Orch-OR: Difference between revisions

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'''Orch OR''' (''Orchestrated Objective Reduction'') is the proposal that information processing in the brain involves complex computational processes within every [[neuron]], that involve co-ordinated changes in the conformational states of tubulin proteins within [[microtubule]]s. The proposal was put forward in the mid-1990s by British theoretical physicist [[Roger Penrose|Sir Roger Penrose]] and American anesthesiologist [[Stuart Hameroff]].  
'''Orch-OR''' (''Orchestrated Objective Reduction'') is the proposal that information processing in the brain involves complex computational processes within every [[neuron]], that involve co-ordinated changes in the conformational states of proteins within [[microtubule]]s. The proposal was put forward in the mid-1990s by British theoretical physicist [[Roger Penrose|Sir Roger Penrose]] and American anesthesiologist [[Stuart Hameroff]].  


Microtubules  are cylindrical lattices of tubulin proteins that serve as structural elements inside a cell and can act like "highways" for the movement of [[vesicles]], [[granules]], organelles like [[mitochondria]], and [[chromosomes]] to different locations in the cell via special motor proteins; they are also important components of [[cilia]] and [[flagella]] in motile cells, and are important for [[mitosis]] in all cells. Structurally, microtubules are linear polymers of a globular protein, [[tubulin]] - these linear polymers are called [[protofilaments]].  
Microtubules  are cylindrical lattices of tubulin proteins that serve as structural elements inside a cell and can act like "highways" for the movement of [[vesicles]], [[granules]], organelles like [[mitochondria]], and [[chromosomes]] to different locations in the cell via special motor proteins; they are also important components of [[cilia]] and [[flagella]] in motile cells, and are important for [[mitosis]] in all cells. Structurally, microtubules are linear polymers of a globular protein, [[tubulin]] - these linear polymers are called [[protofilaments]].  


Roger Penrose had argued in his 1989 book ''The Emperor's New Mind'' that human consciousness and understanding required a factor outside [[algorithmic computation]], and that the missing “non-computable” factor was related to a type of [[quantum computation]] involving what he termed ''objective reduction'' (''OR''). Hameroff suggested to Penrose that microtubules within neurons might be involved in such quantum computation, and together they developed the theory of ''Orch OR'' <ref>Hameroff SR, Penrose R (1996) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/penrose-hameroff/orchOR.html ''Orchestrated reduction of quantum coherence in brain microtubules: A model for consciousness''.] ''Mathematics and Computers in Simulation'' 40:453-480</ref>
Penrose argued in his 1989 book ''The Emperor's New Mind'' that human consciousness and understanding required a factor outside [[algorithmic computation]], and that the missing “non-computable” factor was related to a type of [[quantum computation]] involving what he called ''objective reduction'' (''OR''). Hameroff suggested to Penrose that microtubules within neurons might be involved in such quantum computation, and together they developed the theory of ''Orch OR'' <ref>Hameroff SR, Penrose R (1996) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/penrose-hameroff/orchOR.html ''Orchestrated reduction of quantum coherence in brain microtubules: A model for consciousness''.] ''Mathematics and Computers in Simulation'' 40:453-480</ref>
<ref>Hagan S ''et al.'' (2002) [http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0005025 ''Quantum Computation in Brain Microtubules? Decoherence and Biological Feasibility''.] ''Physical Rev E'' 65: 061901</ref>
<ref>Hagan S ''et al.'' (2002) [http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0005025 ''Quantum Computation in Brain Microtubules? Decoherence and Biological Feasibility''.] ''Phys Rev E'' 65:061901</ref>
<ref>Hameroff SR, Penrose R (1996) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/penrose-hameroff/consciousevents.html ''Conscious events as orchestrated spacetime selections''.] ''J Consciousness Studies'' 3:36-53</ref>
<ref>Hameroff SR, Penrose R (1996) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/penrose-hameroff/consciousevents.html ''Conscious events as orchestrated spacetime selections''.] ''J Consciousness Studies'' 3:36-53</ref>
<ref>Hameroff S (1998) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/penrose-hameroff/quantumcomputation.html ''Quantum computation in brain microtubules? The Penrose-Hameroff "Orch OR" model of consciousness''] ''Philos Trans R Soc Lond Ser A'' 356:1869-96</ref>
<ref>Hameroff S (1998) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/penrose-hameroff/quantumcomputation.html ''Quantum computation in brain microtubules? The Penrose-Hameroff "Orch OR" model of consciousness''] ''Philos Trans R Soc Lond Ser A'' 356:1869-96</ref>
<ref>Hameroff S (1998b) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/penrose-hameroff/fundamentality.html ''"Funda-mentality": is the conscious mind subtly linked to a basic level of the universe?''] ''Trends Cognitive Sci'' 2:119-27</ref>.
<ref>Hameroff S (1998b) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/penrose-hameroff/fundamentality.html ''"Funda-mentality": is the conscious mind subtly linked to a basic level of the universe?''] ''Trends Cognitive Sci'' 2:119-27</ref>.
<ref>Hameroff S (1998d) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/penrose-hameroff/cambrian.html ''Did consciousness cause the Cambrian evolutionary explosion?'']  In: Toward a Science of Consciousness II: The Second Tucson Discussions and Debates. Eds. Hameroff, S.R., Kaszniak, A.W., & Scott, A.C., Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp.421-37</ref>
<ref>Hameroff S (1998d) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/penrose-hameroff/cambrian.html ''Did consciousness cause the Cambrian evolutionary explosion?'']  In: Toward a Science of Consciousness II: The Second Tucson Discussions and Debates. Eds. Hameroff SR, Kaszniak AW, Scott AC, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press pp.421-37</ref>
<ref>Hameroff SR, Watt RC (1982) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/documents/informationprocessing_hameroff_000.pdf ''Information processing in microtubules''.] ''J Theor Biol'' 98:549-61</ref>
<ref>Hameroff SR, Watt RC (1982) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/documents/informationprocessing_hameroff_000.pdf ''Information processing in microtubules''.] ''J Theor Biol'' 98:549-61</ref>
<ref>Hameroff SR ''et al.'' (2002) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/pdfs/conduction%20pathways_hamerof.pdf ''Conduction pathways in microtubules, biological quantum computation and microtubules''.] ''Biosystems'' 64:149-68</ref>
<ref>Hameroff SR ''et al.'' (2002) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/pdfs/conduction%20pathways_hamerof.pdf ''Conduction pathways in microtubules, biological quantum computation and microtubules''.] ''Biosystems'' 64:149-68</ref>
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  | author =  Hameroff SR
  | author =  Hameroff SR
  | title = Quantum computation in brain microtubules? The Penrose-Hameroff "Orch OR" model of consciousness
  | title = Quantum computation in brain microtubules? The Penrose-Hameroff "Orch OR" model of consciousness
  | journal = Philosophical Transactions Royal Society London (A)
  | journal = Phil Trans RSoc Lond (A)
  | volume = 356
  | volume = 356
  | pages = 1869–1896
  | pages = 1869–96
  | year = 1998
  | year = 1998
}}</ref>  
}}</ref>  
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A few papers have been published criticising specific features of the theory, but
A few papers have been published criticising specific features of the theory, but
largely it has been ignored by academic neuroscientists.
largely it has been ignored by academic neuroscientists.
<ref>
<ref>
{{cite journal
{{cite journal
  | author = Grush, R., Churchland, P.S.
  | author = Grush R, Churchland PS
  | title = Gaps in Penrose's toilings
  | title = Gaps in Penrose's toilings
  | journal = Journal of Consciousness Studies
  | journal = J Consciousness Studies
  | volume = 2
  | volume = 2
| issue = 1
  | pages = 10–29
  | pages = 10–29
  | year = 1995
  | year = 1995
  | url = http://mind.ucsd.edu/papers/penrose/penrose.pdf
  | url = http://mind.ucsd.edu/papers/penrose/penrose.pdf
| doi =
}}</ref>
}}</ref>
<ref>Penrose R, Hameroff SR (1995) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/penrose-hameroff/whatgaps.html ''What gaps? Reply to Grush and Churchland''.] J Consciousness Studies 2:98-112</ref>
<ref>Penrose R, Hameroff SR (1995) [http://www.quantumconsciousness.org/penrose-hameroff/whatgaps.html ''What gaps? Reply to Grush and Churchland''.] ''J Consciousness Studies'' 2:98-112</ref>
<ref>[http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/v2/psyche-2-17-mcdermott.html Penrose is Wrong] Drew McDermott, PSYCHE, 2), October, 1995</ref>  
<ref>[http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/v2/psyche-2-17-mcdermott.html Penrose is Wrong] Drew McDermott, PSYCHE, 2, October, 1995</ref>  
<ref>[http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/v2/psyche-2-09-chalmers.html Minds, Machines, And Mathematics - A Review of Shadows of the Mind by Roger Penrose] David J. Chalmers, ''[[Psyche (journal)|PSYCHE]]'' 2 June 1995</ref>  
<ref>[http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/v2/psyche-2-09-chalmers.html Minds, Machines, And Mathematics - A Review of Shadows of the Mind by Roger Penrose] Chalmers DJ, ''PSYCHE'' 2 June 1995</ref>  
<ref>
<ref>
{{cite journal
{{cite journal
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{{cite journal
{{cite journal
  | author = McKemmish LK ''et al.''  | title = Penrose-Hameroff orchestrated objective-reduction proposal for human consciousness is not biologically feasible
  | author = McKemmish LK ''et al.''  | title = Penrose-Hameroff orchestrated objective-reduction proposal for human consciousness is not biologically feasible
  | journal = Physical Rev E
  | journal = Phys Rev E
  | volume = 80
  | volume = 80
  | pages = 021912–6
  | pages = 021912–6
Line 86: Line 83:
}}
}}
</ref>
</ref>
<ref>Spier E, Thomas A (1998)A Quantum of Consciousness? A glance at a physical theory for a mind ''Trends Cognitive Sci'' 2:124-5</ref>  
<ref>Spier E, Thomas A (1998)A Quantum of Consciousness? A glance at a physical theory for a mind ''Trends Cog Sci'' 2:124-5</ref>  
<ref>{{citation  | last = Tegmark | first =  M  | year = 2000  | title = Importance of quantum decoherence in brain processes  | journal = Phys Rev E  | volume = 61  | pages = 4194–206}}</ref>
<ref>{{citation  | last = Tegmark | first =  M  | year = 2000  | title = Importance of quantum decoherence in brain processes  | journal = Phys Rev E  | volume = 61  | pages = 4194–206}}</ref>



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Orch-OR (Orchestrated Objective Reduction) is the proposal that information processing in the brain involves complex computational processes within every neuron, that involve co-ordinated changes in the conformational states of proteins within microtubules. The proposal was put forward in the mid-1990s by British theoretical physicist Sir Roger Penrose and American anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff.

Microtubules are cylindrical lattices of tubulin proteins that serve as structural elements inside a cell and can act like "highways" for the movement of vesicles, granules, organelles like mitochondria, and chromosomes to different locations in the cell via special motor proteins; they are also important components of cilia and flagella in motile cells, and are important for mitosis in all cells. Structurally, microtubules are linear polymers of a globular protein, tubulin - these linear polymers are called protofilaments.

Penrose argued in his 1989 book The Emperor's New Mind that human consciousness and understanding required a factor outside algorithmic computation, and that the missing “non-computable” factor was related to a type of quantum computation involving what he called objective reduction (OR). Hameroff suggested to Penrose that microtubules within neurons might be involved in such quantum computation, and together they developed the theory of Orch OR [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. [6] [7] [8] [9]

A few papers have been published criticising specific features of the theory, but largely it has been ignored by academic neuroscientists. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17][18] [19] [20]

References

  1. Hameroff SR, Penrose R (1996) Orchestrated reduction of quantum coherence in brain microtubules: A model for consciousness. Mathematics and Computers in Simulation 40:453-480
  2. Hagan S et al. (2002) Quantum Computation in Brain Microtubules? Decoherence and Biological Feasibility. Phys Rev E 65:061901
  3. Hameroff SR, Penrose R (1996) Conscious events as orchestrated spacetime selections. J Consciousness Studies 3:36-53
  4. Hameroff S (1998) Quantum computation in brain microtubules? The Penrose-Hameroff "Orch OR" model of consciousness Philos Trans R Soc Lond Ser A 356:1869-96
  5. Hameroff S (1998b) "Funda-mentality": is the conscious mind subtly linked to a basic level of the universe? Trends Cognitive Sci 2:119-27
  6. Hameroff S (1998d) Did consciousness cause the Cambrian evolutionary explosion? In: Toward a Science of Consciousness II: The Second Tucson Discussions and Debates. Eds. Hameroff SR, Kaszniak AW, Scott AC, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press pp.421-37
  7. Hameroff SR, Watt RC (1982) Information processing in microtubules. J Theor Biol 98:549-61
  8. Hameroff SR et al. (2002) Conduction pathways in microtubules, biological quantum computation and microtubules. Biosystems 64:149-68
  9. Hameroff SR (1998). "Quantum computation in brain microtubules? The Penrose-Hameroff "Orch OR" model of consciousness". Phil Trans RSoc Lond (A) 356: 1869–96.
  10. Grush R, Churchland PS (1995). "Gaps in Penrose's toilings". J Consciousness Studies 2: 10–29.
  11. Penrose R, Hameroff SR (1995) What gaps? Reply to Grush and Churchland. J Consciousness Studies 2:98-112
  12. Penrose is Wrong Drew McDermott, PSYCHE, 2, October, 1995
  13. Minds, Machines, And Mathematics - A Review of Shadows of the Mind by Roger Penrose Chalmers DJ, PSYCHE 2 June 1995
  14. Reimers JR et al. (2009). "Weak, strong, and coherent regimes of Fröhlich condensation and their applications to terahertz medicine and quantum consciousness". Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 106: 4219–24.
  15. Georgiev DD (2007). "Falsifications of Hameroff-Penrose Orch OR model of consciousness and novel avenues for development of quantum mind theory". NeuroQuantology 5: 145–74.
  16. Georgiev DD (2009). "Remarks on the number of tubulin dimers per neuron and implications for Hameroff-Penrose Orch". NeuroQuantology 7: 677–9. [e]
  17. Georgiev DD (2009). "Tubulin-bound GTP cannot pump microtubule coherence in stable microtubules. Towards a revision of microtubule based quantum models of mind". NeuroQuantology 7: 538–47.
  18. McKemmish LK et al. (2009). "Penrose-Hameroff orchestrated objective-reduction proposal for human consciousness is not biologically feasible". Phys Rev E 80: 021912–6.
  19. Spier E, Thomas A (1998)A Quantum of Consciousness? A glance at a physical theory for a mind Trends Cog Sci 2:124-5
  20. Tegmark, M (2000), "Importance of quantum decoherence in brain processes", Phys Rev E 61: 4194–206