Unveiling the EEG signatures of extrasensory perception during spiritual experiences: A single-case study with a well-renowned channeler.

Abstract

Just as the brain of Albert Einstein is studied in an attempt to understand human intelligence or the bodies of elite athletes are examined to improve muscle strength, the study of people who claim to have spiritual experiences could enrich the investigation of the brain-mind relationship. Although mediumship with deceased people is widely extensively studied in spiritual experiences, we explored a mediumistic experience called "channeling" where the individual connects with a non-corporeal intelligence (NCI) source. To approach this kind of spiritual experience, we considered three hypotheses: the fraud hypothesis (i), the mental pathology hypothesis (ii), and the extrasensory perception hypothesis (iii). In this single case study, the participant was a well-known channeler with nearly three decades of experience connecting with NCIs. Given the EEG results, we rejected the fraud hypothesis, rejected the mental pathology hypothesis, and felt we needed more information to conclude the extrasensory perception hypothesis. The approach of the present single-case study may help researchers design follow-up rigorous protocols for mediumship and channeling studies, which could contribute to a better understanding of the brain during spiritual experiences.