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Although it’s possible that psychic power is a bridge that connects your brain to a higher mind or spiritual force, some experts believe that psychic ability should be treated as another aspect of brain function. They regard psi as an additional sense that is somehow located in our brains, and believe that understanding psi can help explain how we perceive and process information.

One of the most amazing discoveries in medicine was made by Roger Sperry in the 1960s, when he revealed that the right hemisphere of the brain, responsible for intuition and creativity, makes an equally valuable contribution as the left hemisphere of the brain, responsible for reason and logic and previously thought to reign supreme. Opinions differ on what part of the brain psi function exists in, but many believe that the ability to connect to intuitive information is housed in the right side of the brain and that for optimal brain function both the right and left sides of the brain need to work together.

Some scientists suggest as well that brain waves need to work together. Brain waves are electrical impulses our brains constantly release, and they are measured in hertz, or cycles per second. There are four major stages of brainwave activity, beginning with beta, the shortest and fastest waves, and moving through to delta, the strongest and slowest.

When the brain is emitting beta waves, the individual is active, awake and conscious, with his or her eyes open. Alpha brain waves operate just below waking consciousness, a state that is attained in meditation and relaxation. The average person can maintain awareness in this state. Typically, eyes are closed and the body is relaxed, but alpha waves are also produced during daydreaming with eyes open. The alpha state is not essential to achieve success in psi testing results, but studies show that it is conducive to psi. Theta brain waves are achieved during deep relaxation. The average person cannot maintain awareness in this state, but some meditators claim that they can. The final state, delta, is one of sleep or unconsciousness.

Some scientists maintain that the blending of all four brain waves creates a brandnew brain wave. Some followers of Eastern philosophy propose that the awakened mind, which occurs when a person is more aware of their spiritual existence, is a state that combines all four brain waves at once.