Sensed presence and mystical experiences are predicted by suggestibility, not by the application of transcranial weak complex magnetic fields
Pehr Granqvist, Mats Fredrikson, Patrik Unge, Andrea Hagenfeldt, Sven Valind, Dan Larhammar, Marcus Larsson
Neuroscience Letters December 10, 2004 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2004.10.057 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Double-blind experiment Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 89 |
| Population | General population |
| Topics | Mystical experience |
| Keywords | Suggestibility Transcranial magnetic stimulation Personality Population Developmental psychology |
| Citations | 189 |
| Key findings | No evidence was found for any experiential effects of weak complex waveform TMS fields, and suggestibility may account for previously reported effects. |
Abstract
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with weak (micro Tesla) complex waveform fields have been claimed to evoke the sensed presence of a sentient being in up to 80% in the general population. These findings have had a questionable neurophysiological foundation as the fields are approximately six orders of magnitude weaker than ordinary TMS fields. Also, no independent replication has been reported. To replicate and extend previous findings, we performed a double-blind experiment (N=89), with a sham-field control group. Personality characteristics indicating suggestibility (absorption, signs of abnormal temporal lobe activity, and a "new age"-lifestyle orientation) were used as predictors. Sensed presence, mystical, and other somatosensory experiences previously reported from the magnetic field stimulation were outcome measures. We found no evidence for any effects of the magnetic fields, neither in the entire group, nor in individuals high in suggestibility. Because the personality characteristics significantly predicted outcomes, suggestibility may account for previously reported effects. Our results strongly question the earlier claims of experiential effects of weak magnetic fields.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on mystical experience, most cited first.
Citations in the library
Cited by 27
- Absorption and spiritual experience: A review of evidence and potential mechanisms. Consciousness and Cognition August 1, 2019
- The body unbound: Vestibular–motor hallucinations and out-of-body experiences Cortex June 6, 2008
- Mystical Experience in the Lab Method & Theory in the Study of Religion September 4, 2014
- Experience as event: event cognition and the study of (religious) experiences Religion, Brain & Behavior June 9, 2016
- Spontaneous Spiritual Awakenings: Phenomenology, Altered States, Individual Differences, and Well-Being Frontiers in Psychology August 19, 2021
and 22 more in the library
Cites 3
- The neural substrates of religious experience The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences August 1, 1997
- Application of transcerebral, weak (1 microT) complex magnetic fields and mystical experiences: are they generated by field-induced dimethyltryptamine release from the pineal organ? Perceptual and Motor Skills December 1, 2003
- Neural correlates of religious experience. European Journal of Neuroscience April 1, 2001