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God helmet

The God helmet is an experimental apparatus (originally called the Koren helmet) developed by Stanley Koren and neuroscientist Michael Persinger to study creativity, religious experience and the effects of subtle stimulation of the temporal lobes.[1] Reports by participants of a "sensed presence" while wearing the God helmet brought public attention and resulted in several TV documentaries.[2] The device has been used in Persinger's research in the field of neurotheology, the study of the purported neural correlates of religion and spirituality. The apparatus, placed on the head of an experimental subject, generates very weak magnetic fields, that Persinger refers to as "complex". Like other neural stimulation with low-intensity magnetic fields, these fields are approximately as strong as those generated by a land line telephone handset or an ordinary hair dryer, but far weaker than that of an ordinary refrigerator magnet and approximately a million times weaker than transcranial magnetic stimulation.[3]

Persinger reports that many subjects have reported "mystical experiences and altered states"[4] while wearing the God Helmet. The foundations of his theory have been criticized in the scientific press.[5] Anecdotal reports by journalists,[6] academics[7][8] and documentarists[9] have been mixed and several effects reported by Persinger have not yet been independently replicated. One attempt at replication published in the scientific literature reported a failure to reproduce Persinger's effects and the authors speculated that the suggestibility of participants, improper blinding of participants or idiosyncratic methodology could explain Persinger's results.[10] Persinger argues that the replication was technically flawed,[8][11] but the researchers have stood by their replication.[12] However, one group[13] has published a direct replication of one God Helmet experiment.[14] Other groups have reported no effects at all[15] or have generated similar experiences by using sham helmets,[16] [17] or helmets that are not turned on.[18] The research using sham equipment was marred by the fact that, in one case " ... the data from the ... study (using only a sham headset) had been faked", and "the student ... (who did it) ... was banned from the University."[19]

  1. ^ Ruttan LA, Persinger MA, Koren S (1990). "Enhancement of Temporal Lobe-Related Experiences During Brief Exposures to MilliGauss Intensity Extremely Low Frequency Magnetic Fields". Journal of Bioelectricity. 9 (1): 33–54. doi:10.3109/15368379009027758.
  2. ^ "Science Channel clip of God Helmet". Archived from the original on 2010-12-29. Retrieved 2011-01-26.
  3. ^ Craig Aaen-Stockdale (2012). "Neuroscience for the Soul". The Psychologist. 25 (7): 520–523. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2012-07-06. the magnetic fields generated by the God helmet are far too weak to penetrate the cranium and influence neurons within. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) uses field strengths of around 1.5 tesla in order to induce currents strong enough to depolarise neurons through the skull and cause them to fire. Persinger's apparatus, on the other hand has a strength ... 5000 times weaker than a typical fridge magnet. Granqvist argues that there is simply no way that this apparatus is having any meaningful effect on the brain, and I'm inclined to agree.
  4. ^ Persinger, MA; et al. (2010). "The Electromagnetic Induction of Mystical and Altered States Within the Laboratory". Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research. 1 (7): 808–830. ISSN 2153-8212.
  5. ^ Craig Aaen-Stockdale (2012). "Neuroscience for the Soul". The Psychologist. 25 (7): 520–523. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2012-07-06. Persinger's theory is based on the literature on religiosity in temporal lobe epileptics ... a literature that I argue above is both flawed and outdated.
  6. ^ Wired magazine article
  7. ^ Online video excerpt, see 2:00 to 3:26
  8. ^ a b Roxanne Khamsi (December 9, 2004). "Electrical brainstorms busted as source of ghosts". Nature. doi:10.1038/news041206-10.
  9. ^ Incomplete filmography for Dr. M.A. Persinger
  10. ^ Granqvist, P; Fredrikson, M; Unge, P; Hagenfeldt, A; Valind, S; Larhammar, D; Larsson, M (2005). "Sensed presence and mystical experiences are predicted by suggestibility, not by the application of transcranial weak complex magnetic fields". Neuroscience Letters. 379 (1): 1–6. doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2004.10.057. PMID 15849873. S2CID 24800593.
  11. ^ Persinger, M; Koren, S (2005). "A response to Granqvist et al. "Sensed presence and mystical experiences are predicted by suggestibility, not by the application of transcranial weak magnetic fields"". Neuroscience Letters. 380 (3): 346–347. doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2005.03.060. PMID 15862915. S2CID 41145064.
  12. ^ Larsson M, Larhammarb D, Fredrikson M, Granqvist P (2005). "Reply to M.A. Persinger and S. A. Koren's response to Granqvist et al. "Sensed presence and mystical experiences are predicted by suggestibility, not by the application of transcranial weak magnetic fields"". Neuroscience Letters. 380 (3): 348–350. doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2005.03.059. S2CID 54348640.
  13. ^ Tinoca, Carlos A; Ortiz, João PL (2014). "Magnetic Stimulation of the Temporal Cortex: A Partial "God Helmet" Replication Study". Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research. 5 (3): 234–257.
  14. ^ Richards, P M; Persinger, M A; Koren, S A (1993). "Modification of activation and evaluation properties of narratives by weak complex magnetic field patterns that simulate limbic burst firing". The International Journal of Neuroscience. 71 (1–4): 71–85. doi:10.3109/00207459309000594. PMID 8407157.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference French was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Simmonds-Moore was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference VanElk was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference GendleMcGrath was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ van Elk, Michiel (2019-10-02). "Replication and Open Science in the Psychology of Religion: Editorial to the Special Issue". The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion. 29 (4): 227–229. doi:10.1080/10508619.2019.1687189. ISSN 1050-8619.
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