Changing Velocity Circumcerebral Magnetic Fields Produce Altered State Experiences and Lowered Delta-Theta Power over the Temporal Lobes

Weak physiologically patterned magnetic fields applied through the cerebrum have been associated with opiate-like effects and mystical experiences including sensed presences and out-of-body experiences. While sitting in a comfortable chair housed in an acoustic chamber volunteers were exposed to Murphy’s Shiva Hat from which cerebrally rotating, angularly decelerating magnetic fields (about 1 microTesla) were generated from arrays of 64 solenoids for 20 min. The sham-field exposed group wore the same hat and sat in the same place for the same duration of time. Subjects exposed to the burst-firing pattern generated fields with the changing angular velocity reported more out of body and sensed presence experiences than did the sham field group. Unlike the sham field group who displayed relative increases in delta power over both temporal lobes during the sessions, those exposed to the field exhibited diminished power that was comparable to their original aroused state. These results suggest that the effects of weak, complex magnetic fields on cortical electroencephalographic activity are consistent with patterns of cortical activation during altered states.