Increased photon emission from the head while imagining light in the dark is correlated with changes in electroencephalographic power: Support for Bókkon's biophoton hypothesis

Neuroscience Letters
Volume 513, Issue 2, 4 April 2012, Pages 151–154
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2012.02.021

B.T. Dotta [a,c], K.S. Saroka [a,b], M.A. Persinger [a,b,c]

[a] Behavioural Neuroscience Program, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada P3E 2C6
[b] Human Studies Program, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada P3E 2C6
[c] Biomolecular Sciences Program, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada P3E 2C6

Abstract

Bókkon's hypothesis that photons released from chemical processes within the brain produce biophysical pictures during visual imagery has been supported experimentally. In the present study measurements by a photomultiplier tube also demonstrated significant increases in ultraweak photon emissions (UPEs) or biophotons equivalent to about 5 × 10−11 W/m2 from the right sides of volunteer's heads when they imagined light in a very dark environment compared to when they did not. Simultaneous variations in regional quantitative electroencephalographic spectral power (μV2/Hz) and total energy in the range of ∼10−12 J from concurrent biophoton emissions were strongly correlated (r = 0.95). The calculated energy was equivalent to that associated with action potentials from about 107 cerebral cortical neurons. We suggest these results support Bókkon's hypothesis that specific visual imagery is strongly correlated with ultraweak photon emission coupled to brain activity.

Highlights

► Cerebral photon emission increases with imagery.
► EEG power time-coupled to cerebral photon emissions.
► Power densities of EEG and brain photons match.
► Thinking is coupled to cerebral light emission.
► Imagery photon density increase is ∼10–11 W/m2.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030439401200208X