There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Aim:
“Telepathy” is defined as “the communication of impressions of any kind from one mind
to another, independently of the recognized channels of sense”. Meta-analyses of “ganzfield”
studies as well as “card-guessing task” studies provide compelling evidence for the
existence of telepathic phenomena. The aim of this study was to elucidate the neural
basis of telepathy by examining an individual with this special ability.
Materials and Methods:
Using functional MRI, we examined a famous “mentalist” while he was performing a telepathic
task in a 1.5 T scanner. A matched control subject without this special ability was
also examined under similar conditions.
Results:
The mentalist demonstrated significant activation of the right parahippocampal gyrus
after successful performance of a telepathic task. The comparison subject, who did
not show any telepathic ability, demonstrated significant activation of the left inferior
frontal gyrus.
Conclusions:
The findings of this study are suggestive of a limbic basis for telepathy and warrant
further systematic research.
The medial temporal lobe includes a system of anatomically related structures that are essential for declarative memory (conscious memory for facts and events). The system consists of the hippocampal region (CA fields, dentate gyrus, and subicular complex) and the adjacent perirhinal, entorhinal, and parahippocampal cortices. Here, we review findings from humans, monkeys, and rodents that illuminate the function of these structures. Our analysis draws on studies of human memory impairment and animal models of memory impairment, as well as neurophysiological and neuroimaging data, to show that this system (a) is principally concerned with memory, (b) operates with neocortex to establish and maintain long-term memory, and (c) ultimately, through a process of consolidation, becomes independent of long-term memory, though questions remain about the role of perirhinal and parahippocampal cortices in this process and about spatial memory in rodents. Data from neurophysiology, neuroimaging, and neuroanatomy point to a division of labor within the medial temporal lobe. However, the available data do not support simple dichotomies between the functions of the hippocampus and the adjacent medial temporal cortex, such as associative versus nonassociative memory, episodic versus semantic memory, and recollection versus familiarity.
Functional imaging gives us increasingly detailed information about the location of brain activity. To use this information, we need a clear conception of the meaning of location data. Here, we review methods for reporting location in functional imaging and discuss the problems that arise from the great variability in brain anatomy between individuals. These problems cause uncertainty in localization, which limits the effective resolution of functional imaging, especially for brain areas involved in higher cognitive function.
Perspective-taking is a stepping stone to human empathy. When empathizing with another individual, one can imagine how the other perceives the situation and feels as a result. To what extent does imagining the other differs from imagining oneself in similar painful situations? In this functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment, participants were shown pictures of people with their hands or feet in painful or non-painful situations and instructed to imagine and rate the level of pain perceived from different perspectives. Both the Self's and the Other's perspectives were associated with activation in the neural network involved in pain processing, including the parietal operculum, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC; BA32) and anterior insula. However, the Self-perspective yielded higher pain ratings and involved the pain matrix more extensively in the secondary somatosensory cortex, the ACC (BA 24a'/24b'), and the insula proper. Adopting the perspective of the Other was associated with specific increase in the posterior cingulate/precuneus and the right temporo-parietal junction. These results show the similarities between Self- and Other-pain representation, but most interestingly they also highlight some distinctiveness between these two representations, which is a crucial aspect of human empathy. It may be what allows us to distinguish empathic responses to others versus our own personal distress. These findings are consistent with the view that empathy does not involve a complete Self-Other merging.
National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India
[1
]Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation,
Bangalore, India
Author notes
Correspondence to: Dr. Ganesan Venkatasubramanian, Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental
Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore - 560 029, India. E-mail:
gvs@
123456nimhans.kar.nic.in
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction
in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.