If you're curious about what goes on in the brain of an individual who claims to be writing words at the direction of a dead person (and who isn't?), then you'll appreciate Andrew Newberg's latest study, published this month in PLOS ONE.
Newberg directs integrative medicine research at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He specializes in "neurotheology," the study of the relationship between the brain and religious beliefs.
The study involved high-tech brain scans of 10 Brazilian "psychographers" - imagine stenographers for the dear departed - as they did normal writing, and then while they took paranormal dictation during trances. The psychographers and funding were obtained by the lead author, Julio Fernando Peres, a Brazilian neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania.
What did the spirits tell the mediums to write?
Whatever it was, it was in Portuguese, which Newberg does not speak.
"My understanding is that often it would be advice, or how to lead your life," he said.
One medium claimed to be in touch with a famous advice maven: Benjamin Franklin.
"I don't know if skeptical is the right word," Newberg said of his reaction, "but I would have been more impressed if they came up with someone from Philadelphia who was more obscure."
In the end, the results defied expectations. The researchers predicted that brain regions involved in complex thought processes such as writing would be activated during trance-writing. Instead, the five most experienced mediums had less activity in these regions during trance-writing than during normal writing, and when their psychographic compositions got really complex, these regions practically shut down. Five novice mediums, meanwhile, had activity in unexpected brain areas while acting as supernatural scribes.
Newberg mused: Is the brain responding to a spiritual realm, or is its activation just a sign that the spiritual practice has meaning for the practitioner?
Alas, he said, the answer is not yet "forthcoming."
Contact Marie McCullough at 215-854-2720
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20121126_Check_Up__Scribes_who_take_dictation_of_the_dead.html#ixzz2DO0zLdPW
mmccullough@phillynews.com
Philadelphia Inquirer, Monday, November 26, 2012 Page C1
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