Psychedelic Telepathy? First Brain-To-Brain Communication Now Happening

Although the idea is usually the preserve of science fiction, scientists have taken the first step to achieving telepathic communication. The breakthrough comes courtesy of the University of Washington and their use of brain-to-brain interfacing (BBI). They literally hooked up two people’s minds in an attempt to see if one could send signals to the other.

HOW IT WORKED

Each run of the study had two participants whose brains were linked up using the brain interfacing system. Both sat in front of a computer, in separate places, with ear plugs in to make sure they couldn’t hear anything. The first participant was shown a picture of an object. The second participant then had to select “yes” or “no” questions on his computer for the first to answer. The first participant answered the questions by looking at either the word “yes” or “no” on their computer screen. Answering yes created a strong enough stimulus to activate the second participant’s visual cortex, creating a flash of light that looked like a blob, wave or line in their eye.

The study was controlled with extreme rigor, and included control groups. Once all analysis was complete, it was found that the second participant was able to guess the object shown to the first 72 percent of the time. Scientists reflected that the times participants failed could be caused by uncertainty as to whether the flash of light appeared.

The team of researchers are now looking into ways that states of mind can be transmitted, such as sending the signals of an alert brain to a sleepy one.

PSYCHEDELICS AND BRAIN-TO-BRAIN COMMUNICATION

Although it is not a subject that scientists are likely to broach anytime soon, the possibilities psychedelics could hold in this field are very interesting.

Psi research is actually quite a serious field of enquiry, with highly regarded establishments such as Princeton University, the Stanford Research Institute, and Duke University all running highly controlled and scientific experiments into the matter. Results that have been found are positive, especially where things like LSD or mushrooms are concerned. For example, blindfolded participants given psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, were able to tell when people were staring at them and when people were not. This may not sound particularly useful on its own, but it highlights the fact we don’t fully understand everything there is to know about the mind, and how psychedelics interact with it – in fact, we know very little at all.

Could you imagine if this brain-to-brain interfacing was expanded in the way the researchers hope, so that a state of minds could be transmitted. Imagine being able to transmit the feelings of being on a psychedelic journey to another person, or the monumental insights it could give us into the way we perceive the world. This technology is only in its infancy, but it holds all kinds of potentials!

Luke Sumpter

With a BSc (Hons) degree in Clinical Health Sciences and a passion for growing plants, Luke Sumpter has worked as a professional journalist and writer at the intersection of cannabis and science for the past 7 years.

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