and profoundly important, with existential, medical and spiritual implication. We know what it is like to be conscious – to have awareness, a conscious ‘mind’, but who, or what, are ‘we’ who know such things? How is the subjective nature of phenomenal experience – our ‘inner life’ - to be explained in scientific terms?

What consciousness actually is, and how it comes about remain unknown.

Orch OR is A TESTABLE HYPOTHESIS which can explain various aspects of consciousness in the brain, as well as NEAR-DEATH & OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCES that happen out of the brain.

About Stuart Hammeroff:

In the 1990s Hameroff with famed British Physicist Sir Roger Penrose to develop A QUANTUM THEORY OF CONSCIOUSNESS.

Highly controversial and harshly criticized, Orch OR is now supported by evidence, e.g. anesthetics act in quantum channels in microtubules, microtubules have multi-scalar resonances, e.g. in megahertz (MHz).

Megahertz mechanical vibrations are ultrasound, clinically used in anesthesiology, & Hameroff proposed low intensity, non-invasive ultrasound could stimulate microtubule MHz resonance & improve mental & neurological states in the brain. He & anesthesiology colleagues performed & published the first clinical trial of Transcranial Ultrasound (‘TUS’) on human volunteers, showing mood enhancement from brief, low intensity TUS.

Collaborative studies corroborated & elaborated TUS effects, & more TUS clinical studies are planned for Alzheimer’s Disease, Depression, Traumatic Brain Injury, Parkinsons & Pediatric Developmental Delay.