Quantum Computing for Neuroscience: Theory, Methods and Opportunities

Modern neuroscience research faces critical computational bottlenecks. Neural recordingtechnology advances allow for increasingly large, multidimensional datasets which containnon-stationary signals and complex nonlinear interactions across multiple spatiotemporalscales. At the same time, classical computing approaches are reaching their physicallimitations. The convergence of these two factors creates an urgent need for alternativecomputational approaches. Here, we argue that quantum computing offers transformativesolutions in three different ways. First, quantum algorithms and their implementation onquantum computing hardware can reveal novel neural features, including subtle dynamics andemergent network properties, that remain computationally inaccessible to classical methods.Indeed, recent findings in other scientific fields have already uncovered properties thatclassical approaches have failed to capture. Second, quantum systems provide exponentialscaling advantages for analyzing high-dimensional neural data. This includes demonstratedsignificant speedups for network state evaluation and exponentially improved efficiency indetecting correlations across sparse, noisy datasets which are typical of neuroscienceresearch. Third, quantum formalism offers alternative mathematical frameworks for understanding neural information processing. These frameworks better account for context-dependence, probabilistic dynamics, and multi-pathway causation than classical deterministicmodels. While current pre-fault tolerant devices face limitations in scalability and decoherence,developing hybrid quantum-classical approaches already show practical advantages in otherareas of research. Therefore, beyond computational speedups, quantum approaches mayfundamentally transform how we understand activity in the brain, neural informationprocessing, and the resulting cognitive phenomena.