Exceptional Experiences Following Exposure to a Sham “God Helmet”: Evidence for Placebo, Individual Difference, and Time of Day Influences

Abstract

It has been claimed that applying weak complex electromagnetic patterns to the temporal lobes in a “God Helmet” stimulates the intrusion of right-hemispheric processes to awareness, resulting in exceptional experiences (ExEs). We explored the roles of wearing a sham helmet, time of day, and individual differences (paranormal belief, synesthesia, locus of control, hyperesthesia, and prior anomalous experiences) in alterations in consciousness and ExEs in the absence of neural stimulation. Thirty-two skeptics and 35 paranormal believers completed baseline, sham (morning), and sham (afternoon) conditions. Participants relaxed in a Faraday chamber for 30 minutes. Exit interviews explored subjective experiences and participants completed the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI). A mixed-model analysis of covariance found that believers scored higher than skeptics on some PCI dimensions, there was no influence of study conditions on PCI scores, and there was no interaction between belief and study conditions. An inductive thematic analysis identified a coding scheme for ExE. Believers reported more ExEs than skeptics. Regression models supported roles for hyperesthesia in alterations in consciousness and synesthesia in ExEs.