ted.com/talks/gero_miesenboeck.html
This is a very interesting video. The key insight that I find interesting at least is that some neurons respond to light. This is interesting to me because it calls to mind the sorts of theories many have put forward of possible mechanisms for telepathic abilities - namely, theories that propose that telepathic communication occurs by way of signals traveling through the air (like radio waves) and the brain functioning as a ‘receiver’ of sorts. Now I used to scoff at theories like this, filing them under “pseudo-scientific new-aged hippie jumbo-jumbo”, but after watching this video, they suddenly seem a bit more plausible. I still think they have a long way to go, but now at least it seems to me a worthy topic for discussion - and I want to discusss it.
First, it should be pointed out that the speaker in the video has only mentioned light as a stimulus for these neurons and that fruit lies are the chief subjects in their studies. I can easily appreciate how light might penetrate into their brain, a very thin layer of tissue separating it from the outside, but when it comes to other animals (like human), we have a much thicker cranium through which light has no hope of passing. That doesn’t mean other forms of electromagnetic radiation can’t pass through, and indeed it remains a possibility in my mind that some neurons may respond to frequencies outside the range of visible light.
Another thing to keep in mind is that we don’t know how prevelant such neurons are in species other than the fruit flies featured in their studies. I don’t recall whether the speaker even confirm the presence of such neurons in the human brain.
The biggest hurdle, I think, towards developing this into a full blown theory on telepathy is that even if there were a substantial number of radiation sensitive neurons in the human brain, what would they be picking up. Unless there were also emitter neurons in other people’s brain - neurons sending out signals - then the best we could hope for these radiation sensitive neurons to pick up would be static noise. There would have to be brains sending signals as well, and these signals couldn’t just be random patterns of electromagnetic waves, but would have to have some significant lingual/cognitive content - that is, some pattern that could be deciphered and translated back into its original form, that form being meaningful human thought.
However doubtful this sounds, it is still interesting to ponder - and when we consider that five years ago, we would have been saying “there is no evidence for radiation sensitive neurons” maybe the lack of evidence for “emitter” neurons that transmit meaningful signals to be received by other brains is also temporary, and in a few (maybe several) years, some evidence might surface.