Any psychics, mediums and ghost whisperers who read this, be warned: neuroscientists believe they’ve found both the cause of why people “feel spirits” and “presences,” and how to replicate it in a laboratory.
Led by lead author Olaf Blanke, director of the Center for Neuroprosthetics at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland (EPFL), scientists have conducted experiments that thoroughly examine what some call clairsentience, ESP, and a host of other things. They say: it’s all a matter of mixed signals.
As reported in their new study in Current Biology, the scientists claim that it’s not any connection to the beyond people feel, but rather confusion over the source and identity of signals they’re receiving from their own bodies. For example, if someone were to reach for a cup, and then feel a sensation along their arm, it’d feel like they were brushing up against spirits. But it’s really just self-consciousness confusing bodily signals, Blanke says.
As you can see in the video below provided by EPFL, the scientists created a pair of robots that were programmed as a master/slave duo. Blindfolded volunteers were placed between the two robots. When they moved their arms, they moved the “master” robot. Moving the master robot also moved the “slave” robot, but at different times. Some volunteers had no lag, and so movement and sensation were synchronized. This created the feel they were poking their own back. Others had a delay, which made it feel like the slave robots were spirits touching them–a feeling that was so intense for two of the participants that they wanted to stop the experiment.
While the 17 volunteers involved were healthy, scientists studied 12 patients with neurological disorders prior to the experiment, some of whom had epilepsy, strokes, tumors or migraines. One of the main influences was also the study of schizophrenia, whose patients have described likewise feelings.
So do these studies completely debunk your feelings on the supernatural? Did this experiment myth-bust your thoughts on psychic awareness? Or do you think there’s still room for spirits, ghosts and the unknown? Let us know in the comments below and tell us what you think.
You may also want to check out this video from Cracked which gives even more scientific reasons for why people believe in ghosts (even explaining physical supernatural occurrences).
Source: Popular Mechanics