The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox in the Brain: The Transferred Potential
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Plain English Summary
Could two human brains behave like entangled quantum particles β mysteriously linked across distance? Borrowing from the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox in physics (where paired particles instantly mirror each other no matter how far apart), seven pairs meditated together then were placed in shielded, soundproof chambers 14.5 meters apart. One person received light flashes while both had brain activity recorded. In about 25% of deeply connected pairs, the unstimulated person's brain produced patterns eerily matching the other's responses. Controls showed nothing. The paper became hugely influential, inspiring at least five independent replications. Poignantly, lead author Grinberg-Zylberbaum disappeared that same year, making this his final major work.
Actual Paper Abstract
Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) correlations between human brains are studied to verify if the brain has a macroscopic quantum component. Pairs of subjects were allowed to interact and were then separated inside semisilent Faraday chambers 14.5 m apart when their EEG activity was registered. Only one subject of each pair was stimulated by lOO flashes. When the stimulated subject showed distinct evoked potentials, the nonstimulated subject showed "transferred potentials" similar to those evoked in the stimulated subject. Control subjects showed no such transferred potentials. The transferred potentials demonstrate brain-to-brain nonlocal EPR correlation between brains, supporting the brain's quantum nature at the macrolevel.
Research Notes
Foundational paper in the 'transferred potential' paradigm that launched an entire line of EEG brain-to-brain correlation research. Directly inspired replications by Wackermann (2003), Standish (2003, 2004), Radin (2004), and Achterberg (2005), and was included in Schmidt et al.'s (2004) meta-analysis. Grinberg-Zylberbaum disappeared in 1994, making this his last major publication.
Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) correlations between human brains were investigated to test whether the brain has a macroscopic quantum component. Seven pairs of subjects meditated together for 20 minutes, then were separated into soundproof Faraday chambers 14.5 m apart. Subject A received 100 light flashes while both subjects' EEGs were recorded from occipital derivations with high-pass filtering above 12.7 Hz. In ~25% of pairs reporting successful 'direct communication,' Subject B showed 'transferred potentials' morphologically matching Subject A's evoked potentials (r = 0.70-0.93, p < 0.005). All control conditions showed no transferred potentials. Interpreted as evidence for macroscopic quantum nonlocality between correlated brains.
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- Event-Related Electroencephalographic Correlations Between Isolated Human Subjects β Radin, Dean I (2004)
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π Cite this paper
Grinberg-Zylberbaum, Jacobo, Delaflor, Montserrat, Attie, Leah, Goswami, Amit (1994). The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox in the Brain: The Transferred Potential. Physics Essays. https://doi.org/10.4006/1.3029112
@article{grinberg_zylberbaum_1994_transferred_potential,
title = {The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox in the Brain: The Transferred Potential},
author = {Grinberg-Zylberbaum, Jacobo and Delaflor, Montserrat and Attie, Leah and Goswami, Amit},
year = {1994},
journal = {Physics Essays},
doi = {10.4006/1.3029112},
}