Neuroimaging studies of trance mediums show their brains process mediumship voices as external acoustic speech rather than internal silent speech

Overview Debates Related claims Topics

The anterior midcingulate cortex increases in physical size when individuals consistently engage in difficult, effortful tasks

The anterior midcingulate cortex shrinks in physical size when individuals consistently avoid challenging or effortful tasks

Stanford neurosurgeon Dr. Josef Parvizi demonstrated that electrical stimulation of the human anterior midcingulate cortex evokes a subjective feeling of an impending challenge combined with a resolve to fight it

The anterior midcingulate cortex receives neural inputs and sends outputs to the amygdala, memory centers, and the nigrostriatal dopamine pathway

The mammalian prefrontal cortex mediates top-down control over subcortical structures to support conscious strategy execution and competitive persistence

The brain's temporoparietal junction enables humans to distinguish physical boundaries between the self and external objects

Deactivation of the temporoparietal junction can trigger out-of-body experiences and the doppelgänger effect

The ability to enter trance mediumship states and hear external voices is a trainable cognitive skill

Suppression or damage to the temporoparietal junction causes individuals to lose the ability to differentiate the self from the environment

Henry Shukman experienced an initial spiritual awakening at 19 years of age

During his first Scientology communications course, Chuck Lorre had an out-of-body experience

Consciousness is likely an emergent property of the physics and chemistry within the human brain

The neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) are also referred to as the "footprints of consciousness" in the brain

In the early 1990s, Francis Crick and Dr. Christof Koch initiated a program to identify the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC)

Identifying the neural correlates of consciousness could help determine when consciousness begins in a fetus

Psychedelics can induce states where an individual's sense of self is completely lost

During his near-death experience, Dr. Christof Koch perceived no space, time, or sense of self, which is known as a non-dual experience

A later mystical experience caused Dr. Christof Koch to lose his sense of self and feel merged with the universe

Dr. Christof Koch had a near-death experience during the first week of the COVID-19 pandemic

Near-death experiences share similar characteristics with mystical experiences induced by psychedelics