Was Penrose Right? NEW EVIDENCE For Quantum Effects In The Brain

Was Penrose Right? NEW EVIDENCE For Quantum Effects In The Brain

From PBS Space Time by PBS

April 30, 2026 · 27 min

About this episode

The episode discusses new evidence supporting Roger Penrose's theory that consciousness may be linked to quantum processes in the brain.

Check out the Space Time Merch Store https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetime Nobel laureate Roger Penrose is widely held to be one of the most brilliant living physicists for his wide-ranging work from black holes to cosmology. And then there’s his idea about how consciousness is caused by quantum processes. Most scientists have dismissed this as a cute eccentricity—a guy like Roger gets to have at least one crazy theory without being demoted from the supersmartypants club. The most common argument for this dismissal is that quantum effects can’t survive long enough in an environment as warm and chaotic as the brain. Well, a new study has revealed that Penrose’s prime candidate molecule for this quantum activity does indeed exhibit large scale quantum activity. So was Penrose right after all? Are you a quantum entity? PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to:http://to.pbs.org/DonateSPACE Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime Search the Entire Space Time…

People in this episode

Host: Matt O'Dowd

Topics covered

  • quantum consciousness
  • Roger Penrose
  • quantum effects
  • brain activity
  • science
  • physics

Keywords

  • quantum processes
  • consciousness
  • Roger Penrose
  • brain
  • quantum activity
  • Nobel laureate
  • science

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: PBS

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