Orch OR

Stuart Hameroff’s research pursued microtubule information processing and anesthetic action. In the mid-1990s he teamed with eminent British physicist and Nobel Laureate Sir Roger Penrose to develop a controversial quantum theory of consciousness (‘orchestrated objective reduction’, ‘Orch OR’) based on microtubule quantum computing. Harshly criticized initially, Orch OR is now supported by experimental results including anesthetic action. In 2017, with Sir Roger Penrose, James Tagg, Ivette Fuentes and Erik Viierre, Hameroff co-founded the Penrose Institute, intended to support research based on the various works of Sir Roger (cosmology, quantum mechanics, general relativity, black holes, geometry and consciousness).

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PUBLICATIONS - NEW

Hameroff, Stuart. Consciousness, Cognition and the Neuronal Cytoskeleton – A New Paradigm Needed in Neuroscience.  Front. Mol. Neurosci., 16 June 2022 https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2022.869935

PRESS

Andrea Morris, Forbes

Nov 4, 2021

An Experiment For Consciousness? Scientists And Philosophers Across Three Countries Debate It Although smaller than a neuron, microtubules may be large enough to host proto-conscious events (quantum collapses) of a particular scale or quantity necessary to give rise to conscious experience.

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Stuart Hameroff MD and Sir Roger Penrose

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https://consciousness.arizona.edu/tsc-ccs-videos-programs-highlights 

SCIENCE & ROGER PENROSE   AUGUST 2021

• CCS - YouTube Channel 
• WEBINAR VIDEOS - now available 
• Penrose Program Schedule 
• Penrose Webinar - Speakers Bios & Abstracts
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August 2021 - Program Outline:

Day 1 – Tuesday -  August 3, 2021   9:00 am – 12:30 pm  MST -AZ

Welcome - Stuart Hameroff, University of Arizona

9:00 am–10:30 am - Overview, Sir Roger Penrose, Nobel Laureate, Oxford U - Consciousness, Quantum State Reduction, Black holes, and Conformal Cyclic Cosmology— Connecting Threads

BLACK HOLES

Session Chair, Sir Roger Penrose, Nobel Laureate, Oxford U

10:30 am–11:15 am - Reinhard Genzel, Nobel Laureate, Max Planck Institute/UC Berkeley -  A 40-Year Journey

11:15 am–12:00 noon - Roger Blandford, Stanford University - Black Holes - Nature or Nurture?: The Roles of Rotation and Accretion in Powering Cosmic Sources

12:00 noon–12:30 pm   Discussion

Day 2 – Wednesday -  August 4, 2021   9:00 am – 12:30 pm MST - AZ

QUANTUM MEASUREMENT – OBJECTIVE REDUCTION (OR)                        

Session Chair, Roger Blandford, Stanford University

9:00 am–9:45 am - Ivette Fuentes-Guridi, University of Southampton - Exploring the unification of quantum theory and general relativity with a Bose-Einstein condensate”   

9:45 am–10:30 am - Hendrik Ulbricht, University of Southampton - Probing new physics by levitated mechanical systems

10:30 am–11:15 am - Dirk Bouwmeester, UC Santa Barbara | Leiden University - An experimental investigation of the reduction of the quantum wavefunction

11:15 am–12:00 noon - Philip C.E. Stamp, University of British Columbia - The correlated worldline (CWL)  theory of quantum gravity

12:00 noon–12:30 pm  Discussion                          

Day 3 – Thursday -  August 5, 2021   9:00 am – 12:30 pm MST - AZ

CONSCIOUSNESS – ORCH OR

Session Chair - Justin Riddle, University of North Carolina

9:00 am–9:45 am - Stuart Hameroff, University of Arizona - The Orch OR theory of consciousness

9:45 am–10:30 am - Greg Scholes, Princeton University - Biological quantum phenomena and the brain

10:30 am–11:15 am - Alysson Muotri, UC San Diego - Complex neural networks spontaneously emerge from human brain organoids

PANEL – QUANTUM BIOLOGY OF MICROTUBULES      

11:15 am-11:25 am  - Panel Chair - Jack Tuszyński, University of Alberta - Opening Remarks   

11:25 am-11:35 am - Aarat Kalra, Princeton University - Light at the end of the tunnel: Optical signaling through microtubules

11:35 am–11:45 am - Travis Craddock, Nova Southeastern U - Fano resonances in the resonance Raman spectra of tubulin and microtubules reveals active quantum effects

11:45 am–11:55 am - Aristide Dogariu, University of Central Florida - Experimental and computational insights into the remarkable electromagnetic properties of microtubules

11:55 am–12:05 pm - M. Bruce MacIver, Stanford University - Probing consciousness with anesthetics

12:05 pm–12:15 pm - Anirban Bandyopadhyay, National Institute of Material Sciences, Japan - Triplet of triplet fractal resonance band of tubulin, microtubule and neuron membrane: Quantum optics & microwave study

12:15 pm–12:45 pm    Discussion

Day 4 – Friday - August 6, 2021   9:00 am – 12:30 pm MST - AZ

A PRE-BIG BANG UNIVERSE: CONFORMAL CYCLIC COSMOLOGY

Session Chair -  Sir Roger Penrose, Nobel Laureate, Oxford University  

9:00 am–9:45 am - Paul Tod, Oxford University - The mathematics behind Penrose’s Conformal Cyclic Cosmology

9:45 am–10:30 am - Brian Keating, UC San Diego - Was there a Big Bang?

10:30 am–11:15 am - Krzysztof Meissner, University of Warsaw, Poland - Black holes and Conformal Cyclic Cosmology

11:15 am–12:00 noon - Vahe Gurzadyan, Yerevan Physics Institute, Armenia - Cosmological Constant, CCC, observations

12:00 noon–12:30 pm  Discussion

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Publications

• Hameroff, Stuart. Consciousness, Cognition and the Neuronal Cytoskeleton – A New Paradigm Needed in Neuroscience.  Front. Mol. Neurosci., 16 June 2022 https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2022.869935

• Hameroff, Stuart, ‘Orch OR’ is the most complete, and most easily falsifiable theory of consciousness,  (2020) Cognitive Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1080/17588928.2020.1839037 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/17588928.2020.1839037 - Published online: 24 Nov 2020.  

• Kalra, Aarat P, Stuart Hameroff, Jack Tuszynski, and Aristide Dogariu. (2020) “Anesthetic Gas Effects on Quantum Vibrations in Microtubules – Testing the Orch OR Theory of Consciousness.” OSF. August 21. 2020  osf.io/zqnjd

• Hameroff, SR., (2018). Editorial Views. “Anesthetic action and ‘quantum consciousness: A match made in olive oil.” Anesthesiology, 8(129):228-231.

• Craddock TJA, Kurian P, Preto J, Sahu K, Hameroff SR, Klobukowski M, Tuszynski JA. Scientific Report, (2017), August. Anesthetic Alterations of Collective Terahertz Oscillations in Tubulin Correlate with Clinical Potency: Implications for Anesthetic Action and Post-Operative Cognitive Dysfunction. 

• Stuart R. Hameroff, Roger Penrose, Chapter 14 "Consciousness in the Universe: An Updated Review of the "Orch OR" Theory, in Biophysics of Consciousness: A Foundational Approach, eds. Roman R. Poznanski, Jack A. Tuszynski, Todd E. Feinberg, World Scientific, 2016. 

• Hameroff, S. (2016). “Change the Music: Psychotherapy and Brain Vibrations.” The Neuropsychotherapist, Vol 4(4). 31-35.  pdf  

• Craddock, Travis J.A., Stuart R. Hameroff, Ahmed T. Ayoub, Mariusz Klobukowski, & Jack A. Tuszynski. (2015). “Anesthetics act in quantum channels in brain microtubules to prevent consciousness.” Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry, Vol 15:6, 523-533.

• Hameroff Stuart - (2015), Commentary on Stuart Kauffman's  Quantum Criticality at the Origins of Life in John Hewitt's Quantum Criticality in life's proteins (update),   Phys.org - April 15, 2015.

• 'Darwin Versus Deepak': Which Came First, Feelings, or the Brain?  June 2, 2015

• The Guardian, Why Can't The World's Greatest Minds Solve the Mystery of Consciousness? Oliver Burkeman, Jan 21, 2015 -  The Guardian's Audio Long Read 30:37

• Newswise - Anesthesia Points to Deeper Level ‘Quantum Channels’  March 23, 2015 

• Japan Wired Magazine - (2014) Death in A Quantum Space.pdf - Interview with Stuart Hameroff 

• www.quantumconsciousness.org › files

• DEATH IN A QUANTUM SPACE. ハメロフ博士の. 世界一ぶっとんだ死の話. 意識と「量子もつれ」と不滅の魂. 人がその生をまっとうし、肉体が生命活動を終え ...

• Craddock, Travis John Adrian, Douglas Friesen, Jonathan Mane, Stuart Hameroff, & Jack A. Tuszynski. (2014). “The Feasibility of Coherent Energy Transfer in Microtubules.” Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 11(100).

• Hameroff, SR., Craddock TJ, & Tuszynski JA. Quantum effects in the understanding of consciousness. (2014). J Integr Neurosci. 13 June (2):229-52.

• Hameroff S., 2014) comment - L. Turin et al, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. "Electron spin change during general anesthesia." August 11. 

• Response to Hameroff to L. Turin et al, 12 August 2014. pdf.  Ref: Hadlington, Simon. “Knock-out theory puts new spin on general anaesthesia.” Chemistry World Review, 12 August, (2014) Ref: citation in Luca Turin et al. (2014). “Electron spin changes during general anesthesia in Drosophilia. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci.,10.1073/ pnas. 1404387111. 26 April, (2014).  Ref Hameroff, SR. (2006). “The entwined mysteries of anesthesia and consciousness: Is there a common underlying mechanism?” Anesthesiology 105(2):400–412.

• Hameroff, S., & Roger Penrose (2014). Consciousness in the universe: A review of the ‘Orch OR’ theory.” (2014). Physics of Life Reviews, March 11(1):39-78. pdf. – PhysOrg. Discovery of quantum vibrations in ‘microtubules’ corroborates theory of consciousness. 16 January.

• Hameroff, S., & Penrose R. (2014). Reply to Seven Commentaries on “Consciousness in the Universe: Review of the ‘Orch OR’ theory”. (2014). Physics of Life Reviews, 11:94–100.

• Hameroff, S., & Penrose R. (2014). Reply to Criticism of the ‘Orch OR qubit’ – Orchestrated objective reduction is scientifically justified.” Physics of Life Reviews, 11(1):104-112.

• Hameroff, Stuart. (2014). Consciousness, Microtubules and “Orch-OR”: A ‘Space-time’ Odyssey, Journal of Consciousness Studies, Imprint Academic. Volume 21, 3-4, 2014, 126-153. 

• Hameroff, S. (2014). Quantum walks in brain microtubules-a biomolecular basis for quantum cognition? Top Cogn Sci, January; 6(1):91-7.

• Discovery of quantum vibrations in ‘microtubules’ corroborates theory of consciousness,  Phys Org, 16 January, 2014.

• Hameroff SR, Craddock TJ, Tuszynski JA, (2014). Quantum effects in the understanding of consciousness, J Integr Neurosci. 2014  Apr 13(2):229-52

• Hameroff, SR.  (2013). Quantum mathematical cognition requires quantum brain biology: the “Orch OR” theory.  Behav Brain Sci, June; 36(3):287-90.

• Hameroff, S.  (2013). Comment on: A Tale of Two Fields: “Dissipation of ‘dark energy’ by cortex in knowledge retrieval” by Capolupo, Freeman and Vitiello. Phys Life Rev. March; 10(1):95-6; discussion 112-6.

• Hameroff S, Trakas M, Duffield C, Annabi E, Gerace MB, Boyle P, Lucas A, Amos Q, Buadu A, Badal JJ, (2013). Transcranial ultrasound (TUS) effects on mental states: a pilot study, Brain Stimul, 2013; May;6(3):409-15.

• Hameroff, S., (2012). How quantum brain biology can rescue conscious free will. Front Integr Neurosci, (2012); 6:93, Oct 12

• Craddock T, St George M, Freedman H, Barakat K, Damaraju S, Hameroff S, Tuszynski J., (2012). Computational Predictions of Volatile Anesthetic Interactions with the Microtubule Cytoskeleton: Implications for Side Effects of General Anesthesia, PLOS One, 2012; June 25

• Craddock TJ, St. George Marc, Freedman Holly, Barakat Khaled, Damaraju Sambasivarao, Hameroff Stuart, Tuszynski Jack A.,  (2012). Computational Predictions of Volatile Anesthetic Interactions with the Microtubule Cytoskeleton: Implications for Side Effects of General Anesthesia,PLoS One, 2012; June 25.

• Hameroff S.,  (2012). Quantum brain biology complements neuronal assembly approaches to consciousness: Comment on "Consciousness, biology and quantum hypotheses" by Baars and Edelman. Phys Life Rev. 2012 Sep;9(3):303-5; discussion 306-7.

• Craddock T, Tuszynski J, Hameroff S., (2012), Cytoskeletal Signaling: Is Memory Encoded in Microtubule Lattices by CaMKII Phosphorylation?  PLoS Computational Biology, 2012; March 8

• Craddock TJ, Tuszynski JA, Chopra D, Casey N, Goldstein LE, Hameroff SR, Tanzi RE, (2012), The Zinc Dyshomeostasis Hypothesis of Alzheimer's Disease, PLoS One, 2012; March 23 7(3).

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October 6, 2020

Roger Penrose -  Nobel Prize Recipient

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 with one half to Roger Penrose for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity and the other half jointly to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy.  Roger Penrose's affiliation at the time of the Nobel award: University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom -  The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Physics, 2020 - Scientific Background on the Nobel Prize in Physics 2020  View | Download 2.64 MB

https://www.kva.se/en/pressrum - press release    APS-American Physical Society - press release

 

Roger Penrose Early Publications 

R. Penrose, "Asymptotic Properties of Fields and Space-Times," Phys. Rev. Lett. 10, 66 (1963).

R. Penrose, "Gravitational Collapse and Space-Time Singularities," Phys. Rev. Lett. 14, 57 (1965).