By electrically stimulating various parts of a patient’s brain with an electrode, Dr. Penfield was able to cause the patient to recall past experiences¹, speak words, move their limbs, perceive objects in the room as getting closer, etc.

 

In every instance, each patient was never fooled into believing that he or she originated the thought, limb movement, spoken word, etc. This strongly suggests the existence of a mind separate and distinct from the activity of the brain itself…the existence of an irreducible “I” that is the seat of all awareness and decision making.

 

If mind truly is nothing more than the functioning of a brain, then it is reasonable to expect the patient to attribute behaviors and thoughts caused by the surgeon’s act of stimulating various parts of the brain as their “own” thoughts and actions. This never happens. In every instance the patient is able to distinguish between the two.

 

In Dr. Penfield’s own words, “When I have caused a conscious patient to move his hand by applying an electrode to the motor cortex of one hemisphere, I have often asked him about it. Invariably his response was: “I didn’t do that. You did.” When I caused him to vocalize, he said: “I didn’t make that sound. You pulled it out of me.” When I caused the record of the stream of consciousness to run again and so presented to him the record of his past experience, he marveled that he should be conscious of the past as well as of the present.[1] He was astonished that it should come back to him so completely, with more detail than he could possibly recall voluntarily. He assumed at once that, somehow, the surgeon was responsible for the phenomenon, but he recognized the details as those of his own past experience. When one analyzes such a “flashback” it is evident, as I have said above, that only those things to which he paid attention were preserved in this permanently facilitated record.”[2]

 

Penfield also states, “The electrode can present to the patient various crude sensations. It can cause him to turn head and eyes, or to move limbs, or to vocalize and swallow. It may recall vivid re-experiences of the past, or present to him an illusion that present experience is familiar, or that the things he sees are growing large and coming near. But he remains aloof. He passes judgment on it all. He says, “Things seem familiar,” not “I have been through this before.” (Which you would expect if mind and brain were identical – author’s note) He says, “Things are growing larger,” but he does not move for fear of being run over. If the electrode moves his right hand, he does not say, “I wanted to move it.” He may, however, reach over with the left hand and oppose the action. There is no place in the cerebral cortex where electrical stimulation will cause a patient to believe or to decide. <Emphasis mine>” [3]

 

Dr. Penfield’s pioneering experiments were performed in the early 1930’s to late 1950’s; well before the advent of the computer controlled brain stimulation technology we have today. The state of the art in today’s brain stimulation technology is impressive. Neurosurgeons collaborating with computer and electrical engineers have designed microchips which are implanted inside a living brain. These microchips have allowed both monkeys and now human beings to control mouse cursors on a computer screen, literally by thinking about the cursor. Brain-to-computer circuits have been designed to allow the blind to see, etc. In my mind, such technology represents some of mankind’s greatest technological achievements.

 

At first blush, such technology seems to suggest that mind truly is created by brain. Yet, Dr. Penfield’s findings suggest that a dualistic theory of mind can exist in harmony with the latest advancements in neuroscience and brain to computer technology.

 

The work done by Dr. Penfield which suggests the existence of a non-material mind is far from complete. Much work remains to be done. The limited technology of the 1950’s and before prevented Dr. Penfield from stimulating those parts of the brain he referred to as the “highest brain mechanism” with an electrode. Today’s brain to computer technology can allow surgeons to safely stimulate and monitor these areas.

 

The technology should be developed and the experiments conducted to fully explore whether or not stimulating various areas of the “highest brain mechanism” can indeed trick a patient into thinking that they themselves are the originator of a thought or behavior, when in fact the scientists conducting the experiment are triggering the thought or behavior.

 

Such a research program views the fields of digital signal processing, brain-to-computer interfaces, brain stimulation, cultured living neural networks, and other emerging technologies as tools to be employed by the non-materialist scientist and researcher. The gains in knowledge alone from developing the technology to carry out these experiments will make the endeavor worth while.

 

Rather than viewing the latest breakthroughs and discoveries in neuroscience in a negative light or as a confirmation that the mind is created by a brain…the non-materialist scientist or neurosurgeon should embrace such technology and scientific findings, actively seeking to advance both the knowledge in these areas and the technology. If the mind truly is a separate and distinct non-material entity, then open and honest scientific investigation into the brain will bear it out, allowing a non-materialist belief system to compliment and support neuroscience, and vice versa. Penfield’s findings in this area should offer encouragement and motivation to begin the scientific investigation of a non-material mind.

 

 

This is a double blind experiment to determine whether test subjects can successfully distinguish between thoughts, memories, and limb movement caused by themselves and thoughts, memories, and limb movement caused by the researchers conducting the experiment.

 

There are two groups of test subjects in this experiment. Group A is the experimental group. They will be connected to working computer controlled brain stimulation equipment. Group B is the control group. They will be connected to non-functioning brain stimulation equipment.

 

Neither the scientists conducting the experiment nor the test subjects will not know which group of test subjects is connected to the functioning brain stimulation equipment. Both groups of test subjects will be told that they are connected to functioning equipment. The researchers conducting the experiment will be in a separate room from the test subjects, so that the researchers cannot influence what the test subjects report.

 

 

Each test subject will be brought into one of two separate rooms. Only one of the rooms will contain the functioning brain stimulation equipment and only one subject will be in a room at a time. The patient will be connected to the brain stimulation equipment and then the researcher will leave the room. A light or buzzer will inform the subject that the experiment is in progress.

 

Once the experiment is in progress, the test subject is free to verbally report at any time whether they believe a thought they just experienced or behavior they displayed was caused by them or by the experimenters conducting the test.

 

A light or buzzer will inform the subject when the experiment is over.

 

At random times during the experiment, a computer controlled machine will electrically stimulate different sections of the brain of a test subject from group A. The sections stimulated will correlate with replay of memory, speech, arm movement, etc.

 

Statistical analysis is then used to determine whether the patients could distinguish between thoughts, memories, and behaviors caused by themselves and thoughts, memories, and behaviors caused by the experimenters.

 

If the patients are able to successfully identify a statistically significant proportion of the times their thoughts, memories, and behaviors are being caused by the experimenters conducting the test, then this counts as sufficient evidence to suggest the existence of a non-material mind that is separate and distinct from the brain.

 

 

Brain Stimulation

http://www.brainstimjrnl.com/

Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation

 

Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation (CNBS)

http://tmslab.org/

Optimizing and applying noninvasive brain stimulation to health care and research

 

Deep brain stimulation (DBS)

http://www.epilepsy.com/articles/ar_1064856919

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