By eilidh mcnaughtonAn electroencephalogram (EEG) is a recording of brain activity where small sensors are attached to the scalp to pick up brain signals (NHS, 2022). More specifically, these sensors detect tiny changes in electrical voltage at the scalp surface caused by groups of neurons firing within the brain (Johnson & de Haan, 2015). The existence of the electrical activity within the brain was discovered more than a century ago by English scientist Richard Caton, who recorded electrical activity from the brains of animals (St. Louis et al., 2016). However, it was Hans Berger, a German scientist, who was the first to record electrical activity in human brains in the 1920s using the EEG method (Tudor et al., 2005). This was a historical breakthrough, however, it did not become an accepted method of analysing brain functions until years later, after a demonstration by other researchers in 1934 (da Silva, 2009). Eventually, it became a very popular tool for diagnosing and monitoring psychological and medical conditions (Millett, 2001). This was because it made many neurological conditions possible to diagnose without invasive operations, which was unheard of at the time (Tudor et al., 2005). However, this discovery may have not been possible, at least by Berger, without the involvement of the paranormal. One of Berger’s motivations for developing this brain imaging technique was to provide evidence for psychical energy and telepathy (Millett, 2001). Whilst he is regarded as a psychiatrist by most (Tudor et al., 2005), Berger could also be considered as a parapsychologist (i.e., someone who studies apparent anomalies of behaviour and experience which lie outside of our current scientific understanding) (Irwin & Watt, 2007). The scientist initially pursued psychiatry after an experience as a teenager where his sister was overwhelmed by an ominous feeling on the same morning that he had been involved in an accident. In a near-death experience, Berger was thrown from the horse he was riding. Berger was convinced that he had communicated telepathically with his sister, sparking his interest in psychic abilities (Millett, 2001). He wanted to demonstrate that there was a neurophysiological basis for psychic phenomena, through searching for telepathic brain waves, and this eventually led to his discovery of the EEG (Millett, 2001). Berger made the first EEG recording in 1924 (Tudor et al., 2005) and it still has a place today for investigating seizures and epilepsy, memory problems, head injuries, tumours, encephalitis, and sleep disorders (NHS, 2018). EEG has also been adopted for several other clinical indications. For example, EEG can be used to monitor the depth of anaesthesia during surgical procedures because of its ability to show sudden changes in neural functioning and so has proven helpful in this setting in monitoring for potential complications (St. Louis et al., 2016). Yet, without his interest in psychic abilities, Berger might never have made this significant discovery which has had major ramifications for mainstream science. References
da Silva F.L. (2009) EEG: Origin and Measurement. In: Mulert C., Lemieux L. (eds) EEG - fMRI. Springer, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-87919-0_2 Irwin, H. J., & Watt, C. (2007). An Introduction to Parapsychology, 5th Ed. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ed/detail.action?docID=4929909 Johnson, M. H., & de, H. M. (2015). Developmental cognitive neuroscience : An introduction. (4th ed.). Wiley Blackwell. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hel8CAAAQBAJ&printsec=copyright&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Millett, D. (2001). Hans Berger: From Psychic Energy to the EEG. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 44(4), 522-542. https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.2001.0070 NHS. (2022, January 5). Electroencephalogram (EEG). The Department of Health and Social Care. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/electroencephalogram/ St. Louis, E. K., Frey, L. C., Britton, J. W., Frey, L. C., Hopp, J. L., Korb, P., Koubeissi, M. Z., Lievens, W. E., Pestana-Knight, E. M., & St. Louis, E. K. (Eds.). (2016). Electroencephalography (EEG): An Introductory Text and Atlas of Normal and Abnormal Findings in Adults, Children, and Infants. American Epilepsy Society. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK390354/ Tudor, M., Tudor, L., & Tudor, K. I. (2005). Hans Berger (1873-1941)--the history of electroencephalography. Acta Med Croatica, 59(4), 307-313. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16334737
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