Evidence of Correlated Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Signals Between Distant Human Brains
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Plain English Summary
Can one person's brain activity show up in someone else's brain β with no physical connection between them? This 2003 study, the first to use fMRI (a brain scanner that tracks blood flow) to test the idea, put two meditating colleagues in separate rooms 10 meters apart. One person watched a flickering checkerboard while the other sat in a shielded MRI scanner trying to stay mentally 'connected.' Remarkably, when Subject 1 was the receiver, their visual cortex lit up as if they were seeing the checkerboard themselves β even though they weren't. But when they swapped roles, the effect vanished for Subject 2, hinting this isn't something just anyone can do on demand. It was only one pair, so we can't generalize too far, but it was striking enough to inspire follow-up fMRI studies by other teams.
Research Notes
First published fMRI study of correlated brain signals at a distance, extending EEG-based transferred-potential findings into neuroimaging. NIH-funded (R21 AT00287). Published as a case report with only one pair, limiting generalizability, but opened the door for subsequent fMRI replications by Richards et al. (2005) and Achterberg et al. (2005).
A pair of healthy colleagues (ages 51 and 54), after 10 minutes of shared meditation, alternated sender/receiver roles across two 300-second fMRI sessions separated by 10 meters. The sender viewed a flickering 8x8 checkerboard at 6 Hz in variable-length blocks while the receiver, inside a Faraday-shielded MRI scanner wearing goggles showing a static pattern, attempted to remain 'connected.' BOLD imaging analyzed via GLM with Bonferroni correction found significant activation (P < .001) in the receiver's visual cortex areas 18 and 19 when Subject 1 received, matching regions activated by direct visual stimulation. When roles reversed, Subject 2 showed no significant activation, suggesting the effect is not transitive.
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- Evidence for Correlations Between Distant Intentionality and Brain Function in Recipients: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Analysis β Achterberg, J (2005)
- Replicable Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Evidence of Correlated Brain Signals Between Physically and Sensory Isolated Subjects β Richards, Todd L (2005)
- Electroencephalographic Evidence of Correlated Event-Related Signals Between the Brains of Spatially and Sensory Isolated Human Subjects β Standish, Leanna J (2004)
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π Cite this paper
Standish, Leanna J, Johnson, L. Clark, Kozak, Leila, Richards, Todd (2003). Evidence of Correlated Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Signals Between Distant Human Brains. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine.
@article{standish_2003_evidence,
title = {Evidence of Correlated Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Signals Between Distant Human Brains},
author = {Standish, Leanna J and Johnson, L. Clark and Kozak, Leila and Richards, Todd},
year = {2003},
journal = {Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine},
}