A Quantum–Neurobiological Framework for Consciousness: EMQA‑NBN as an Extension of EMQA

This work proposes a philosophical paradigm and possible ontology for consciousness and awareness: they arise from biological systems operating near metastable amplification thresholds, where microscopic stochastic perturbations—including quantum tunneling, thermal noise, and other non-classical fluctuations—can bias macroscopic neural dynamics without requiring long-lived, macro-scale quantum coherence. This metastability framework is developed into a specific neurobiological model: the Entropy-Mediated Quantum Amplification–Neurobiological Network (EMQA-NBN). This work introduces a layered ontology of subjective experience—consciousness (raw phenomenal presence), awareness (recursive cognitive access), and experionoesis (their integrated continuum)—grounded in a biophysical mechanism of entropy-mediated metastable amplification within microtubule-NMDAR regulatory loops. The framework accounts for the modulation of consciousness under anesthesia, psychedelics, and neuropsychiatric conditions, generating testable predictions. The model centers on local electrodynamic super-complexes formed by microtubules, interfacial water, and metabolic excitation currents. Maintained in a critical, metastable state, these complexes utilize ambient thermal noise (stochastic resonance) to enable brief quantum events to generate a low-amplitude excitation current. This classically describable electromagnetic field biases neural thresholds and sustains the baseline conscious field. Rather than transmitting fragile coherence across open cytoplasm or the synaptic cleft, the system utilizes a multi-stage Quantum–Classical–Quantum (QCQ) relay. Here, pre-synaptic quantum collapses are transduced into non-overlapping spatiotemporal glutamate density envelopes, which post-synaptically bias and correlate new quantum states via local proton-hopping and calcium dynamics. Keywords: Consciousness, Awareness, Microtubules, NMDA receptors, Calcium signaling, Excitation current, Quantum neurobiology, EMQA.