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Extrasensory Electroencephalographic Induction between Identical Twins

βœ… Has replications β†—
Duane, T. D, Behrendt, Thomas β€’ 1965 Rhine Era β€’ telepathy

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Plain English Summary

In 1965, researchers published something wild in Science: identical twins might share brainwaves without any physical connection. They hooked up 15 twin pairs to EEG machines (which measure brain electrical activity) in separate rooms. When one twin closed their eyes β€” triggering a calm brainwave pattern called alpha rhythm β€” they watched whether the other twin's brain followed suit. In 2 of 15 pairs, it did. Unrelated people showed no such effect. A small hit rate, but this study became a landmark, kicking off decades of research into whether separated people can somehow influence each other's brain activity, inspiring later EEG and brain imaging studies.

Research Notes

Published in Science, this is the earliest mainstream study of apparent EEG correlations between separated individuals. It inspired the entire 'distant mental interaction' research line including Grinberg-Zylberbaum's transferred potential work, Wackermann's EEG replications, and fMRI studies by Achterberg and Richards.

Alpha rhythms were elicited in one of a pair of identical twins as a result of evoking these rhythms solely in the other twin seated in a separate room 6 meters away. Fifteen monozygotic twin pairs were tested using simultaneous EEG with subcutaneous occipital electrodes; one twin closed their eyes to produce alpha rhythm while the other was monitored. Extrasensory induction was found in 2 of 15 pairs β€” both educated, calm males aged 23 and 27. No induction occurred between unrelated control subjects. The authors concluded that extrasensory induction of brain waves exists between some identical twins when completely separated.

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πŸ“‹ Cite this paper
APA
Duane, T. D, Behrendt, Thomas (1965). Extrasensory Electroencephalographic Induction between Identical Twins. Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.150.3694.367
BibTeX
@article{duane_1965_extrasensory,
  title = {Extrasensory Electroencephalographic Induction between Identical Twins},
  author = {Duane, T. D and Behrendt, Thomas},
  year = {1965},
  journal = {Science},
  doi = {10.1126/science.150.3694.367},
}