The Electromagnetic Induction of Mystical and Altered States within the Laboratory

Michael A. Persinger, Kevin Saroka, Stanley A. Koren, Linda S. St-Pierre

Abstract

The human brain is the locus of all human experiences. The substantial microstructural and neuroelectrical differences between the two cerebral hemispheres predicts two major classes of mystical experiences which involve the sensed presence and the out-of-body experience. Their occurrence and their attributions to cosmic origins have been reported for centuries and have been the bases for social belief systems. Direct cerebral electrical stimulation during the 20th century evoked these experiences. In the 21st century the non-invasive, external transcerebral application of complex, physiologically-patterned weak magnetic fields has been shown to produce similar experiences that can be correlatively mapped by quantitative electroencephalographic inferences of interhemispheric coherence. The experimental production and control of these powerful experiences by more sophisticated technologies might be employed to understand the intricate nature and function of mystical/altered states within large populations of human beings.