International Journal of Advance Research Publication and Reviews

International Journal of Advance Research Publication and Reviews
Peer-Reviewed | Multi-Disciplinary Journal

ISSN: 3049-0103 (O)

Impact Factor: 4.33

Contextuality Signatures in Organoid Intelligence: Operationalizing Quantum-Like Cognition in Wetware

Author

Ian Staley

Abstract

 Quantum-like models of cognition account for order effects, conjunction and disjunction fallacies, and contextuality in human decision data using the Hilbert-space formalism without claiming literal quantum processes in the brain. Two decades of theoretical development have produced a mature mathematical apparatus, but its empirical foundation rests almost entirely on human-subject paradigms subject to linguistic priming confounds, demand characteristics, and replication concerns. This paper proposes that engineered brain-organoid preparations on multielectrode arrays, specifically Cortical Labs CL1 and DishBrain-class systems, constitute the first substrate on which the structural commitments of quantum-like cognition can be tested without these confounds. I specify four operational signatures: sequential-stimulation order effects, Contextuality-by-Default cyclic-system inequalities, response replicability under non-invasive measurement, and interference in combined stimulation. For each I characterize the formal observable, the discriminating prediction against classical adaptive-learning baselines, and the substrate-level constraints imposed by current commercial wetware. The paper is a theoretical specification, not an experimental protocol, and is calibrated for falsifiability: a positive result on any signature would constrain classical models of organoid learning without confirming quantum-like dynamics; a fully negative result would narrow, though not conclusively delimit, the empirical scope of the program.

Keywords

quantum-like cognition; contextuality; Contextuality-by-Default; organoid intelligence; wetware computing; multielectrode array

Full Text:

Download Paper PDF

References

  • Abramsky, S., & Brandenburger, A. (2011). The sheaf-theoretic structure of non-locality and contextuality. New Journal of Physics, 13, 113036. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/13/11/113036
  • Asano, M., & Khrennikov, A. (2026). Quantum-like models of cognition and decision making: Open-systems and Gorini-Kossakowski-Sudarshan-Lindblad dynamics(arXiv:2604.18643). arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.18643
  • Atmanspacher, H., & Römer, H. (2012). Order effects in sequential measurements of non-commuting psychological observables. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 56(4), 274-280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmp.2012.06.003
  • Basieva, I., Cervantes, V. H., Dzhafarov, E. N., & Khrennikov, A. (2019). True contextuality beats direct influences in human decision making. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 148(11), 1925-1937. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000585
  • Boyer-Kassem, T., Duchêne, S., & Guerci, E. (2016). Testing quantum-like models of judgment for question order effect. Mathematical Social Sciences, 80, 33-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mathsocsci.2016.01.001
  • Busemeyer, J. R., & Bruza, P. D. (2012). Quantum models of cognition and decision. Cambridge University Press.
  • Cai, H., Ao, Z., Tian, C., Wu, Z., Liu, H., Tchieu, J., Gu, M., Mackie, K., & Guo, F. (2023). Brain organoid reservoir computing for artificial intelligence. Nature Electronics, 6(12), 1032-1039. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-023-01069-w
  • Cervantes, V. H., & Dzhafarov, E. N. (2018). Snow Queen is evil and beautiful: Experimental evidence for probabilistic contextuality in human choices. Decision, 5(3), 193-204. https://doi.org/10.1037/dec0000095
  • Cortical Labs. (2025). CL1: The world's first code-deployable biological computer. https://corticallabs.com/cl1
  • Doyen, S., Klein, O., Pichon, C.-L., & Cleeremans, A. (2012). Behavioral priming: It's all in the mind, but whose mind? PLoS ONE, 7(1), e29081. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0029081
  • Dzhafarov, E. N., & Kujala, J. V. (2016). Context-content systems of random variables: The contextuality-by-default theory. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 74, 11-33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmp.2016.04.010
  • Dzhafarov, E. N., Kujala, J. V., & Larsson, J.-Å. (2015). Contextuality in three types of quantum-mechanical systems. Foundations of Physics, 45(7), 762-782. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-015-9882-9
  • Friston, K. (2010). The free-energy principle: A unified brain theory? Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11(2), 127-138. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2787
  • Fuchs, C. A., Mermin, N. D., & Schack, R. (2014). An introduction to QBism with an application to the locality of quantum mechanics. American Journal of Physics, 82(8), 749-754. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4874855
  • Fuyama, M., Khrennikov, A., & Ozawa, M. (2025). Quantum-like cognition and decision-making in the light of quantum measurement theory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 383(2309), 20240372. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2024.0372
  • Hagan, S., Hameroff, S. R., & Tuszyński, J. A. (2002). Quantum computation in brain microtubules: Decoherence and biological feasibility. Physical Review E, 65(6), 061901. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.65.061901
  • Hameroff, S., & Penrose, R. (2014). Consciousness in the universe: A review of the ‘Orch OR’ theory. Physics of Life Reviews, 11(1), 39-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plrev.2013.08.002
  • Hartung, T., Smirnova, L., Morales Pantoja, I. E., Akwaboah, A., Alam El Din, D.-M., Berlinicke, C. A., Boyd, J. L., Caffo, B. S., Cappiello, B., Cohen-Karni, T., Curley, J. L., Etienne-Cummings, R., Dastgheyb, R., Gracias, D. H., Gilbert, F., Habela, C. W., Han, F., Harris, T. D., Herrmann, K., ... Zack, D. J. (2023). The Baltimore declaration toward the exploration of organoid intelligence. Frontiers in Science, 1, 1068159. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsci.2023.1068159
  • Hinton, G. (2022). The forward-forward algorithm: Some preliminary investigations(arXiv:2212.13345). arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.13345
  • Jordan, F. D., Kutter, M., Comby, J.-M., Brozzi, F., & Kurtys, E. (2024). Open and remotely accessible Neuroplatform for research in wetware computing. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 7, 1376042. https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2024.1376042
  • Kagan, B. J., Kitchen, A. C., Tran, N. T., Habibollahi, F., Khajehnejad, M., Parker, B. J., Bhat, A., Rollo, B., Razi, A., & Friston, K. J. (2022). In vitro neurons learn and exhibit sentience when embodied in a simulated game-world. Neuron, 110(23), 3952-3969.e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.09.001
  • Khajehnejad, M., Habibollahi, F., Loeffler, A., Paul, A., Razi, A., & Kagan, B. J. (2025). Dynamic network plasticity and sample efficiency in biological neural cultures: A comparative study with deep reinforcement learning. Cyborg and Bionic Systems, 6, 0336. https://doi.org/10.34133/cbsystems.0336
  • Khrennikov, A. (2024). Ozawa's intersubjectivity theorem as objection to QBism individual agent perspective. International Journal of Theoretical Physics, 63(1), 23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10773-024-05552-8
  • Khrennikov, A., Iriki, A., & Basieva, I. (2025). Constructing a bridge between functioning of oscillatory neuronal networks and quantum-like cognition along with quantum-inspired computation and AI. BioSystems, 257, 105573. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystems.2025.105573
  • Khrennikov, A., Ozawa, M., Benninger, F., & Shor, O. (2025). Coupling quantum-like cognition with the neuronal networks within generalized probability theory. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 125, 102923. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmp.2025.102923
  • Kominis, I. K., Xie, X., Li, Z., Skotiniotis, M., & Tsironis, G. P. (2026). Searching for quantum effects in the brain: A Bell-type test for nonclassical latent representations in autoencoders(arXiv:2601.10588). arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.10588
  • Li, S., Liu, Y., Hua, S., Wang, Y., Sun, S., Jiang, L., Lu, C., Liu, J., Shi, H., Wu, P., Cai, X., & Luo, J. (2025). Advanced brain-on-a-chip for wetware computing: A review. Advanced Science, 12(33), e08120. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202508120
  • Mukherjee, S., & Mukherjee, B. (2021). Contextuality in neurobehavioural and collective intelligence systems. Quantum Reports, 3(4), 592-614. https://doi.org/10.3390/quantum3040038
  • Open Science Collaboration. (2015). Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science. Science, 349(6251), aac4716. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac4716
  • Ozawa, M., & Khrennikov, A. (2020). Application of theory of quantum instruments to psychology: Combination of question order effect with response replicability effect. Entropy, 22(1), 37. https://doi.org/10.3390/e22010037
  • Parr, T., Pezzulo, G., & Friston, K. J. (2022). Active inference: The free energy principle in mind, brain, and behavior. MIT Press.
  • Penrose, R. (1989). The emperor's new mind. Oxford University Press.
  • Pothos, E. M., & Busemeyer, J. R. (2022). Quantum cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 73, 749-778. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-033020-123501
  • Rovelli, C. (1996). Relational quantum mechanics. International Journal of Theoretical Physics, 35(8), 1637-1678. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02302261
  • Smirnova, L., Caffo, B. S., Gracias, D. H., Huang, Q., Morales Pantoja, I. E., Tang, B., Zack, D. J., Berlinicke, C. A., Boyd, J. L., Harris, T. D., Johnson, E. C., Kagan, B. J., Kahn, J., Muotri, A. R., Paulhamus, B. L., Schwamborn, J. C., Plotkin, J., Szalay, A. S., Vogelstein, J. T., ... Hartung, T. (2023). Organoid intelligence (OI): The new frontier in biocomputing and intelligence-in-a-dish. Frontiers in Science, 1, 1017235. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsci.2023.1017235
  • Staley, I. (2026). Final-state constraints and informational pruning in quantum histories. International Journal of Quantum Foundations, 12(2), 719-737. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19512844
  • Tegmark, M. (2000). Importance of quantum decoherence in brain processes. Physical Review E, 61(4), 4194-4206. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.61.4194
  • Wang, Z., & Busemeyer, J. R. (2013). A quantum question order model supported by empirical tests of an a priori and precise prediction. Topics in Cognitive Science, 5(4), 689-710. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12040

Wang, Z., Solloway, T., Shiffrin, R. M., & Busemeyer, J. R. (2014). Context effects produced by question orders reveal quantum nature of human judgments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(26), 9431-9436. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1407756

Top