Related to the above IONS call-out:
Scientists claim to have found distinct brain activity during “medium” trances
July 21, 2026
Karina Petrova
PsyPost
Scientists claim to have found distinct brain activity during “medium” trances
July 21, 2026
Karina Petrova
PsyPost
Quote:The team conducted a small study using electroencephalography data collected from just 28 women in Campo Grande, Brazil. The researchers recruited participants from local centers practicing Spiritism. Spiritism provides a cultural context where channeling spirits is a voluntary practice, allowing the researchers an opportunity to scan subjects in a controlled environment.
Half of the women in the selection pool were experienced practitioners who claimed to have regularly channeled spirits for at least five years. The other 14 women served as a control cohort. These individuals attended the same religious centers and shared identical spiritual viewpoints, but they did not act as channels themselves.
Quote:The researchers acknowledge a few major limitations to the experimental procedure.
Quote:The study, “Brain functional network dynamics in women with alleged mediumship: a controlled study,” was authored by Jessica Placido, Marco Aurelio Vinhosa Bastos Jr., Paulo Roberto Haidamus de Oliveira Bastos, Thaise G.L. de O. Toutain, and Jose Garcia Vivas Miranda. It was published in February 2026.
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