Quantum clues to consciousness: New research suggests the brain may harness the zero-point field

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Source: https://phys.org/news/2025-12-quantum-clues-consciousness-brain-harness.html

Quantum clues to consciousness: New research suggests the brain may harness the zero-point field

Summary by Natalia Morais, PhD

Quantum clues to consciousness: the brain and the vacuum field

A recent theoretical study suggests that consciousness may not arise only from neurons exchanging electrical and chemical signals. Instead, the brain may interact with a fundamental background energy of the universe called the quantum vacuum, also known as the zero-point field.
When people are conscious, their brains show highly synchronized activity and operate in a delicate balance between order and chaos. This balance disappears during unconscious states such as deep anesthesia. The article proposes that tiny brain structures called cortical microcolumns may resonate with specific frequencies of the vacuum field, helping the brain maintain this critical balance.
According to the model, this resonance could stabilize large-scale coordination between neurons and support conscious awareness. When the coupling weakens, the brain falls out of its critical state and consciousness fades. If confirmed experimentally, this idea would link consciousness not only to brain biology but also to fundamental physics.

What is vacuum energy (zero-point field)?
In quantum physics, empty space is not truly empty. Even in a perfect vacuum, there are constant microscopic energy fluctuations. This ever-present background energy is called vacuum energy. It exists everywhere in the universe, even in complete darkness and at absolute zero temperature. The article suggests that the brain may be able to resonate with this subtle background, much like a radio tuning into a signal.

Connection with the Messages  

This article is particularly interesting because it addresses a topic that Rael has recently mentioned: the idea that the human brain possesses quantum capacities.

Rael stated that the brain is not limited to slow, step-by-step reasoning, but can also access instant understanding, without logical sequencing. The hypothesis presented in this article is compatible with that idea, as it suggests that conscious awareness may involve macroscopic quantum processes and resonance phenomena rather than purely classical neural computation.

If the brain can indeed couple to a fundamental quantum field and operate near critical states, this could provide a physical basis for non-linear, non-local, and instantaneous forms of cognition, which are difficult to explain using conventional neuroscience alone. In this sense, the article presents a possible scientific framework that aligns with the statements made by the Maitreya.

Quantum clues to consciousness: New research suggests the brain may harness the zero-point field

by Joachim Keppler

What if your conscious experiences were not just the chatter of neurons, but were connected to the hum of the universe? In a paper published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, I present new evidence indicating that conscious states may arise from the brain's capacity to resonate with the quantum vacuum—the zero-point field that permeates all of space.

More specifically, I argue that macroscopic quantum effects are at play inside our heads. This insight results from a synthesis of brain architectural and neurophysiological findings supplemented with quantitative model calculations. The novel synthesis suggests that the brain's basic functional building blocks, cortical microcolumns, couple directly to the zero-point field, igniting the complex dynamics characteristic of conscious processes.

Self-organized criticality in the brain

Neuroscientists have long observed that conscious states are linked to synchronized brain activity in the beta and gamma ranges. These patterns display the hallmarks of self-organized criticality, a delicate balance where the brain operates in the vicinity of a critical point of a phase transition.

In this regime, sensory inputs can trigger large neuronal avalanches that are thought to underlie conscious perception. When consciousness fades, such as under anesthesia, this critical balance disappears. The big question has been: What keeps the brain tuned to this critical state?

Resonance in microcolumns

The answer lies in quantum electrodynamics (QED), the fundamental theory of electromagnetism. In this theory, the vacuum is not empty but filled with a fluctuating ocean of energy known as the electromagnetic zero-point field (ZPF). QED-based model calculations demonstrate that specific frequencies (modes) of the ZPF can resonate with glutamate, the brain's most abundant neurotransmitter. The resonant interaction takes place in microcolumns, cortical units made up of about 100 neurons bathed in a glutamate pool.

It is precisely this interaction that turns out to be crucial for self-organized criticality. On the one hand, resonant glutamate-ZPF coupling results in the formation of coherence domains where a large number of molecules vibrate in unison. These domains are protected by energy gaps, making quantum coherence surprisingly stable in the warm, noisy brain.

On the other hand, the coupling leads to the excitation of specific ZPF modes and the generation of intracolumnar microwave fields that modulate ion channels, fine-tune neuronal firing rates, and maintain the excitatory-inhibitory balance essential for critical dynamics.

Conscious awareness arises from resonant brain-ZPF coupling

The implications are profound. If the model proves to be correct, consciousness arises not merely from electrochemical signaling but from a bottom-up orchestration involving the brain's resonant coupling to the ZPF. In this view, awareness is tied to the selective excitation of ZPF modes, reflected in the brain's critical dynamics.

During periods of unconsciousness, a pronounced deviation from critical dynamics is observed, implying that the coupling of the brain to the ZPF is disrupted and the ZPF, the hidden orchestrator of brain activity, is disengaged.

Experimental horizons and outlook

The model opens up intriguing avenues for empirical testing. By smart, systematic manipulations of conditions in the cerebral cortex, researchers can explore whether the brain harnesses the ZPF and whether consciousness truly depends on resonant brain-ZPF interaction. Such experiments could break new ground in neuroscience and shed light on long-standing metaphysical questions about the nature of awareness.

In conclusion, the model adds a fresh dimension to the search for a theory of consciousness, one that unites neuroscience with foundational physics. For centuries, consciousness has been humanity's deepest mystery. Is it purely emergent from neural networks, or does it connect to something more fundamental? The new findings that I present in my work suggest that the ubiquitous ZPF holds the key to the understanding of consciousness.

This story is part of Science X Dialog, where researchers can report findings from their published research articles. Visit this page for information about Science X Dialog and how to participate.

More information: Joachim Keppler, Macroscopic quantum effects in the brain: new insights into the fundamental principle underlying conscious processes, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (2025). DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1676585

Journal information: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 

Joachim Keppler received a Ph.D. in physics at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen, with a specialization in quantum field theory. In 2012, Keppler launched the DIWISS Research Institute (www.diwiss.de/), which concentrates on the scientific study of consciousness pursuing an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of theoretical physics and cognitive neuroscience. The focus of Keppler's work is on exploring the fundamental mechanism underlying conscious processes and laying the foundations for a theory of consciousness.