Searching for Quantum Effects in the Brain: A Bell-Type Test for Nonclassical Latent Representations in Autoencoders
Primary research
#1252
- Canonical URL
- http://arxiv.org/abs/2601.10588v2
- Topic
- unassigned (set during synthesis)
- First seen
- 2026-08-04 07:15:58
- Last seen
- 2026-08-04 07:15:58
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- arXiv2026-08-04 07:15:23Searching for Quantum Effects in the Brain: A Bell-Type Test for Nonclassical Latent Representations in Autoencoders
Whether neural information processing is entirely classical or involves quantum-mechanical elements remains an open question. Here we propose a model-agnostic, information-theoretic test of nonclassicality that bypasses microscopic assumptions and instead probes the structure of neural representations themselves. Using autoencoders as a transparent model system, we introduce a Bell-type consistency test in latent space, and ask whether decoding statistics obtained under multiple readout contexts can be jointly explained by a single positive latent-variable distribution. By shifting the search for quantum-like signatures in neural systems from microscopic dynamics to experimentally testable constraints on information processing, this work opens a new route for probing the fundamental physics of neural computation. The proposed test identifies violations of classical latent-variable consistency at the level of statistical representations, without assuming a specific underlying physical mechanism.