ArticleScientific reports2016
Possible existence of optical communication channels in the brain.
Article in Scientific reports, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers.
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Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed.
- Simulation of Neural Signals' Spectrum and Transmission from the Perspective of Impedance-Matching Effect of the Ranvier Node.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Quantum-Tunnelling Oscillators for Cognitive Modelling and Neural Computation: Foundations, Machine-Vision Realisation and Applications.Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- First Experimental Measurements of Biophotons from Astrocytes and Glioblastoma Cell Cultures.Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Self-referential processing as the biological switch between classical and quantum functioning of the brain.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Ultra-weak photon emission: from oxidative metabolism to DNA-based communication: a review of biochemical, biophysical and quantum biological perspectives.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Anisotropic light propagation in human brain white matter.Neurophotonics · 2025Article
- Article
- Open quantum systems theory of ultraweak ultraviolet photon emissions: Revisiting Gurwitsch's onion experiment as a prototype for quantum biology.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2024Review
- The Constrained Disorder Principle May Account for Consciousness.Brain sciences · 2024Review
- Ultra weak photon emission-a brief review.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Review
- Biophysical control of plasticity and patterning in regeneration and cancer.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2023Review
- Photons Induce Vesicular Exocytotic Release of Glutamate in a Power-Dependent Way.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Energetic homeostasis achieved through biophoton energy and accompanying medication treatment resulted in sustained levels of Thyroiditis-Hashimoto's, iron, vitamin D & vitamin B12.Metabolism open · 2023Article
- Review
- Reduced biophotonic activities and spectral blueshift in Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia models with cognitive impairment.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2023Article
- Photons guided by axons may enable backpropagation-based learning in the brain.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Simulation of nerve fiber based on anti-resonant reflecting optical waveguide.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- A Transmissive Theory of Brain Function: Implications for Health, Disease, and Consciousness.NeuroSci · 2022Article
- Magnetic field effects in biology from the perspective of the radical pair mechanism.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2022Review
- Radical pairs may explain reactive oxygen species-mediated effects of hypomagnetic field on neurogenesis.PLoS computational biology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Given that many fundamental questions in neuroscience are still open, it seems pertinent to explore whether the brain might use other physical modalities than the ones that have been discovered so far. In particular it is well established that neurons can emit photons, which prompts the question whether these biophotons could serve as signals between neurons, in addition to the well-known electro-chemical signals. For such communication to be targeted, the photons would need to travel in waveguides. Here we show, based on detailed theoretical modeling, that myelinated axons could serve as photonic waveguides, taking into account realistic optical imperfections. We propose experiments, both in vivo and in vitro, to test our hypothesis. We discuss the implications of our results, including the question whether photons could mediate long-range quantum entanglement in the brain.
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Registered trials
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