Science & Technology

Scientists create 'ghostly presence' in a lab

By T.K. Randall
November 7, 2014 ·  65 comments

The brain can be tricked in to believing someone else is present. Image Credit: sxc.hu Scientists have succeeded in identifying the parts of the brain responsible for the feeling of an unseen presence in the room, a sensation that is typically associated with the paranormal.

The researchers used brain scans of 12 people with neurological disorders to pinpoint the affected regions of the brain and then used that information to develop an experiment that could reproduce sensations of a presence in healthy volunteers.

Each participant was asked to manipulate a robot with their hands while a second robot traced the same movements on that person's back. When the two movements were in sync the volunteer reported nothing out of the ordinary, but when a delay was introduced between their movements and the corresponding movements of the robot they began feeling as though someone else was there.Two of the volunteers were so freaked out by the experience that they were unable to finish.

The scientists behind the experiment believe that under the right circumstances the brain becomes confused and misinterprets the body's position, believing it instead to be that of someone else.

"Our brain possesses several representations of our body in space," said Dr Giulio Rognini.

"Under normal conditions, it is able to assemble a unified self-perception of the self from these representations. But when the system malfunctions because of disease - or, in this case, a robot - this can sometimes create a second representation of one's own body, which is no longer perceived as 'me' but as someone else, a 'presence'."

Source: BBC News | Comments (65)

Tags: Ghost, Presence, Brain