How electromagnetic fields influence consciousness

Dr. Nicolas Rouleau is a neuroscientist, bioengineer, and Assistant Professor of Health Sciences at Wilfrid Laurier University. He wrote the award-winning essay, ‘An Immortal Stream of Consciousness: The scientific evidence for the survival of consciousness after permanent bodily death,’ in which he argues that the transmissive theory of consciousness may actually be more consistent with emerging scientific insights than the dominant assumption that the brain generates consciousness.

In this conversation with Hans Busstra, Rouleau shares the main arguments from his essay, which touch upon his collaboration with Dr. Michael Persinger, the inventor of the ‘God Helmet,’ and his work with Michael Levin on ‘mind blindness’—the idea that science may be searching for mind in too restricted a place by focusing almost exclusively on neurons.

More information on Dr. Nic Rouleau: https://www.wlu.ca/academics/facultie...

Personal website: https://www.rouleaulab.com/

Further reading and scientific references discussed in this video: Rouleau's BICS Essay: 'An Immortal Stream of Consciousness:

The scientific evidence for the survival of consciousness after permanent bodily death.' https://www.bigelowinstitute.org/inde...

Rouleau, N., Levin, M., et al. (2025) (Preprint; forthcoming in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society). Brains and Where Else? Mapping Theories of Consciousness to Unconventional Embodiments. https://tinyurl.com/439rrn8z

Rouleau, N., & Levin, M. (2023). The Multiple Realizability of Sentience in Living Systems and Beyond. eNeuro, 10(11). https://tinyurl.com/2s4bdtmm

Rouleau, N. & Cimino, N. (2022). A Transmissive Theory of Brain Function: Implications for Health, Disease, and Consciousness. NeuroSci, 3(3). https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4087/3/3/32

McCraty, R., et al. (2018). Long-term study of heart rate variability responses to changes in the solar and geomagnetic environment. https://tinyurl.com/254x3b9t

Rouleau, N., & Persinger, M. A. (2016). Differential responsiveness of the right parahippocampal region to electrical stimulation in fixed human brains: Implications for historical surgical stimulation studies. Epilepsy & Behavior, 60, 181–186. https://tinyurl.com/uc5jbr

Rajaram, M., & Mitra, S. (1981). Correlation between convulsive seizure and geomagnetic activity. Neuroscience Letters, 24(2), 187–191. https://tinyurl.com/3snrs4cs

Rouleau's Bigelow Essay - An Immortal Stream of Consciousness

In this essay, I will outline why the survival of consciousness after brain death is not only possible,
but probable beyond a reasonable doubt. I will also demonstrate that our understanding of brain
function has changed radically over the past century and now includes biophysical mechanisms which
can explain not only survival, but also related observations which have classically been categorized as
“psi” phenomena. For example, while it is true that the putative telepathic and remote-viewing abilities
of unique individuals such as Sean Harribance33-35 and Ingo Swann36,37 are not easily explained by
older models of brain function that treat endogenous activations as the sole sources of cognition, new
models that place consciousness at least partly outside the brain can explain them. In fact, the latest
evidence indicates that our brains readily interact with electromagnetic fields (EMF) from natural and
artificial sources38-43. Not only do brain cells signal wirelessly to each other by means of their own
weak electric fields44-46, but the Earth’s magnetic field has been repeatedly shown to influence, cohere,
and resonate with human brain activity in real-time, with profound consequences on neurocognitive
and behavioural output43,47. Using principles of electromagnetic induction, we now employ
technologies such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to change brain activity48, assess and
treat neurological disorders49-51, and even subvert free will52. Our brains’ EMFs, which can be detected
using biomedical devices such as magnetoencephalography (MEG)53, are all immersed in a shared
geomagnetic medium that oscillates with periodicities that match the frequency patterns of our own
brain waves47,54,55. As will become clear, it is possible that the information content of our experiences
and memories can be uploaded or downloaded to and from spaces external to our brains, existing
independently after we die56. On the bases of these and other discoveries, I will instruct and elucidate
a comprehensive model of brain function that characterizes consciousness as a transmitted signal or
force with at least a partial existence outside the head.