Page 178 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

Mysteries of the Mind 159

n opinion poll conducted in Canada in
October 2002 discovered that 40 percent
of Canadians believe that certain individu- Paranormal
Aals have extrasensory perception that
enable them to see into the future. The poll also
Beliefs and
revealed that 30 percent of the respondents had con-
sulted with a medium, a psychic, or an astrologer.
Brain Chemistry
In the United States, the National Science Foun-
dation’s biennial report on the state of science under-
Brugger theorized that the improvement in the
standing, research, education, and investment con-
skeptics’ performance suggests that paranormal
ducted in April 2002 found that 70 percent of adults do
thoughts are associated with high levels of dopamine
not understand the scientific process. According to
in the brain. The dopamine allows people to see pat-
their poll, 60 percent of the respondents believed that
terns and to become less skeptical regarding the per-
there were individuals who possessed psychic pow-
ception of relationships between events.
ers or extrasensory perception.
Sources:
Peter Brugger, a neurologist from the University
“Of Soothsayers and Skeptics.” The Globe and Mail, October 27,
Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, has suggested that
2002. [Online] http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/
whether or not one believes in the paranormal
RTGAMArticleHTMLTemplate?tf=tgam/realtime/fu.
depends entirely upon one’s brain chemistry. As an
Philips, Helen. “Paranormal Beliefs Linked to Brain Chemistry.”
experiment, Brugger gathered 20 individuals who
NewScientist.com, July 24, 2002. [Online] http://www.
believed in the paranormal and 20 who said that they newscientist.com/news/print.jsp?id=ns99992589.
were skeptical. The subjects were asked to distinguish “Survey Finds Few in U.S. Understand Science.” CNN.com, April
real faces from scrambled images flashed briefly on a 30, 2002. [Online] http://cnn.technology.
screen. The second phase consisted of the volunteers
forming real words from made-up ones.
In his July 2002 report, Brugger stated that during
the first stage of the experiment the individuals who
believed in the paranormal were much more likely to
see a face or a word when there was none. The skep-
tics were more likely to miss the real words and faces
when they appeared on the screen.
Next, the volunteers were given L-dopa, a drug
that increases levels of dopamine in the brain.
Dopamine is a chemical utilized in the brain’s system
of reward and motivation and in deciding whether
information received is relevant or irrelevant.
Under the influence of L-dopa, both groups had
difficulty in distinguishing real faces and words from
the scrambled ones—but interestingly, the skeptical
individuals developed a greater ability to interpret the
jumbled images as the real thing.

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