Marco de Innocentis wrote:
>> In article <389819A4.B8947CAC at goti.net>,
> Mark Morin <mmorin at PETERHOOD69goti.net> wrote:
>> > distance really isn't the operative factor--it's laws of physics
> > (current passing through an electric field at a vector perpendicular
> to
> > that field......). I need to pull out my physics book for the exact
> > details.
>> I'm a mathematical physicist, but I don't really know much about
> the structure of the brain. Do you think it would be possible to
> stimulate the temporal lobes by means of such a device?
Here is an abstract (from PubMed
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=Limits&DB=PubMed)
of a paper by Michael Persinger, who is probably the Canadian researcher
Ramachandran alluded to in his book. This would probably be a good
place for you to start.
1: Int J Psychophysiol 1999 Nov;34(2):163-9
Increased emergence of alpha activity over the left but not the right
temporal
lobe within a dark acoustic chamber: differential response of the left
but not
the right hemisphere to transcerebral magnetic fields.
Persinger MA
Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory, Laurentian University, Sudbury,
Ontario,
Canada. mpersinger at admin.laurentian.ca
The percentages of alpha activity per minute over the left and right
temporal
lobes were measured for the first and second successive 15-min intervals
while
subjects wore opaque goggles within an acoustic chamber. A weak (5
microT),
burst-firing magnetic field was presented during this period for 1 s
every 4 s
primarily over the left or the right cerebral hemisphere. The results
indicated
that the left temporal lobe became less vigilant between the first and
second 15
min while the right temporal lobe did not. When standardized scores for
each
subject's measures over time and across hemispheres were employed,
increased
alpha time over the left temporal lobe relative to the right temporal
lobe was
observed only when the transcerebral magnetic field was applied over the
left
hemisphere. Stimulation of the right hemisphere did not evoke this
discrepancy.
The detection of the effects of this specific complex magnetic field
upon
electroencephalographic activity may be more probable when the subjects
are
exposed to partial sensory deprivation.
Good luck!
JA
--
John E Anderson
Department of Natural Sciences
University of North Florida
Jacksonville FL
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