It appears the tide has turned considerably. Roger Penrose's book Shadows of the Mind gets into the subject of quantum mechanics and consciousness rather aggressively. I included some links at 3121, but lurkers might want to cut directly to his response to critics.
Francis Crick, of double helix fame and proponent of directed panspermia (alien first cause), also takes a stab at consciousness. In The Astonishing Hypothesis he takes metaphysical naturalism "all the way" by suggesting the soul is merely a manifestation of the physical brain. From what I've read, his work is not well received except by evangelical atheists.
My two cents is the spiritual realm exists separate from the physical realm and that the brain is more like a receiver (a TV set) for the consciousness, which resides in the spiritual realm. I believe Roger Penrose is on a path that would lead to that conclusion with many of his readers, those who are not obliged to the solely materialistic worldview.