ELF Radiation and the Mind/Brain Problem

Here is chapter 9, "ELF and the Mind/Brain Problem", from the book "Cross Currents: the Perils of Electrical Pollution" by Robert O. Becker.

We believe that our behavior is determined solely by the way our brains integrate information and present it to our “consciousness”. We also believe that we have the “free will” to choose either to obey the dictates of our information processing system or to take another action. In short, we believe that our behavior is internally generated by a process of conscious free will. The possibility that behavior is even in part determined by some unperceived external force--one that influences the operations of our brains without our knowledge--has been rejected, primarily on the basis that there is no known external force that could have any such effect.

Even though such terms as consciousness and free will are quite vague, their meanings are well understood by everyone. We are “conscious” in the sense that we perceive our existence, but exactly how this is done and where it occurs is absolutely unknown. If bacteria lack consciousness, where in the evolutionary sequence does it begin? There is a common tendency to view the brain as a super sophisticated computer. However, no computer has ever been built that displays consciousness (Hall notwithstanding!) Those of us with a tinge of vitalism tend to avoid the mind/brain problem altogether, and we seek refuge in the idea that the brain is an excellent example of living organisms being more than the sum of their parts. Still, we cannot escape the fact that consciousness exists and that it poses one of the greatest challenges to human understanding.

“Free will” is equally difficult to deal with, because it is obviously part o consciousness. We consciously perceive a situation and make a choice as to the course of action we will take. It is this deliberate choosing that we equate with free will. However, our choices are not always rational, and the range of choices available to us is dictated by man external variables, such as culture and society. Nevertheless, we cherish the idea of free will and believe that freedom of choice is the right of all people.

I reject the idea that the brain and its workings, including consciousness, will ultimately be deciphered by compute technology and I have some doubts that we will ever totally know the exact nature of consciousness in an objective way. However, as I am a scientist, that belief does not preclude my studying the problem. As a starting point, we already know that consciousness resides in , or is associated with, the operations of the brain in the living organism.

If the brain is viewed as a machine, it can be separated into distinct parts, each with specific functions. I doubt that this approach will ever be of use in deciphering the problem, for it appears unlikely that there is a “consciousness center.” Consciousness probably resides in the total operations of the entire brain and in the systems that integrate the separate parts into a functional unit.

As I noted previously, in the early 1960s I postulated that external magnetic fields could alter the basic operations of the brain by interfering with its normal internal DC electrical current system. I worked in collaboration with Dr. Howard Friedman, a psychologist at New York’s Upstate Medical Center, to explore the relationship between the occurrence of magnetic storms and the rate of admissions to psychiatric hospitals. As described earlier, we found them to be significantly related. Admittedly, the subjects of this study were persons with abnormal cognitive patterns, yet the clinical manifestation of the abnormality seemed to be exacerbated by these changes in the geomagnetic environment.

In actual laboratory experiments conducted later, we exposed normal human volunteers to controlled magnetic fields and measured their reaction times. We found that DC magnet fields as strong as 15 gauss had no effect on reaction time, but that significant and very different effects were produced by exposure to much smaller fields, modulated at 0.1 or 0.2 Hz. These extremely low frequencies (ELF) are present in the micro pulsations of the Earth’s normal geomagnetic field but are much lower in strength than the main components, which center at about 10 Hz. I concluded that there was some relationship between the ELF in the normal geomagnetic field (either gross disturbances, such as magnetic storms or more subtle alterations, such as changes in the relative strength of micro pulsation frequencies) and measurable activities of the human brain.

I outlined our theory in a series of presentations and publications in 1962 and 1963. We concluded that:

"The magnetic field of the Earth is an important physiologic factor for living organisms. It appears that behavioral changes of an undesirable nature, either quite evident or subtle, may result from exposure to environments having lower or higher field strengths than “normal” or those having either no fluctuation or cyclic fluctuation at frequencies other than those to which we are adjusted."

At that time, the primary scientific endeavor was manned space flight, and I cautioned that beyond 250,000 miles out in space, astronauts would exposed to a magnetic field that was much lower in strength and that lacked the normal fluctuations found at the Earth’s surface. I suggested that experiments should be done before such space flights to make sure that no subtle psychological alterations would occur that could degrade the astronauts’ performance.

As a result of these comments, I was contact by Dr. James Hamer of Northrop Space Laboratories, who informed me that his group was already involved in this area. He also noted that Dr. Norbert Weiner of MIT, the originator of cybernetics, had been interested in the same subject. Weiner had been involved in a German experiment in which human volunteers were unknowingly exposed to a low-intensity, 10-Hz electrical field. The subjects reported feelings of unease and anxiety when the fields were turned on. Both Hamer and Weiner were working under the assumption that ELF internal rhythms in the brain were determinants of behavior and that pulsing external fields could “drive” these internal rhythms, thereby altering behavior. I corresponded with Dr. Hamer for several years, providing him with the data obtained in my lab; however I never received any of the data from his experiments.

In 1963, I was contacted by Dr. Dietrich Beischer of the Naval Surface Weapons Laboratory in Silver Springs, Maryland, who was engaged in an extensive project on human volunteers. Beischer was testing the effect on people of long periods of exposure to a zero magnetic field. I visited his lab and found that he was able to completely “null out” the Earth’s DC magnetic field, but not the micro pulsation frequencies. Therefore, his subjects were not completely cut off from the normal fluctuating components of the natural geomagnetic field. Beischer measured many physiological variables during the project, including those involving psychological factors. When the experiment had been concluded and the data analyzed, Beischer told me that except for some minor psychological variables, no effect had been found.

The experiment could now be redone with both the Earth’s steady field and the micro pulsations fully nulled out. Weiner’s report of the restoration on normal biosocial cycles under this condition through the introduction of a simple 10-Hz field could then be checked.

However, it appeared that my concept of a relationship between the normal variations in the Earth’s geomagnetic field and human behavior was taken seriously by at least certain elements of the scientific community. At the time, their primary interest in this area had to do with possible hazards during space travel. The deeper biological and philosophical implications were not considered.

During the same period of the 1960s, these implications were taken quite seriously by another scientist. Spanish neurophysiologist Jose M.R. Delgado (whose study of birth defects in chicken embryos exposed to ELF was described earlier) was interested in the physiological basis of behavior and emotions. He confirmed and extended chance observations that had been made a decade earlier and indicated the possible existence of a “pleasure” center in the brain.