Revolutionary Quantum Brain Discovery: New Hope in the Fight Against Alzheimer’s
amyloids alzheimers quantum brain discovery
Amyloids May Not Cause Alzheimer’s: New Quantum Brain Discovery Challenges
A distinctive quantum phenomenon in biology may be pivotal in unraveling a prevalent marker of Alzheimer’s disease, challenging prevailing assumptions and steering the pursuit of a cure.
Amyloid fibrils, fibrous protein structures within the brain, are intricately associated with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia. Experimental treatments often target these fibrils, typically focusing on reducing amyloid levels or preventing their formation.
Yet, perplexingly, numerous individuals with significant amyloid accumulation never develop dementia, and current treatment strategies aimed at amyloids have fallen short of expectations.
Another recognized marker of Alzheimer’s is allostatic load, which refers to the cumulative burden of chronic stress on the body. Increased oxidative stress elevates this load, heightening the risk of dementia.
In prior research, a team discovered that a specific quantum effect—single-photon superradiance—could persist in the tumultuous environment of the human body within networks of the amino acid tryptophan, potentially alleviating oxidative stress.
Now, under the leadership of Dr. Philip Kurian, principal investigator and founding director of the Quantum Biology Laboratory at Howard University, this team has found that tryptophan networks in amyloid fibrils exhibit an even greater capacity to harness superradiant effects.
This groundbreaking finding, published in Frontiers in Physics, carries significant implications for understanding the role of amyloids in Alzheimer’s.
amyloids alzheimers quantum brain discovery: Quantum Effects in Amyloid Fibrils
“Our earlier experimental validation of single-photon superradiance in protein fibers prompted us to explore other neurobiological structures, including amyloid fibrils,” explained Kurian.
“While the superradiant enhancement in quantum yield we observed earlier was modest yet detectable, our predicted superradiant enhancement for amyloid fibrils is substantial—up to five times the quantum yield of a solitary tryptophan molecule.
This discovery could revolutionize dementia treatments and reshape our understanding of information processing across the web of life.”
Oxidative stress, a known contributor to Alzheimer’s, arises when the body generates a surplus of free radicals, which can emit harmful, high-energy UV photons.
Single-photon superradiance is a quantum phenomenon where a network of molecules efficiently absorbs these high-energy photons and re-emits them at a reduced, safer energy level.
Implications for Alzheimer’s Disease and Future Research
Due to the high density of tryptophans in amyloid fibrils, arranged in multiple helices, their capability to absorb harmful photons and downconvert the energy—an act of photoprotection—is far greater than previously assumed.
This insight suggests that amyloid may not be a cause of Alzheimer’s, but rather a protective response by the body to an environment laden with a high proportion of UV photons from free radicals.
“The Kurian group has made an exceptional scientific contribution by illuminating the potential role of amyloid fibrils in mitigating oxidative stress and photophysical damage,” noted Professor Lon Schneider, director of the USC California Alzheimer’s Disease Center, who was not involved in the study.
“This work profoundly impacts our understanding of Alzheimer’s pathophysiology, as it challenges the prevailing notion that amyloid should be the primary target for treatment. Instead, Kurian’s research indicates that amyloid aggregation and fibril formation might be a defensive mechanism.”
The next step involves experimental validation of this hypothesis, but Kurian urges biologists and neuroscientists to broaden their perspective, recognizing that quantum insights are integral to life sciences.
“We aim to highlight the significance of light and quantum matter interactions across all living systems,” he emphasized.
The paper’s first author, Hamza Patwa, a 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholar and senior undergraduate intern at the Quantum Biology Laboratory, reflected,
“To me, this research embodies the essence of true science. To make such a cognitive leap, one must be proficient in multiple disciplines: open quantum systems, computational biology, and photophysics.
It’s a testament that science need not be compartmentalized. When we apply tools from various subfields to solve a problem, the true explanatory power of science emerges.”
study Reference: amyloids alzheimers quantum brain discovery
“Quantum-enhanced photoprotection in neuroprotein architectures emerges from collective light-matter interactions” by Hamza Patwa, Nathan S. Babcock, and Philip Kurian, 18 June 2024, Frontiers in Physics.
This study was funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Guy Foundation, and the Chaikin-Wile Foundation.