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Plain English Summary
Researchers at Harvard put psychic perception to a high-tech test using brain scanning (fMRI), and the results were a resounding "nope." Sixteen pairs of people with close bonds -- including identical twins and romantic partners -- tried a telepathy task where a sender attempted to mentally beam an image to a receiver lying inside a brain scanner. Across nearly 3,700 trials, guessing accuracy landed at exactly 50% -- textbook chance. Brain activity showed zero difference between psychic and non-psychic moments. Crucially, the same setup easily detected subtle emotional reactions to pictures, proving the equipment was sensitive enough to catch something real if it were there. The one participant who initially looked promising turned out to be a statistical fluke. This study remains the most prominent brain-imaging challenge to positive psi findings.
Actual Paper Abstract
Parapsychology is the scientific investigation of apparently paranormal mental phenomena (such as telepathy, i.e., ''mind reading''), also known as psi. Despite widespread public belief in such phenomena and over 75 years of experimentation, there is no compelling evidence that psi exists. In the present study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used in an effort to document the existence of psi. If psi exists, it occurs in the brain, and hence, assessing the brain directly should be more sensitive than using indirect behavioral methods (as have been used previously). To increase sensitivity, this experiment was designed to produce positive results if telepathy, clairvoyance (i.e., direct sensing of remote events), or precognition (i.e., knowing future events) exist. Moreover, the study included biologically or emotionally related participants (e.g., twins) and emotional stimuli in an effort to maximize experimental conditions that are purportedly conducive to psi. In spite of these characteristics of the study, psi stimuli and non-psi stimuli evoked indistinguishable neuronal responses—although differences in stimulus arousal values of the same stimuli had the expected effects on patterns of brain activation. These findings are the strongest evidence yet obtained against the existence of paranormal mental phenomena.
Research Notes
Most prominent null-result neuroimaging psi study, from Kosslyn's Harvard lab, published in JOCN. Provides the skeptical counterpoint to positive neuroimaging psi findings (Achterberg et al. 2005, Standish et al. 2003/2004). Uses fixed-effects analysis only, limiting generalizability. Funded by Bial Foundation.
Sixteen sender-receiver pairs (including identical twins, couples, and close friends) completed a forced-choice fMRI paradigm at Harvard. Receivers viewed 240 IAPS picture pairs in a 3T scanner while senders in a separate room attempted to transmit the designated target. Behavioral guessing was at exact chance (50.0%, 3,687 trials). Group-level fMRI analysis found no significant difference between psi and non-psi stimuli, despite control analyses confirming the method could detect subtle arousal effects (high vs. low arousal: p = 9.35 x 10^-21). The single participant showing apparent psi activation was explained by stimulus content confounds via permutation simulation.
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Related Papers
Cites
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- Evidence for Correlations Between Distant Intentionality and Brain Function in Recipients: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Analysis — Achterberg, J (2005)
- Anomalous Experiences, Psi, and Functional Neuroimaging — Acunzo, David J (2013)
- Evidence of Correlated Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Signals Between Distant Human Brains — Standish, Leanna J (2003)
- Electroencephalographic Evidence of Correlated Event-Related Signals Between the Brains of Spatially and Sensory Isolated Human Subjects — Standish, Leanna J (2004)
- Extrasensory Electroencephalographic Induction between Identical Twins — Duane, T. D (1965)
- EEG Correlates of Social Interaction at Distance — Giroldini, William (2016)
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A Comparison of Four New Automated Telephone Telepathy Tests
📋 Cite this paper
Moulton, Samuel T, Kosslyn, Stephen M (2008). Using Neuroimaging to Resolve the Psi Debate. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1162/jocn.2008.20006
@article{moulton_2008_using,
title = {Using Neuroimaging to Resolve the Psi Debate},
author = {Moulton, Samuel T and Kosslyn, Stephen M},
year = {2008},
journal = {Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience},
doi = {10.1162/jocn.2008.20006},
}