Post by auntym on Nov 11, 2014 12:09:33 GMT -6
www.medicaldaily.com/paranormal-activity-or-trick-mind-scientists-recreate-ghosts-lab-309614
Paranormal Activity Or Trick Of The Mind? Scientists Recreate Ghosts In The Lab VIDEO
Nov 6, 2014
By Dana Dovey
You’re home alone and feel a presence behind you — only there’s no one there. Do you brush it off as a trick of the mind or are you part of the 45 percent of the U.S. population who think, just maybe, it could be something else? A recent Swiss study has offered a more scientific explanation for feeling something that just isn’t there, suggesting it really is all in our heads. Although these findings aren’t about to suddenly convert believers into skeptics, at the very least, they may open our minds to the idea that the line between reality and perception is much more abstract than commonly believed.
Humans’ fascination with unseen entities has existed from the dawn of time. A team of researchers from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland were particularly interested in not the appearance of ghosts but rather the sense of feeling you’re not alone, especially in individuals who had recently gone through traumatic experiences or suffered from a psychiatric condition. The team set out to see if it was possible to recreate a similar experience, only not in a spooky abandoned house but in a controlled laboratory.
They first analyzed the brains of 12 patients with neurological disorders who had experienced some sort of paranormal experience involving an “apparition.” According to the press release, the majority of the patients were epileptic. MRI scans revealed that on a neurological level, three regions in the patients’ brains had significant interferences: the insular cortex, parietal-frontal cortex, and the temporo-parietal cortex. These regions are known for their involvement in self-awareness, movement, and the sense of position in space, all extremely important in an individual’s perception of their own bodies.
The participants were not told of the true purpose of the experiment in an effort to obtain the most genuine reactions. In the first experiment, the scientists tested the participants’ spatial discrepancy. A robotic device touched the volunteers on their back, synchronizing their movements with the hopes of creating confusion. Amazingly, the participants' brains were able to adapt to the “dissonance” experiment and confusion was averted.
CONTINUE READING: www.medicaldaily.com/paranormal-activity-or-trick-mind-scientists-recreate-ghosts-lab-309614
Neuroscientists awaken ghosts… hidden in our cortex
Neuroscientists awaken ghosts… hidden in our cortex
Published on Nov 6, 2014
EPFL News: Ghosts only exist in our minds, and we know precisely where to look for them. Patients suffering from neurological or psychiatric conditions have often reported a strange “feeling of a presence”. EPFL researchers have now succeeded in recreating this illusion in the lab.
To know more: actu.epfl.ch/news/neuroscientists-awaken-ghosts-hidden-in-our-cortex/
Paranormal Activity Or Trick Of The Mind? Scientists Recreate Ghosts In The Lab VIDEO
Nov 6, 2014
By Dana Dovey
You’re home alone and feel a presence behind you — only there’s no one there. Do you brush it off as a trick of the mind or are you part of the 45 percent of the U.S. population who think, just maybe, it could be something else? A recent Swiss study has offered a more scientific explanation for feeling something that just isn’t there, suggesting it really is all in our heads. Although these findings aren’t about to suddenly convert believers into skeptics, at the very least, they may open our minds to the idea that the line between reality and perception is much more abstract than commonly believed.
Humans’ fascination with unseen entities has existed from the dawn of time. A team of researchers from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland were particularly interested in not the appearance of ghosts but rather the sense of feeling you’re not alone, especially in individuals who had recently gone through traumatic experiences or suffered from a psychiatric condition. The team set out to see if it was possible to recreate a similar experience, only not in a spooky abandoned house but in a controlled laboratory.
They first analyzed the brains of 12 patients with neurological disorders who had experienced some sort of paranormal experience involving an “apparition.” According to the press release, the majority of the patients were epileptic. MRI scans revealed that on a neurological level, three regions in the patients’ brains had significant interferences: the insular cortex, parietal-frontal cortex, and the temporo-parietal cortex. These regions are known for their involvement in self-awareness, movement, and the sense of position in space, all extremely important in an individual’s perception of their own bodies.
The participants were not told of the true purpose of the experiment in an effort to obtain the most genuine reactions. In the first experiment, the scientists tested the participants’ spatial discrepancy. A robotic device touched the volunteers on their back, synchronizing their movements with the hopes of creating confusion. Amazingly, the participants' brains were able to adapt to the “dissonance” experiment and confusion was averted.
CONTINUE READING: www.medicaldaily.com/paranormal-activity-or-trick-mind-scientists-recreate-ghosts-lab-309614
Neuroscientists awaken ghosts… hidden in our cortex
Neuroscientists awaken ghosts… hidden in our cortex
Published on Nov 6, 2014
EPFL News: Ghosts only exist in our minds, and we know precisely where to look for them. Patients suffering from neurological or psychiatric conditions have often reported a strange “feeling of a presence”. EPFL researchers have now succeeded in recreating this illusion in the lab.
To know more: actu.epfl.ch/news/neuroscientists-awaken-ghosts-hidden-in-our-cortex/