Citation

Schienle A, Stark R, Kulzer R, Klöpper R, Vaitl D. Int. J. Psychophysiol. 1996; 21(2-3): 177-188.

Affiliation

Department of Clinical and Physiological Psychology, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Germany. Anne.Schienle@psychol.uni-giessen.de

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8792205

Abstract

The living organism is constantly affected by natural electromagnetic influences covering a wide range of frequencies and amplitudes. One of these natural influences is represented by a phenomenon called atmospherics or sferics. Sferics are very weak electromagnetic impulses generated by atmospheric discharges (lightning). With a newly developed simulation system it was possible to reproduce a previously registered sferics signal and present it to 52 subjects while recording the electroencephalogram (EEG). The repeated application of this stimulus for ten minutes evoked a significant decrease in alpha power in parietal and occipital regions compared to the control condition without sferics presentation. Two constitutional factors were revealed as mediators of sferics effectiveness: the general physical condition of the subjects, and their neuroticism. Individuals with many somatic complaints and a high degree of emotional lability did not respond to the sferics stimulation. This absence of a response is interpreted as an adaptational deficit in reaction to variations in atmospheric parameters.

Language: en