Could quantum interactions help keep brain cells synchronized?
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Nerve fibres in the brain can generate pairs of particles that are linked by quantum entanglement – if supported by experimental observations, this phenomenon could explain how millions of cells in the brain synchronize their activity to enable the brain to function.
“When the brain is active, millions of neurons fire at the same time,” says Yong Cong Chen of Shanghai University in China. To do this, cells need to coordinate their timing even when they are far apart, but what mechanism is used? “If evolutionary forces were looking for convenient behavior over long distances, quantum entanglement could be the answer,” he says.
