11. Could there be proof to the theory that we're ALL psychic?

'Up to 85 per cent of people may be clairvoyant' says a researcher. Dr Chris Roe places a pair of enormous fluffy earphones over the head of a blonde 20-year-old woman. He carefully slices a ping-pong ball in half and tapes each piece over her eyes. Then he switches on a red light that bathes the woman in an eerie glow, and leaves the room. After a few moments, a low hum begins to fill the laboratory and the woman begins smiling sweetly to herself as images of distant locations start to pass through her mind.

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12. Predictive physiological anticipation preceding seemingly unpredictable stimuli: a meta-analysis

Julia Mossbridge1*, Patrizio Tressoldi2 and Jessica Utts3  1Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA 2Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy 3Department of Statistics, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA Front. Psychology, 17 October 2012 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00390 This meta-analysis of 26 reports published between 1978 and 2010 tests an unusual hypothesis: for stimuli of two or more types that are presented in an order designed to be unpredictable and that produce different post-stimulus physiological activity, the direction of pre-stimulus physiological activity reflects the direction of post-stimulus physiological activity, resulting in an unexplained anticipatory effect. The reports we examined used one of two paradigms: (1) randomly ordered presentations of arousing vs. neutral stimuli, or (2) guessing tasks with feedback (correct vs. incorrect). Dependent variables included: electrodermal activity, heart rate, blood volume, pupil dilation, electroencephalographic activity, and blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) activity. To avoid including data hand-picked from multiple different analyses, no post hoc experiments were considered. The results reveal a significant overall effect with a small effect size [fixed effect: overall ES = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.15–0.27, z = 6.9, p < 2.7 × 10−12; random effects: overall (weighted) ES = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.13–0.29, z = 5.3, p < 5.7 × 10−8]. Higher quality experiments produced a quantitatively larger effect size and a greater level of significance than lower quality studies. The number of contrary unpublished reports that would be necessary to reduce the level of significance to chance (p > 0.05) was conservatively calculated to be 87 reports. We explore alternative explanations and examine the potential linkage between this unexplained anticipatory activity and other results demonstrating meaningful pre-stimulus activity preceding behaviorally relevant events. We conclude that to further examine this currently unexplained anticipatory activity, multiple replications arising from different laboratories using the same methods are necessary. The cause of this anticipatory activity, which undoubtedly lies within the realm of natural physical processes (as opposed to supernatural or paranormal ones), remains to be determined.

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13. THE VISION THING

IF IT'S NOT ALREADY A RULE OF THUMB for judging secret Pentagon projects, maybe it should be: If the name is astral, the premise is spacy. First Star Wars. Now Star Gate. That is the real code name (not the postscandal tabloid headline) of a secret program that spent $20 million in the past 10 years to employ psychics in pursuit of the unknown.

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14. Different Use Of Brain Areas May Explain Memory Problems In Schizophrenics

Vanderbilt University researchers included Junghee Lee, Bradley S. Folley, John Gore and Sohee Park. "We found that schizophrenic patients use different areas of their brain than healthy individuals do for working memory, which is an active form of short-term memory," Park said.

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15. U.S. military psychic spy manual

Remote viewing is a form of "psychoenergetic perception" (i.e. clairvoyance) developed as part of a long-term $20 million research program initiated by U.S. intelligence agencies in the early 1970s. Now known by the codename Stargate, the program was initiated largely in response to the belief that the Soviets were spending large amounts of money on psychic research. 

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16. Supernatural or Natural? Anthropology and the Paranormal

The term ‘paranormal' was first introduced in the early twentieth century to replace the more loaded term ‘supernatural,' originally used in its Latin form supernatural is by theologians in the thirteenth century to refer to the miraculous events documented in the Bible (Bartlett 2008). Miracles, such as Moses' vision of the burning bush, and Jesus' transformation of water into wine, curing of the sick and resurrection of the dead, for example, were interpreted as manifestations of the power of God, with the aim of producing faith in those who bore witness to them. This association with the direct action of God, and the idea that such phenomena were somehow separate from nature, did not appeal to those who sought to investigate similar claims (such as visions, apparitions, telepathy and psychokinesis), using scientific methods in the late nineteenth century. By implementing the term ‘supernormal,' and later ‘paranormal,' defined as referring to phenomena beyond the scope of current scientific understanding, as opposed to ‘supernatural,' which implies phenomena firmly beyond the laws of nature, researchers were attempting to demonstrate that paranormal occurrences, if real, were as much a part of the natural world as anything else, and as such were amenable to scientific investigation (Hansen 2001:21).

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17. Case report: a prototypical experience of 'poltergeist' activity, conspicuous quantitative electroencephalographic patterns, and sLORETA profiles - suggestions for intervention

Neurocase. 2012;18(6):527-36. doi: 10.1080/13554794.2011.633532. Epub 2012 Jan 9. Case report: a prototypical experience of 'poltergeist' activity, conspicuous quantitative electroencephalographic patterns, and sLORETA profiles - suggestions for intervention. Roll WG, Saroka KS, Mulligan BP, Hunter MD, Dotta BT, Gang N, Scott MA, St-Pierre LS, Persinger MA. Department of Psychology, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA, USA. Abstract People who report objects moving in their presence, unusual sounds, glows around other people, and multiple sensed presences but do not meet the criteria for psychiatric disorders have been shown to exhibit electrical anomalies over the right temporal lobes. This article reports the striking quantitative electroencephalography, sLORETA results, and experimental elicitation of similar subjective experiences in a middle-aged woman who has been distressed by these classic phenomena that began after a head injury. She exhibited a chronic electrical anomaly over the right temporoinsular region. The rotation of a small pinwheel near her while she 'concentrated' upon it was associated with increased coherence between the left and right temporal lobes and concurrent activation of the left prefrontal region. The occurrence of the unusual phenomena and marked 'sadness' was associated with increased geomagnetic activity; she reported a similar mood when these variations were simulated experimentally. Our quantitative measurements suggest people displaying these experiences and possible anomalous energies can be viewed clinically and potentially treated.

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18. Odd Behavior And Creativity May Go Hand-in-Hand

Often viewed as a hindrance, having a quirky or socially awkward approach to lifemay be the key to becoming a great artist, composer or inventor. New research on individuals with schizotypal personalities – people characterized by odd behavior and language but who are not psychotic or schizophrenic – offers the first neurological evidence that they are more creative than either normal or fully schizophrenic individuals, and rely more heavily on the right sides of their brains than the general population to access their creativity.

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19. Possession: a clinical enigma

BMJ Case Rep. 2011 Mar 10;2011. pii: bcr0120113725. doi: 10.1136/bcr.01.2011.3725. Possession: a clinical enigma. Gadit A. Department of Psychiatry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. amin.muhammad@med.mun.ca Abstract This is a case of a 21-year-old lady who presented with history of episodes where she would display extraordinary strength while becoming aggressive towards her family members, speak in foreign language and display bizarre behaviour. The episode would last for 15-20 min and would resolve spontaneously. She would always claim amnesia for the event. This would remain irritable in the intervening period. The frequency of such episodes is at least three times a week. The family members took her to several faith healers with no improvement in her condition. On the suggestion of a family friend, the patient was brought in for consultation in the psychiatric clinic. The patient remained a diagnostic dilemma though there has been some reduction in intensity of such episodes on psychotropic medication. Unfortunately, there is no remission in episodes.

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20. Scientists offer quantum theory of soul's existence

A PAIR of world-renowned quantum scientists say they can prove the existence of the soul.  American Dr Stuart Hameroff and British physicist Sir Roger Penrose developed a quantum theory of consciousness asserting that our souls are contained inside structures called microtubules which live within our brain cells. Their idea stems from the notion of the brain as a biological computer, "with 100 billion neurons and their axonal firings and synaptic connections acting as information networks".

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