Bernard Haisch, a German physicist in 2006, notable for his research on active stars as well as his receptivity to unconventional studies, went a giant step ahead in 2006.
He stressed that the quantum forces that permeate all of the space (the professed "quantum vacuum") produce and transmit awareness, which subsequently arises in any highly complex approach with the transmission of energy through it. According to Haisch, not only the brain but any potential physical system could be affected.
It's all extremely speculative, but it's something one can analyze to confirm or disprove.