컴퓨팅
뇌는 양자 컴퓨터인가? 새로운 통찰이 가능성을 시사한다
뇌는 시계인가 컴퓨터인가?
Consciousness, higher levels of thought, and how the brain works are still a mystery today. Over history, the functioning of the human mind has been seen through various analogies, usually using the most advanced technology of the time.
Ancient Greeks saw it as a water clock. Later thinkers believed it was powered by the movement of body fluids, then a mechanical clock, then an electric circuit. Today, we see it as a very powerful computer powered by electric signals, with each neuron a sort of biological transistor.
In practice, none of these explanations, including the “biological computer,” fully account for how the brain works.
For example, the computation capacity of the brain works on only 12-25 watts of electrical power, barely enough to power an LED light. In contrast, just one AI chip from Nvidia consumes 250-700W for much less “thinking” capacity.
It is also unclear if “more computing power” is actually the answer to generating complex thoughts and abstract reasoning to go beyond just guessing like LLMs (Large Language Models) are currently doing.
This is why other theories have been proposed, notably that quantum effects are responsible for the emergence of consciousness.
뇌는 양자적인가?
펜로즈의 지지
There is a theory dubbed “quantum consciousness,” which stipulates that brain functions and consciousness are derived from quantum effects like the collapse of the quantum wavefunction.
This is a strange part of quantum physics, where particles go from a state of simultaneous properties to a more “normal” state where they have one defined characteristic. It has notably been popularized by the concept of Schrödinger’s cat.
출처: Wikipedia
The quantum consciousness theory has been championed by Sir Roger Penrose, a famous physicist who won 2020년 물리학 노벨상, 천체물리학 및 블랙홀 수학 모델링 연구로 수상.
출처: Nobel Prize
While he may be out of his immediate field of expertise, Penrose’s reputation as a world-class genius gave some attention to this idea.
미세소관 계산
Penrose’s theory centers on structures in neurons called microtubules, which form the “skeleton” of the cells. These structures are essential in performing computations that ultimately result in consciousness. This idea was first published 1996년.
This theory would also 전신 마취가 어떻게 작동하는지를 설명할 수 있으며, 이는 거의 한 세기 동안 사용되었음에도 여전히 미해결된 질문입니다. 이는 튜블린의 양자 효과를 손상시켜 의식을 차단하지만 무의식적인 뇌 활동은 차단하지 않습니다, blocking consciousness but not unconscious brain activity.
You can also watch Sir Penrose explain his theory himself in this 42-minute video:
비판
The idea of quantum computing happening in the brain has been immediately criticized by a large part of the scientific community. The main problem is that quantum entanglement and collapse of the quantum wavefunction can only be observed in very special environments, generally with pure elements, vacuum, and/or very low temperature, often barely a few degrees above absolute zero.
These are also the type of conditions currently required for quantum computers, as we described in our article on the topic: “양자 컴퓨팅의 현재 상태”.
An organic brain would be too warm and too complex of a medium to conduct any quantum calculation.
뇌에서의 일련의 양자 발견
The idea that no quantum phenomenon could take place in the messy context of organic matter is being increasingly challenged.
We already suspect that the magnetic sense of birds, allowing them to locate the north and migrate, is linked to such a quantum effect.
When these radicals eventually react, the outcome will depend on the strength and orientation of the magnetic field. The thinking is that the bird is sensitive to this in a way that allows it to tell north from south. The process is highly quantum as the radical pair electrons are entangled, which means that they act as a single quantum object, even though they are some distance apart.
Musser, “라디칼 의식 이론?”
최근 측정
2022년에, 뇌의 양자 신호가 “심장 박동 유발 전위”(HEPs)와 상관관계가 있음을 보여주는 실험이 있는 것으로 보입니다. This could demonstrate that quantum entanglement is possible in a human body.
(양자 얽힘 는 두 입자가 짝을 이루어 신호 없이도, 빛의 속도보다 빠르게 서로 ‘통신’할 수 있는 현상입니다).
More recently, in 2024년 4월, a new insight into the brain demonstrated that at least some quantum effect can exist in neurons, where they were previously thought impossible.
More precisely, it is a phenomenon called 초복사. In a publication titled “생물학적 구조에서 트립토판 대규모 네트워크에서의 자외선 초복사”, they demonstrate that large structures built out of the amino acid tryptophan, like neurons tubulin, can display superradiance.
출처: ACS Publication
Such display of stable quantum effects from micron-scale structures is unprecedented, especially for materials as complex and “noisy” as biological molecules in living cells.
Going maybe even further, 일부 과학자들은 유기 뇌의 기억이 초복사를 이용한 홀로그램 시스템을 통해 생성된다고 제안하고 있습니다.
그렇다면 뇌는 양자 슈퍼컴퓨터인가?
It is way too early to say for certain. However, with the discovery of superradiance in tubulin, the main argument that quantum effects cannot work in neurons’ substructures is severely weakened.
There is still quite a gap from this observation to demonstrating that consciousnesses is the result of “gravity-induced collapse of the quantum wavefunction”, per Penrose’s theory. Nevertheless, the latest discovery implies that neurons could transmit information through optical signals, like optic fibers.
This would replace the more commonly understood idea that neuronal signaling involves ions moving across membranes from one end of the neuron to the other.
Superradiance is an extremely quick phenomenon that happens in the range of picoseconds (a billionth of a millisecond). This would make any signal transmitted through this effect hundreds of millions of times faster than chemical processes alone would allow.
응용
신경퇴행성 질환
While fascinating, it might not be obvious what is the direct application of such discovery.
One could be helping to understand and prevent neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Alzheimer’s has been associated with high degrees of oxidative stress—when the body carries a large number of free radicals, which can emit damaging, high-energy UV light particles.
Tryptophan can absorb this ultraviolet light and re-emit it at a lower, safer energy. And, as this study found, very large tryptophan networks can do this even more efficiently and robustly because of their powerful quantum effects.
This is not really a new theory, 1989년부터 미세소관이 알츠하이머에 관여한다고 가설이 제시되어 왔습니다. It is known that tau protein detaches from microtubules and sticks to other tau molecules in the disease, forming threads that eventually join to form tangles inside neurons.
양자 컴퓨팅
The demonstration of a quantum effect surviving in a messy environment challenges everything we thought we knew about these phenomena.
It could be of great importance for the emerging field of quantum computing. The main hindrance to developing quantum computers is keeping the quantum effect going instead of collapsing into “normal” matter.
Until now, the only strategy has been to create an ultra-cold special environment for storing the qubit. This is both a technical challenge and very energy intensive, pumping up the complexity and price of such a type of computing.
These new results will be of interest to the large community of researchers in open quantum systems and quantum computation because the theoretical methods used in this study are widely employed in those fields to understand complex quantum networks in noisy environments
Pr. Nicolò Defenu – Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich in Switzerland
This opens the way for more efficient and maybe more stable and less energy-intensive processes for the future generations of quantum computers.
Another option could be to leverage superradiance, now demonstrated to be a much more robust phenomenon than previously thought.
“Single-photon superradiance promises to yield new tools for storing quantum information, and this work showcases its effects in a totally new and different context.
We will certainly be examining closely the implications for quantum effects in living systems for years to come.
Marlan Scully – Laser pioneer & theoretical quantum optics physicist
So, not only could computing itself one day be based on micron-scale quantum effect, but memory/information storage could use superradiance as well.
생물학적 컴퓨터
Lastly, if neurons are indeed able to perform some sort of quantum computing in any form, this could change the potential of cerebral organoids. These are artificially grown brain tissues currently used for biotech research on neurodegenerative diseases and the brain in general.
Organoids could be used to create biological chip processors, which would be a lot more energy-efficient than silicon-based chips. AI가 전 세계 에너지 공급의 점점 더 큰 비중을 차지할 것으로 예측됨에 따라, this could become required sooner rather than later.
We explored the progress of cerebral organoid technology in our article “오가노이드 지능을 향한 의미 있는 단계.”
양자 뇌에 투자하기
As an idea at the very edge of science, there is currently no direct application of these discoveries. However, quantum computing and cerebral organoids-related companies are available to investors.
You can invest in quantum-related companies through many brokers, and you can find here, on securities.io, our recommendations for the best brokers in 미국, 캐나다, 호주, 영국, 그 외 다수 국가.
If you are not interested in picking specific quantum computing companies, you can also look into quantum computing ETFs like Defiance Quantum ETF (QTUM) which will provide a more diversified exposure to capitalize on the quantum computing industry. Or you can look at our article on the “최고의 양자 컴퓨팅 기업 5선”.
양자 및 신경 컴퓨팅 기업
1. Intel
(INTL )
Intel은 주요 칩 생산업체이며, 이 강점을 양자 컴퓨팅 분야에 활용하려는 것으로 보입니다.
It recently released “Tunnel Falls”, the “가장 진보된 실리콘 스핀 큐비트 칩”. What is remarkable is that it is not a prototype but a chip built at scale, with a 95% yield rate across the wafer and voltage uniformity. This opens the way to mass production of quantum computing chips, something for now elusive in a nascent and quickly changing industry.
출처: Intel
Faithful to its roots, Intel is also developing the software to utilize its chips, with the release of the Intel Quantum SDK. This provides the guideline for programmers to develop software for quantum computing compatible with Intel quantum chip design, which has historically been a very strong & profitable business moat for Intel’s conventional chip business.
출처: Intel
The arrival of scalable quantum chip manufacturing could be as revolutionary for the industry as any other more technical scientific breakthrough, bringing down costs, and setting common programming standards and chip architectures.
Intel은 경험을 통해 이러한 힘이 컴퓨팅 산업에서 얼마나 강력한지 알고 있는 기업입니다. 1960년대 이후의 혁신과 관련 특허를 여전히 활용하고 있습니다.
2. BICO Group AB (BICO.ST)
One way to study the brain and nerves is to use cerebral organoids. These artificially created mini-brains can be used to replicate in a lab the reaction of neurons to potential therapies, helping researchers find treatment for the full real brain.
We discussed in more detail how it works and the latest developments in that field in “오가노이드 지능을 향한 의미 있는 단계.”
Recently, 위스콘신-매디슨 대학교 연구원들이 훨씬 더 복잡한 뇌 오가노이드를 3D 프린팅했습니다. They did so with a Cellink bioprinter, opening new potential for this machine in neuroscience research.
출처: Cellink
In 2021, Cellink was renamed as the BICO Group, following its acquisition of Cytena in 2019 and Scienion in 2020.
Cellink is still the brand name for the bioprinting part of the business. It is the idea to re-use 3D printing methods to create on-demand 3D tissues or organs. (You can read a discussion on this topic in “3D 프린팅 인간 장기 – 얼마나 현실적인가?”).
바이오프린팅 represents around 1/5th of the business, with the 생명과학 자동화 부문 making more than 3/5th of revenues.
While not alone in the field, Cellink is clearly a very advanced bioprinting equipment manufacturer. Pr Zhang’s achievement using these machines shows their potential in neurology research, a field that is not really using bioprinting at this time.
In the long run, bioprinting companies are likely to evolve from providing tools to researchers to becoming suppliers of pharmaceutical companies’ bioprinting therapies for patients. This will, in turn, completely change the number of bioprinters in use and, more importantly, the volume of consumables sold every month.
This is the same process that occurred for other biolab equipment manufacturers, including genome sequencing machines from PacBio (PACB) and Illumina (ILMN), which end up making 80% of their revenues from recurring sales of consumables.
If cerebral organoid research is given an aggressive push due to its potential in computing and quantum physics research, it could be very beneficial for companies involved in producing them, like Cellink/BICO.
3. Final Spark
Founded by Martin Kutter and Fred Jordan in 2014 and based out of Switzerland, Final Spark advocates for biological chip processors that consume much less energy (1 billion times more efficient than silicon chips).
As 스타트업은 이미 10 million neurons 를 테스트했다고 주장합니다, in its endeavor to build thinking machines from live human neurons derived from skin.
The startup is leveraging sophisticated cell-culturing techniques to exhibit the capability of self-sustaining computing for the creation of future AI models.
Final Spark는 이제 클라우드를 통해 바이오컴퓨팅 용량에 대한 접근을 제공하고 있습니다. 그들의 Neuroplatform은 연구 기관에 월 $500의 사용자당 요금으로 이용 가능합니다.
