About This Project

I hypothesize that the human brain is capable of receiving radio frequency transmissions and decoding them on a neurological level. I experienced a phenomena where I was next to a radio, had a song pop into my head, and then turned on the radio and the same song was playing. I followed up with a poll asking participants if they had experienced this and 87% answered yes. I plan to test this hypothesis by bringing 50 people into the lab to see if these results are reproducible.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

One day, while pulling out of the parking lot at my University, I began to sing a song. It was an older song not commonly played on the radio. I turned on the radio and the song I had been singing was on. It took me a few seconds to realize what had happened, and then I began to think about it. How or why did I think of that song, at that moment, as it was playing on the radio before I knew it was playing on the radio? Visual and auditory perception are all based on frequencies. Everything we see and hear falls in a frequency range. This range is relatively small compared to the full scale of frequencies available. What if we do pick up those frequencies just not with our known senses. What if the neurons in our brain are capable of deciphering those frequencies?

What is the significance of this project?

Previous research has focused on what effect brainwaves may have on other frequencies, which was concluded to be none due to their lack of strength. Brainwaves have a range of .5Hz to 30 Hz, which falls into radio frequency bands 4, 5 and some of 6. That is what is broadcasted, but what if our brain also acts as an antenna, and can decipher higher frequencies. Our brains are constantly bombarded with stimuli, and they are good at organizing it into what is important. It is not all that farfetched that they are also capable of intercepting passing radio frequencies.

We hypothesize that we can identify these frequencies that human brains can decode as well as the structures used to decode them.

What are the goals of the project?

We hypothesize that the human brain is capable of receiving radio frequency transmissions and decoding on a neurological level. What we would like to know specifically is what frequencies and which brain structures are involved. We will set up an RF generator at one end of the lab and calibrate it to a specific frequency, then transmit to a receiver on the other end. The receiver will be muted so no actual sound can be heard. The participant will be wearing an EEG cap, and brainwave info will be collected. The participant will write down any words that pop into their head for five minutes. We will see if the participant wrote down the correct word, and at what time, and compare it to the EEG data and current broadcasted frequency. We are aiming for 50 participants of varied demographics.