Mind-Matter Interactions and the Frontal Lobes of the Brain: A Novel Neurobiological Model of Psi Inhibition
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Plain English Summary
This is the ambitious sequel to a 2003 study, and it doubles down on a truly provocative idea: your frontal lobes might be a biological "psi filter" that blocks mind-over-matter abilities, and brain damage can lift that filter. A large team from major Toronto research hospitals tested two patients with frontal lobe damage on a mind-matter task using Princeton's random event generator. One patient had frontotemporal dementia (a condition that erodes the frontal lobes), and the other had a pocket of air compressing his left frontal lobe. Both patients significantly influenced the device when trying to push an arrow rightward, with effect sizes a jaw-dropping 4 to 15 times larger than normal participants. The effects appeared on the side opposite the brain damage, which mirrors how the brain typically controls behavior. Using MRI brain scans, the team pinpointed where both patients' damage overlapped: the left medial middle frontal region, specifically Brodmann areas 9, 10, and 32, brain areas tied to self-awareness. The random number generator passed rigorous randomness testing, and the study used real experimental controls rather than just theoretical averages. The authors even suggest that future researchers could temporarily dial down this brain region using non-invasive brain stimulation techniques like TMS or tDCS to test whether that enhances psychic performance in healthy people. It's a small-sample study, but the neuroanatomical specificity is remarkable and genuinely novel in psi research.
Abstract
Context: Despite a large literature on psi, which encompasses a range of experiences including putative telepathy (mind–mind connections), clairvoyance (perceiving distant objects or events), precognition (perceiving future events), and mind–matter interactions, there has been insufficient focus on the brain in relation to this controversial phenomenon. In contrast, our research is based on a novel neurobiological model suggesting that frontal brain systems act as a filter to inhibit psi and that the inhibitory mechanisms may relate to self-awareness. Objective: To identify frontal brain regions that may inhibit psi. Design: We used mind–matter interactions to study psi in two participants with frontal lobe damage. The experimental task was to influence numerical output of a Random Event Generator translated into movement of an arrow on a computer screen to the right or left. Brain MRI was analyzed to determine frontal volume loss. Results: The primary area of lesion overlap between the participants was in the left medial middle frontal region, an area related to self-awareness, and involved Brodmann areas 9, 10, and 32. Both participants showed a significant effect in moving the arrow to the right, i.e., contralateral to the side of primary lesion overlap. Effect sizes were much larger compared to normal participants. Conclusions: The medial frontal lobes may act as a biological filter to inhibit psi through mechanisms related to self-awareness. Neurobiological studies with a focus on the brain may open new avenues of research on psi and may significantly advance the state of this poorly understood field. Key words: mind–matter interactions, frontal lobes, psi filter, anomalous cognition, self-awareness, parapsychology
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Related Papers
Cites
- Effects of Frontal Lobe Lesions on Intentionality and Random Physical Phenomena — Freedman, Morris (2003)
- Correlations of Random Binary Sequences with Pre-Stated Operator Intention: A Review of a 12-Year Program — Jahn, Robert G (1997)
- Using Neuroimaging to Resolve the Psi Debate — Moulton, Samuel T (2008)
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📋 Cite this paper
Freedman, Morris, Binns, Malcolm, Gao, Fuqiang, Holmes, Melissa, Roseborough, Austyn, Strother, Stephen, Vallesi, Antonino, Jeffers, Stanley, Alain, Claude, Whitehouse, Peter, Ryan, Jennifer D, Chen, Robert, Cusimano, Michael D, Black, Sandra E (2018). Mind-Matter Interactions and the Frontal Lobes of the Brain: A Novel Neurobiological Model of Psi Inhibition. Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2017.12.002
@article{freedman_2018_mindmatter,
title = {Mind-Matter Interactions and the Frontal Lobes of the Brain: A Novel Neurobiological Model of Psi Inhibition},
author = {Freedman, Morris and Binns, Malcolm and Gao, Fuqiang and Holmes, Melissa and Roseborough, Austyn and Strother, Stephen and Vallesi, Antonino and Jeffers, Stanley and Alain, Claude and Whitehouse, Peter and Ryan, Jennifer D and Chen, Robert and Cusimano, Michael D and Black, Sandra E},
year = {2018},
journal = {Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing},
doi = {10.1016/j.explore.2017.12.002},
}