The Hormesis of Thinking: A Deeper Quantum Thermodynamic Perspective?

Abstract

We are able to read this because of quantum and thermodynamic principles that via an inorganic proton gradient, possibly generated 4.2 billion years ago, gave rise to a system that has an awareness of time and space by using energy to integrate information. Life can be described as a dissipative system driven by an energy gradient that uses information to positively reinforce its self-sustaining structure, which in turn increases its non-linear decisional capacity. Key in the evolution of life has been stress coupled to natural selection, which usually meant an increased demand for energy. As hormesis describes the adaptive response to stress, we propose that hormesis embraces not only the evolution of life, but that of intelligence itself, as natural selection would favour systems that enhances its efficiency. A component of the hormetic response in eukaryotes is the mitochondrion, which itself relies on quantum effects such as tunnelling. This suggests that quantum effects control the stability of individual cells as well as long-lived cellular networks. Hormesis, which can be anti-inflammatory, is therefore key in maintaining the functional stability of complex systems, including the brain. In contrast, a lack of classical hormetic factors, such as physical activity, plant polyphenols, or calorie restriction, will lead to accelerated cognitive decline, which is associated with increased inflammation. However, there may be another previously unidentified factor that could also be considered hormetic, and that is thinking itself. Here we propose that the process of "thinking", and managing complex movement, induces "stress" in the neuronal system and is therefore in itself part of maintaining cognitive health and reserve throughout life. In effect, the right amount of thinking and information processing can beneficially induce adaptation, and this itself could be explainable by quantum thermodynamics.

Thermodynamics and Inflammation: Insights into Quantum Biology and Ageing

“…This might even suggest that thinking, and the effort of thinking (processing information), could be hormeticand, possibly, anti-inflammatory. This, of course, would reflect the informational cycle of Brillouin and the stabilization of a structure through information [96]. However, with "age", this ability inextricably decreases.…”

“…The flip side is that inflammation, and/or a lack of hormesis, could have the opposite effect and result in the break-up of the network, which might reduce its ability to store information. Thus, the prediction could then be made, certainly in a higher organism, such as a human, that inflammation could reduce intelligence [96]. Indeed, one emerging observation is that a higher body mass index (BMI) often results in reduced cognitive abilities; for instance, it can be associated with episodic memory deficits in young adults [155].…”

Making sense of oxygen; quantum leaps with ‘physics‐iology’

“…Mitochondrial formation of 'spin-correlated radical pairs' , generated through activation of molecular O 2 by reduced flavins (Usselman et al, 2016), superposition, tunnelling, entanglement and altered coherence triggered by changing mitochondrial membrane potential, have since emerged as quantum contributors implicated in the coordinated regulation of cellular bioenergetics, coupling electron flow and protonation through a process known as redox tuning at a quantum coherence 'sweet spot ' (de Vries, Dorner, Strampraad, & Friedrich, 2015;Nunn, Guy, & Bell, 2017). The nuclear spin properties of phosphorous allow for quantum processing in the brain via transfer of information (qubits) via quantum-entangled pairs protected by so-called Posner clusters, affecting neurotransmitter release and neuronal firing rates, notwithstanding enhanced chemical reactivity of ROS (Fisher & Radzihovsky, 2018).…”