Quantum Toolbox for Neurobiology Sensory Systems

The quantum-like paradigm has emerged over the last decade to describe non-linear, dynamical, complex phenomena using quantum mechanics as a tool. In essence, it takes advantage of the linearity of quantum information processing, allowing for complex correlations through entanglement. In a quantum- and neuroscience truly interdisciplinary research, we found that an open quantum spin network, mapping a neural system, can successfully simulate the human sense of number as a global dynamical property, in contrast with the poor performance of conventional Artificial Neural Networks. Here, we discuss how the simulation can be extended to other important complex perceptual phenomena like the perception of space, time, and numbers, known to be interdependent with each other, suggesting that a shared neuronal mechanism is operating in the brain. Here we present a research program that aims at creating a quantum toolbox to simulate this integrated space-time-number sensory ability of our brain, with open-quantum systems methods. We will explore the implications of more general quantum-matter paradigms, and their possible coding into a quantum technology.