The study alleging such psychical phenomena was conducted by Christof Koch (a neuroscientist at CalTech), Itzhak Fried (a neurosurgeon at UCLA) and Moran Cerf (a graduate student at CalTech); the original intention of the researchers was to explore whether or not surgically implanted electrodes deep within the neural centers of twelve epilepsy patients could aid in identifying the cause of the patients' epileptic seizures.
What these three researchers found, however, was much more than a cause. Through presenting images to the subjects on a screen and subsequently asking the subjects to think about a different image, the researchers were able to teach the subjects to change the projected image using only their brains!
How does this work? Each neuron is able to function as an essentially independent unit, meaning that the patients could train themselves to trigger certain neurons to respond to specific images (of Marilyn Monroe or Bill Clinton, for example). When these corresponding neurons were triggered, a cursor on a computer screen (visible only to the experimenter) moved up or down depending on the patient's preferences, and the image was altered accordingly.
Sound like something straight out of Frankenstein? Inspiration for the next psychological thriller (ahem, a chance for M. Night Shyamalan to redeem himself)? Believe it!
No comments:
Post a Comment