Approved For Release 2001/03/26 : CIA-RDP96-00787ROO0200080039-'O ASPR NEWSLETTER 6)1976 AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH, INC., 5 West 73rd St., New York, N - 10023. 212-799-5050 JULY 1976 Voltime 11 Numlm@r 3 PSI PHENOMENA IN SEARCH OF A NEURAL FOOTHOLD .fail I'llrellwald, M.D. In neurological language "cerebral localization- nicatis ssiVning certain mental functions to I specific @irea in the , ,I- hrain. I submit that our attempts to "locali/c'' psi ])lie- tiomena have mitiJ recentlY 13cen bogged (town I)cc:itise vvc were asking tile \vrong questions. Instead of' trying to pinpoint tile origin of FSP or PK in a given brain region, we imist ask what it is that prel'ClItS OUr S 'vsteni From being flooded bV tile StCadV irlt]LIX Of' psi Stilnuli frolli the past, tile present and tile' Future all the tinic. i believe, furthermore, that we must not throw two dis- parate classes of' psi into one basket: namcl.y, (1) spon- lancous incidents of, life type seen ill crises, dreams, tranCe states or the psychoanalvtic situaholl-I would dcscribe these as (2) experi- niental, forced-choice incidents of' the card-guessing type. Thev are of trivial, indifferent T1,11111re, possess no survival advanta c, and I would describe theni its -det 9 flaw ci mined. VOCLIsing on flaw-deternlinCd phenomena, we call take It. Bergson's filter thcoir@ as oul. point ill' departure. This ICadS LIS to tile retiCillar formation in tile brain stem as tile strilcture which protects the organism from licing flooded hv excessive stimulation from both inside and 0LItSidc: f'rom sensorv as well as extrasensory overloa d--inclu (till g stiblinlinal perceptions. I SLIggCSt that tile same regulatory function acts as a brake oil the uncontrolled and indis- ciminiate release of motor illIPL11SCS that, it' Unchecked, \vonld wreak havoc in our social and physical environment. In ill(.- ctid, it would exhaust the person's energy supply like it Roman candle. Two clinical examples illustrate the point. One is a paranoid schizophrenic's delusion of drowning in I sea of' social hostility; the other is a polter- geist child's explosive acting-out of his pent-up destruc.- five impulses. How then do these considerations apply to typical FSP card tests-the forced-choice type ofpsi phellollicna? They suggest that tile capriciousness of' correct hits in such cxperiments is (file to the random occurrence of minor flaws in tile reticular forniation's screening or ill- hibitory functions. These random flaws lici-tilit it few L'(pially capricious bursts of' psi to intrude into the Subject's scoring pattern. This is why I describe thcse psi effects as flaw-delerml .ned. However, this hypothesis cannot account for the erner- gelice and central brain processing of' those major, liced-detcrinined psi experiences which occur in drcams, crises, in the psYchoanalytic sittiation or in telepathic drawings. Such incidel)(S involve mental events of' it Iii-ghly C01111plex flattlAplafrAmed,tFor,5elease 20=0=6 random firing dar-formation ricurolls ol'a I'm reli catli@ht napping oil their. point Is illu"tralt'd jobs. i) h\ III(' 1111101-(ILIOtt2did Upton Sinclair Warcollici Iclepaillik. drawing tests, @iian-Kril)pllk-r and the i dream cx1icri niclits. Here CC 01 IlSi T-C(Illil-C.S tile ellicri" SI)CC111C setcctioll and -'Nifig ill hig1wr elaborate 11; hraill celiff'T ". Turning to SUCIIrJIIinCd pht-110HIC(l@t need 11: g'INC." 11,11 an added chic Atioll of' psi in about file cq, Llclwral, Lel Ir" pill telepathic 1).N, "ide with drawings @1 (Ilimillf"', lll,ldc by brain-injureditcring from lesions patient,, in IlIc left hemisphere. We k by it close rCSCnIbialIcC are @,ti between tile a marked distortion two. Both sh,! and dlS_ organization indeed skeptics, ofthe pictur, for this very reasoll. terld pool- LlUaht@ of' to Scoff ill tile ikVL'ra@@C I' telepathic drawing.@r, it is jus I Him this di,,torlinn @kllich sheds file telepa(hic Ilew light c1c proccs', itself. The disorganizationtcteristic of psi ch@i, phenonicna suggests that percipient functions tile tclepiiff@ Ill 11111(l) the SaIlle Wily fi-initired patient IS does a I kkith a lesion TI in the Ich paricto-occipitregion. Neurologically speak lie SLItTers ignosiii: although front opti@-: his vision is unimpaired, tic inalic Sense 0I' is unal)h his ViSlial ceptions. The pati(nt call do best such is to procc,,s them, however lit,, Ontact) right poorly, v i@ hemisphere. It' this is truc,"ion is at hand the cmi, that the I(Ac- paihic percipient'sefforts to make gropit; sense (it' the FSP tat-get likewisethe iniprints of' cm the right liernisphere--theilly "inferior," intel1c, I hLit intIlitiVeIN, more perceptive W brain. In his Side of drimings lit- other ESP productions,@iormal StIbIUCt I h ShOWS tilt' Sal@])C telldelicV to lsorgallization distortion and right-Ich reversal as doesv"ith (list it rha tile patio lices of the left parieto-occipital region This fact [ends ,port to tile proposition added su @ that it is CIA-RDP96-007ffRb'ob~bl~0'80039-2 i I -I! I I I I n . f I I Its 1) 11 o' ro %@ I I i c 11 1) re S i (I cS ov er t I') t'0C C S lmt iA@proVed,ForReleasei,20C C '1111, t, Ow reliculm- formation survcs its a "UrtIt'll ill OWLA Hill OIL' 1)(A-Soll h-0111 [Wil)tl, tl()o(l(,(] and over IWIllWil hV Citll(T need- Or flaw determined (,X pt'liclices or hv hoth. I o "11111 ilp: J)"t pliclioniclia have their neural foothold oll two IC@(+S 01 OW (VIlti'A l1CrVOUS SVSWIll: 011C ill tile brain "Will, lilt, ollicr ill lilt, braill cortcx. Thc cnlcrg(@ncc of a pi%cn psi incidcnt depends oil minor irregularities ill (lie tull(Aiolliflj,1 14 tile 1-C(iCUlar fOl-Illation, C011PIC(I @ki(ll tile compensatorY functioning of' the right hemisphere. N(ite: A previous version of 1his artick, appeared ill tile J011171ill ol Nervou.s and Alcliful Di.%cast% Vol. 10 1 , No. 6, A fullcr slatcnicni will also bc included ill Dv. Hircmv.,dd's forfficomiti.r hook, PAR,,11)SYCIHATRY.- A A I Ul) Y OF PNI F/ /NCTIONS A NI) 1) YSFUNCIYONS. ASPR HELPS WITH AN INTERSESSION SYMPOSIUM Diming JantiarY 1970 ;lit Interscssion Symposium oil p.,iraps)chology Iwas lield at La dycl i If' College, Highland Falls, NA. for undergraduates th'cre. It was initiated and CoOl-dillated In, linlothY Izc\,(1rs of the Ps ,vchology Dcpartnwut. St-veval people comiuded with the ASPR j)Art1CiI)at(-d ;Is lecturers all(] consultants. Since this \vas Ow first finic parapsychologv had ho@cn extctisivel 'v COVOr(ld lit a com-se at Ladycliff, we asked Mr. IZcvers to make sonte coninictits. What svere Your imijor purposes ill making this course (111tillable? Pa 1-11,N, to rt-spond 11) the Students, great interest all(I Curiosity. Also I believe that such programs, if' handled well, call he]p get parapsvchology into 111a i list 1-ca ill higher @,dtjcation, where it has for too long been slighted. flow did go about getting it ilictude(I oil the 11110'rsessi.oil program? Many, colleges use tile Jarm,'ll-V Intersession (a short term bel,xcen Fall and Spring tcri'lls) to introduce innovative And experimental programs. Ladycliff"s program is ver ,y FeXible; So there was no problem introducing a two-credit course entitled "The Psychic Sccni@: Ali Introduction to Varapsychology. " DP96-00787)~9002,Qo_oop~9M-2---- EDUGA: @ON DEPARTMENT o''l-APIAMING 1 ',1 ND PK--- a iicw ('()Ikition of 27 kcy intro(hictoryarti -s From this Nl@'WSLFTTIJ?. on a 'xidC 1'ango' Of CIl0f0giCaI '0lbjCCjS. I)v limil, S.1.")O eNew edifion, Cou;.@ (Ind Othcr Stuc@v Opporimillics ill Pfjnlps@vchologv vised as of June 197(). (Rcad , v cartv ill August.) tAd $2 @@lth @,eff-adtlrcssed 010 clivc1ope, Stamped )4) to F.ducation Do'] )art Ille 111. *V()I,LJMI,' I Ossilt @7) of N[,\V.@I.FTTI:U, $10. ITFASF FINCLWd "'I'MI ITAN(T@ Wl I'll OIZI)FR. informalk, encourapci@(micnis to Share their I personal ,- N' @ih tlic coilim, hac@f,,round psvchic experience,behii1d thell), this be a Successfui StIsSion provcd Ill coliaboraiion I plit logellicr all xvilh ill, exhibit of' pholos vvith ,hovved various aspects captions: of' 1-ccent research, and iderahle attention drew cm when displaytA in one of' the illwavs. collepc flow did the react'? studcr Though, whell was announced, 111311Y the com StUdCnts apparentl ,N, sure @.vhat to expect weren't (IL) of' it, 111c) Showed such @mt we had it) close intercsi registration carlY. A questionnainvhich SlUdClIt', filled out ()It (fic Final day showedise at the extensivenoss suit of' Ille research; a 111C, ONO OWIV lKid \visit, b,, been S0111C ..derilonstrations"t:liic plictiometia ot' i in class; mid a fecling that ried to distinguish they had It, better betwecil parapsychology "OCCUlt." S0111C Said alld 01 tile -N' 11OW realized that important dimension this is ii, of hunian nature to Ile tisty. taken sci, Do voiti plan this anothcr Year? it) rept Definitely. hope to offer it aS F 'ventualk all eIL'('tiVC 6111-ing tile Year. I belicve this regular scho, call be done it' tile ClUalitV iniental prograrns 01' SUCII CXJ) is maintained at a high level.A be the best wa 'y This @@, to dispel the Skepticism of Ilogy'S oI)j)olj(.jlts. paral)t`,i@ The SUCCCSS 4@1,ralli ollicouraged Of OW V me to offer it SH111111cr fourug, Seminal A Ladycliff Nveck c%, in June (-jititlcd "Ourentin 11svchologv," for Issn, faymen. it dealt primarilylpsychology, altered with pi states and death and dying. IMI the filcullm, shoti, interest." The administration." Ao niv delight the announcement of' the course was met with gelilline excitement bY mativ people in the College ('0111111tillitv, including members of' tile psychology, philo- x", 5 @,ophv, historv and art departniclits. While lilany ex- pressed onlY slight f;imiliarify with file research being, lijY ;...7. done, thry were receptive to broadening our knowic(Ige in thi" di lilt, lislOll Of man. Our president, Dr. Francis J. Brcidenback, especially encouraged tile by his continuing Interest in tile program s progress. What point of' view did You sfress.,' Both in experiential and a research approach were taken. Ill (11SCUSSing each tOI)iC we USUalk, hegan by presenting NOWral case studies and then progressed to a review of the arch in (hat area. At midpoint in the two weeks, some h lassroom F.SP experiments were conducted, with results 11,9estive of marked pS.Vchic ability in one student at st. At the end of' the pro rarn, I)r. Par Approved For gelease 2C 6 ... A Ti@s13 C1A-RDP96-00787A'Offddft0039-2