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Cited by 62Anesthesia and Sedative AgentsAnesthesia and Neurotoxicity ResearchBiofield Effects and Biophysics

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 51 of the 54 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Anesthesia, consciousness and hydrophobic pockets–a unitary quantum hypothesis of anesthetic action

Hameroff, Stuart·1998·Toxicology Letters
DOI 10.1016/s0378-4274(98)00162-3
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Abstract

1. A consensus view holds that anesthetics act by van der Waals forces in hydrophobic pockets of select brain proteins to ablate consciousness. 2. What is consciousness? Enigmatic features of consciousness (e.g. 'qualia', binding, non-computability, pre-conscious-->conscious transition, nondeterministic free will) may be explained by the occurrence of quantum coherent states in the brain. 3. Van der Waals electron pair couplings (London forces) in hydrophobic pockets in non-anesthetic (conscious) conditions are a particular type of quantum capable of supporting macroscopic quantum coherence. 4. The mechanism of anesthetics may be to inhibit electron mobility and London forces necessary for quantum states and consciousness in hydrophobic pockets of select brain proteins.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/s0378-4274(98)00162-3

Cites

51 of 51 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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Claims the paper makes

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Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Cytoskeletal microtubules have been considered as a candidate target of anesthetic action for over 50 years.

    “Cytoskeletal microtubules (MTs) have been considered as a candidate target of anesthetic action for over 50 years (Allison and Nunn, 1968; S. Hameroff, 1998).”

    From Microtubule-stabilizer epothilone B delays anesthetic-induced unconsciousness in rats (2024) · cites this paper as S. Hameroff, 1998

  • Gene expression after exposure to anaesthetic compounds is concentrated on microtubule dependent functions.

    “Craddock et al. propose that tubulin, the protein subunit of microtubules, seems the most likely due to the fact that gene expression after exposure to anaesthetic compounds is concentrated on microtubule dependent functions 64,79 .”

    From Quantum effects in the brain: A review (2020) · cites this paper as [79]

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

3 of the 54 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Hameroff, S.R. and Penrose, R. (1996b) Conscious events as orchestrated spacetime selections. J. Consciousness Studies 3(1), 36–53. http://www.u.arizona.edu/∼hameroff/hardfina.html
  2. Penrose, R., 1994. Shadows of the Mind. Oxford Press, Oxford, UK.

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Related

Metadata

Authors
Hameroff, S.
Affiliations
University of Arizona (US)
Corresponding author
Hameroff, Stuart
ORCID
Hameroff, Stuart
Venue
Toxicology Letters
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
1998-11
Volume
100-101
Pages
31-39
ISSN
0378-4274 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/s0378-4274(98)00162-3
OpenAlex
W2075371723
Cited by
62
References
54
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
FWCI
0.61
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Toxicology Letters (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Anesthesia and Sedative Agents
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Anesthesia and Neurotoxicity Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Biofield Effects and Biophysics
Keywords
anesthetic mechanisms, consciousness, hydrophobic pocket, quantum coherence, van der Waals interactions, brain proteins, qualia, binding problem, free will, electron mobility
MeSH terms
Anesthesia, Anesthetics, Animals, Brain Chemistry, Chemistry, Physical, Consciousness, Humans, Quantum Theory, Chemical Phenomena

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