Telepathy , Brain Electric Activity and Hans Berger
Figure 1 : Hans Berger . Figure 2 : The author using an 8 channel EEG machine in 1973 .
by VASUDEVA IYER , MD
2024 is the year we celebrate the 100 th anniversary of the first recording of human brain electrical activity ( electroencephalogram , EEG ), a phenomenal achievement by Hans Berger , German neuropsychiatrist in 1924 ( Figure 1 ). This accomplishment revolutionized the diagnostic evaluation and management of many neurological disorders and afforded deeper understanding of the complexities of brain networks . Remarkable advances continue to be made at a fast pace ; one example is the brain-computer interface using EEG , which has opened a new era with incredible potential .
What prompted Hans Berger to record human brain electric activity ? It is one of the most fascinating stories , to say the least . He was born in 1873 in Neuses , near Coburg in southern Germany . He initially wanted to be an astronomer and enrolled as a math student . After a semester , he joined the cavalry and during the training , he fell off from his horse and was almost run over by the wheel of an artillery cannon , escaping imminent death . That evening , he was astounded to receive a telegram from his father , who had not contacted him since he joined the cavalry . Apparently , his sister , who was very dear to him , had the uncanny
premonition that Berger was in grave danger and prompted their father to send the telegram . Berger considered this as an instance of telepathic communication , which immediately aroused his curiosity . In Berger ’ s own words : “ It was a case of spontaneous telepathy in which at a time of mortal danger as I contemplated certain death , I transmitted my thoughts , while my sister , who was particularly close to me , acted as the receiver .” He diligently pursued his curiosity and wanted to unravel the mystery of telepathic communication .
He enrolled in mathematics at the University of Jena , then became a physician in 1897 and eventually headed the psychiatric clinic . In his quest to find the basis of telepathy , he studied physiologic phenomena like brain temperature and blood flow and later the brain electrical activity . He recorded the first EEG on July 6 , 1924 , from a 17-year-old boy by placing electrodes in the periosteum beneath the scalp ; later he managed to do less invasive recordings as is the current practice . He published his observations in a series of scientific papers , the first of which , On the EEG in Humans , appeared in 1929 in the Archives fur Psychiatre und Nervenkrankheiten . 1 He described the alpha rhythm ( Berger rhythm ) and several other patterns , but his findings were initially met with skepticism , until Adrian and Matthews confirmed Berger ’ s observations in 1934 . 2 Although Berger initially thought that EEG could be the basis of telepathy , he realized that
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