TRANSFER OF NEURAL ENERGY BETWEEN HUMAN SUBJECTS

该项目的长期目标是开发和利用神经生理学技术来评估心身医学领域中出现的假说；具体地说，就是意识状态可以在远处发挥生物效应的可能性(即“远距离愈合”)。其目的是试图复制Grinberg-Zylberbaum等人的EEG结果。(1994)提出，通过光刺激在一个人脑(对象A)中产生的视觉诱发电位可以在位于一定距离(14.5米)且未受到视觉刺激的另一个人(对象B)的大脑中产生相关的脑电信号。该项目将分三个阶段进行。首先，我们将确定在光刺激期间与受试者A具有交叉相关诱发电位的受试者对，其显著性水平p小于0.01。如果找不到配对，我们将继续登记和测试最多50对受试者。如果在项目时间线结束时，不能使用这个p值识别出证明这一现象的一对受试者，我们将拒绝接受神经能量远程转移发生的假设，并报告未能复制原始研究。如果我们检测到超过或等于5对符合标准的受试者，我们将尝试使用p小于.001的较高标准在这些对中进行复制。如果格林伯格-齐尔伯鲍姆等人的S实验可以在两个阶段都重复，项目团队将进入阶段3，使用功能磁共振成像(Fmri)作为两个大脑之间信息传输的第二个独立神经生理指标，在已确定的人类受试者对中调查相同的现象。我们将记录远程个体的FMRI(枕部、颞部、额部和顶部)，而他们的对应者位于一个单独的房间，正在以开关模式接受光刺激。我们将确定在开灯和关灯的情况下数字化功能磁共振成像是否存在统计上的显著差异。该项目的主要结果衡量标准将是使用交叉相关和zcore检验对受试者B的转移诱发信号进行检测的统计分析的二进制(是-否)输出。将使用适当的对照。如果被复制，这项研究将提供一种有用的技术和方法来定量研究“心理事件”的远程影响的特征和神经机制。这些实验方法将有助于研究“心身医学”的基本机制。

The long-term goal of this project is to develop and utilize neurophysiological techniques to evaluate hypotheses emerging from the field of mind-body medicine; specifically, the possibility that conscious states can exert biological effects at a distance (i.e., "distant healing"). The purpose is to attempt to replicate the EEG findings of Grinberg-Zylberbaum et al. (1994) suggesting that visual evoked potentials generated in one human brain (Subject A) by photostimulation can generate a correlated EEG signal in the brain of another human subject (subject B) who is located at a distance (14.5 meters) and who is not visually stimulated. The project will occur in three stages. First we will identify pairs of subjects who have cross- correlated evoked potentials during photostimulation to Subject A at the p less than .01 level of significance. If no pairs can be identified we will continue to enroll and test up to 50 pairs of subjects. If pairs of subjects that demonstrate the phenomenon cannot be identified using this p value by the end of the project time line we will reject the hypothesis that remote transfer of neural energy occurs and report failure to replicate the original study. If we detect greater than or equal to 5 pairs of subjects who meet the criteria we will attempt to replicate in those pairs using a higher criteria of p less than .001. If Grinberg- Zylberbaum et al.'s experiment can be replicated at both stages, the project team will go to stage 3 to investigate the same phenomenon in the identified pairs of human subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as a second independent neurophysiological measure of transfer of information between two human brains. We will record fMRIs (occiptal, temporal, frontal and parietal) in the remote individual while their counterpart, located in a separate chamber, is receiving light stimulation in an on-off pattern. We will determine if there are statistically significant differences in digitized fMRI during lights on vs lights off conditions. The main outcome measures for this project will be the binary (yes-no) output from statistical analysis using cross-correlational and zscore testing for the detection of a transferred evoked signal (in both EEG and fMRI experiments) in Subject B. Appropriate controls will be used. If replicated, this study will provide a useful technology and method to quantitatively investigate the characteristics and neural mechanisms of remote effects of "mental events." Such experimental methods will assist in the investigation of basic mechanisms involved in "mind-body medicine."