Biomedical subjects

M A Persinger

Publications and source records attributed to M A Persinger.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

PubMed1993

Shifts in the Plutchik emotion profile indices following three weekly treatments with pulsed vs continuous cerebral magnetic fields.

Compared to baseline measures, the emotional profile indices of normal volunteers who received 3 weekly exposures to 20 min. of bilateral burst-firing magnetic fields along the temporal plane displayed increased aggression and decreased trust relative to those exposed to pulsed (1 sec. every 4 sec.) fields or to control conditions. The effect size was equivalent to an eta of 0.70. There were no shifts in Holtzman Inkblot Projection Scores. These results suggest that brief cerebral exposures to weak magnetic fields that simulate the burst-firing of amygdaloid cells may affect specific limbic emotions.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Paranormal and religious beliefs may be mediated differentially by subcortical and cortical phenomenological processes of the temporal (limbic) lobes.

The vectorial hemisphericity concept predicts that endorsements of beliefs in paranormal phenomena are associated with elevated subcortical (complex partial epileptic-like signs) temporal lobe experiences while endorsements of religious beliefs are associated with experiences of the right (cortical) hemispheric equivalent (the sensed presence) of the linguistic sense of self. Partial correlation analyses, which removed the expected shared variance, supported this hypothesis for 400 men and 400 women; religious affiliation did not contribute any statistically significant influence. However, agreements with extreme religious beliefs, such as killing others in God's name, were associated with weekly church attendance and were primarily endorsed by men but not by women.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Transcendental Meditation and general meditation are associated with enhanced complex partial epileptic-like signs: evidence for "cognitive" kindling?

The Personal Philosophy Inventories of 221 university students who had learned to meditate (about 65% to 70% Transcendental Meditation) were compared to 860 nonmeditators. Meditators displayed a significantly wider range of complex partial epileptic-like signs. Experiences of vibrations, hearing one's name called, paranormal phenomena, profound meaning from reading poetry/prose, and religious phenomenology were particularly frequent among mediators. Numbers of years of TM practice were significantly correlated with the incidence of complex partial signs and sensed presence but not with control, olfactory, or perseverative experiences. The results support the hypothesis that procedures which promote cognitive kindling enhance complex partial epileptic-like signs.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Average diurnal changes in melatonin levels are associated with hourly incidence of bereavement apparitions: support for the hypothesis of temporal (limbic) lobe microseizuring.

Transient suppressions of nocturnal melatonin levels due to enhanced geomagnetic activity have been suggested as the precipitating source of experiences of postmortem (bereavement) apparitions when the brain has been sensitized (grief) by elevations of the epileptogenic neuropeptide, corticotrophin-releasing factor. Although the hourly incidence of subjective experiences of telepathy, precognition, and bereavement apparitions were all significantly correlated with published indices of hourly melatonin levels, only the significant association between melatonin levels and apparitions was not changed when the other two classes of psi experiences were held constant.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

PubMed1993

Geophysical variables and behavior: LXXI. Differential contribution of geomagnetic activity to paranormal experiences concerning death and crisis: an alternative to the ESP hypothesis.

A total of 621 reports (experienced over an approximately 70-year period) of putative psi experiences concerning death or crisis were differentiated according to traditional labels: telepathic, precognitive, and postmortem phenomena. The 232 telepathic experiences occurred during 24-hour periods in which the global geomagnetic activity was significantly less (quieter) than during the days before or after the experiences; this relationship was not displayed by the 186 precognitive or 203 postmortem cases. Key day differences in geomagnetic activity for the three classes of experiences were equivalent to a correlation of about 0.35. Although content analysis suggests that nocturnal psi experiences and temporal lobe epilepsy may share a similar mechanism, different classes of subjective psi experiences may not be affected by the same stimuli.

Death↗

PubMed1993

Vectorial cerebral hemisphericity as differential sources for the sensed presence, mystical experiences and religious conversions.

Multiple variants of the sensed presence often precede mystical and religious experiences that are frequently followed by sudden, permanent changes in self-concept. The model of vectorial hemisphericity assumes that the relative metabolic activity of synaptic patterns between the cerebral hemispheres at the time of transient interhemispheric intercalation determines the affect, content, and type of experience. Depending upon the relative activity of the two hemispheres, intrusions of the right hemispheric equivalent of the left hemispheric (and linguistic) sense of self generate experimental phenomena that include "evil entities," gods, out-of-body experiences, and alterations in space-time. Conditions that facilitate interhemispheric intercalation and the generation of these experiences are discussed.

Anxiety↗

PubMed1993

Reinforcement generalization as interaction between processes rather than events: absence of schedule-induced hyperdipsia in rats with histories of minimal food-water contiguity.

All scientific disciplines contain concepts that reflect interactions between their processes as well as between their units. The divergence process (generalization) applied to reinforcement predicts the existence of reinforcement generalization. Existence of this operation was suggested by the absence of schedule-induced hyperdipsia in rats for which the normal temporal contiguity between eating and drinking had been prevented. The results indicate that through generalization of reinforcement, which could explain the adjunctive class of behaviors, reinforcement of one process evokes comparable changes in other processes even if their overt correlates are not displayed contiguously.

Animals↗

PubMed1993

Intensity of amnesia during hypnosis is positively correlated with estimated prevalence of sexual abuse and alien abductions: implications for the false memory syndrome.

20 normal young women listened to an ambiguous story concerning a young boy who experienced fear, odd smells, and a smothering sensation during the night and skin lesions the next morning. After the Hypnotic Induction Profile (HIP) had been established, they were asked to estimate either the percentage prevalence of childhood sexual abuse or alien abduction in the general population. There were moderate (0.50) positive correlations between the subjects' estimates of prevalence and the amount of amnesia ("lost time") and indices of right-hemispheric anomalies (history of sensed presence and left-ear suppressions during a dichotic-listening task). Relevance of observations to formation of the False Memory Syndrome and to the development of nonpsychotic delusions is discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1993

Geophysical variables and behavior: LXXV. Possible increased incidence of brain tumors following an episode of luminous phenomena.

If the tectonic strain theory for luminous phenomena be correct, then significant electromagnetic emissions and radon gas release should occur in focal regions in which people report an alleged "UFO flap." Considering the epidemiological evidence that these stimuli might promote the incidence of brain tumors, their occurrence during the 5 years before and the 5 years after the November, 1975 episode of multiple luminous displays within the Sudbury Basin (Canada) was examined. Compared to the adjacent control area, there was a significant increase in brain tumors after the episode for men (conservative odds ratio = 2.5) but not for women; however, the magnitude was well within the expected range of incidence within the general population. Such changes have theoretical implication but may have little clinical or health significance.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Extreme hypothermia induced by a synergism of acute limbic seizures, physical restraint, and acepromazine: implications for survival following brain injury.

Core temperature was measured in rats 24 hr. after they had been assigned to one of 8 groups in a 3-way analysis of variance design that involved (1) induction of limbic seizures by a systemic injection of lithium/pilocarpine, (2) physical restraint, and (3) administration of acepromazine. An extraordinarily powerful interaction was noted among seizures, physical restraint, and acepromazine-produced hypothermia (24 degrees C) compared to the other 7 treatments (> 35 degrees C). The putative poikilothermic response is commensurate with the loss of mammalian behaviors that follow these seizures. Implications for survival during the acute stages of brain injury are suggested.

Acepromazine↗

PubMed1993

Personality changes following brain injury as a grief response to the loss of sense of self: phenomenological themes as indices of local lability and neurocognitive structuring as psychotherapy.

Both theoretical and empirical observations suggest that significant alterations in self-concept should occur following most closed head injuries because of diffuse synaptic modification within the temporofrontal regions; this loss of the sense of self should evoke a grief-like response sequence and should encourage paranormal/religious experiences during the subsequent months to years. The marked consistency between phenomenological experiences and the results of neuropsychological assessments of 56 adults who had sustained brain injuries supported this hypothesis. Subsequent reports by these patients indicated that clinical translation of posttraumatic experiences into rational neurobehavioral terms and interventions tailored for the individual's specific pattern of brain "dysfunction" may facilitate adaptation during the grieving period.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1992

Geomagnetic activity and enhanced mortality in rats with acute (epileptic) limbic lability.

Presumably unrelated behaviors (e.g. psychiatric admissions, seizures, heart failures) have been correlated with increased global geomagnetic activity. We have suggested that all of these behaviors share a common source of variance. They are evoked by transient, dopamine-mediated paroxysmal electrical patterns that are generated within the amygdala and the hippocampus of the temporal lobes. Both the probability and the propagation of these discharges to distal brain regions are facilitated when nocturnal melatonin levels are suppressed by increased geomagnetic activity. In support of this hypothesis, the present study demonstrated a significant correlation of Pearson r = 0.60 between mortality during the critical 4-day period that followed induction of limbic seizures in rats and the ambient geomagnetic activity during the 3 to 4 days that preceded death; the risk increased when the 24 h geomagnetic indices exceeded 20 nT for more than 1 to 2 days.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Absence of maternal behavior in rats with lithium/pilocarpine seizure-induced brain damage: support of MacLean's triune brain theory.

Female rats, with and without maternal experience, received limbic seizure-inducing (SC) injections of lithium and pilocarpine. Following the subsequent parturitions, these rats displayed a complete absence of maternal behavior. Rats that did not display seizures after receiving the lithium/pilocarpine injections displayed behaviors that were comparable to normal controls. Although the multifocal limbic, thalamic, and cingulate damage abolished maternal care, there was no evidence of aberrant effects upon fecundity, litter size, or mammary function; infanticide was negligible. The pattern of brain damage involves the evolutionarily more recent thalamocingulate system of mammals and supports MacLean's theory that these pathways are required for normal mother-offspring interaction.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Severity of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in rats depends upon the temporal contiguity between limbic seizures and inoculation.

Limbic seizures (forepaw clonus) were induced in Lewis rats by subcutaneous injections of lithium (3 mEq/kg) followed 24 h later by a muscarinic agent. Either 7 days before, 7 days after, or on the day of seizures, rats were inoculated with a spinal cord preparation. Other groups received these preparations but served as treatment (no seizure) controls. In three separate experiments, rats in which seizures had been induced at the time of inoculation displayed significant increases in the severity of clinical symptoms 14-20 days later relative to controls while rats in which seizures had been induced 7 days after inoculation displayed less severe symptoms; the latter effect was partially simulated by multiple injections of 1 mg/kg dexamethasone. The immunofacilitation effect was much stronger than the immunosuppression and explained 25-30% of the variance in the clinical severity scores.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Transient suppression of a secondary humoral response in rats is evoked by lithium-pilocarpine-induced limbic seizures.

Several experiments were designed to evaluate a secondary humoral response following limbic seizures. After baseline antigen binding capacity (ABC) had been determined for the primary response, a second subcutaneous injection of the antigen (human serum albumin) was accompanied by an injection of either lithium (3 mEq/kg)-pilocarpine (30 mg/kg) or one of two comparator treatments: metrazol (30 mg/kg) or cyclophosphamide (50 mg/kg); other rats served as drug controls. Only the groups that received the lithium-pilocarpine (status epilepticus) or cyclophosphamide (no seizure) displayed significant immunosuppression after 5 but not 10 days. The results support the hypothesis that seizure activity within the amygdaloid-hippocampal complex modulates immunocompetence through corticotropin mechanisms.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

PubMed1992

The feeling of a presence and verbal meaningfulness in context of temporal lobe function: factor analytic verification of the muses?

We hypothesized that the feeling of a presence, particularly during periods of profound verbal creativity (reading or writing prose or poetry), is an endemic cognitive phenomenon. Factor analyses of 12 clusters of phenomenological experiences from 348 men and 520 women supported the hypothesis. We conclude that periods of intense meaningfulness (a likely correlate of enhanced burst-firing in the left hippocampal-amygdaloid complex and temporal lobe) allow access to nonverbal representations that are the right hemispheric equivalents of the sense of self; they are perceived as "a presence." The relevance of our results to the theories of Jaynes, Bear, Edelman, and MacLean is discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1992

Progressive accumulation of large aggregates of calcium-containing polysaccharides and basophilic debris within specific thalamic nuclei after lithium/pilocarpine-induced seizures.

Between 30 and 50 days after the induction of seizures by a single injection of lithium and pilocarpine, large aggregates of Nissl-staining material appeared; they occupied up to 35% of the thalamic volume. Both histochemical and atomic absorption analyses indicated elevated concentrations of Ca++ (and possibly Mg++) within this substance that was also composed of polysaccharides and nucleic acids. Significant interactions between time since seizure induction and form of the material indicated a progressive accretion of this material from diffusely scattered micrometer granules to large crystalline forms. We suggest this material is composed of endoplasmic reticular debris that is bound by bivalent cations; because the severity of damage exceeds local phagocytic capacity, the material aggregates and then crystallizes. Possible relation to thalamic calcification in neonatal ischemic brains is considered.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Toe graphaesthesia as a discriminator of brain impairment: the outstanding feet for neuropsychology.

Because of the vulnerability of the medial surfaces of the cerebral hemispheres to the consequences of shear forces, we hypothesized that quantitative sensori-motor deficits for the feet would be strong indicators of general brain dysfunction. On the basis of the Halstead-Reitan Impairment Index, 28 adults who had received closed head injuries were assigned to perfectly normal, normal, or (mildly to severely) impaired groups. Foot tap and finger tap as well as agnosia and graphaesthesia for the fingers and toes were measured. Deficits in toe graphaesthesia were the most powerful group discriminator. Potential usefulness of haptic/motor, finger/toe comparisons for recording the progress of degenerative diseases, such as AIDS, is also suggested.

Adult↗