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Is the brain a catalyst and can enzyme catalysis shed light on consciousness?

April 26, 2017brain catalysis catalyst Consciousness enzyme light shed

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Is the brain a catalyst and can enzyme catalysis shed light on consciousness?

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Christopher Davia (Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213). I propose that living processes, from the smallest to the largest (including the brain), are processes of catalysis. Biological processes persist, be they chemical, neural, perceptual or behavioral, as a direct consequence of the way that they mediate transitions in their local environments. I suggest that the process of catalysis provides energy at points or regions of symmetry or invariance. A consequence of the process of catalysis then, is to bridge the discontinuity between energy and structure by utilizing the order in the relationship between the reagent(s) and products(s) such that energy and structure work together. Catalysts are generally understood to accelerate rates of reactions by providing paths to the transition state. The transition state can be thought of as state that is half way between the reagents and the products of a reaction. Recently it ha