Our geomagnetic brain: Rouleau excerpt #14

Rouleau writes: There are several additional reasons to suspect geomagnetic-brain resonance. As referenced in a previous section, the intrinsic, material-based resonant frequency of brain tissue is approximately 7 Hz or “theta”. Nunez’s mathematical modelling of the skull-brain cavity suggested that a dominant resonance frequency of 10 Hz is expected, which is equivalent to the alpha rhythm, or the dominant frequency affected by geomagnetic activity in empirical studies. Neurobiological processes associated with memory consolidation, particularly during sleep, are also associated with prominent theta rhythms. Sleep spindles, which are bursts of synchronous neural firing in the order of 11 to 15 Hz, are also well-within range of the first harmonic of the Schumann resonance frequency, which may explain EMF-sleep interactions.

In summary, synchronous brain activity, Schumann resonances, and their interactions by way of the geomagnetic field operate within a narrow band of low-frequency oscillations centering on 7–8 Hz but extending up to 14 Hz. That they display real-time coherence indicates they are likely related, not coincidental. This connection between the brain and the Earth is interesting, but it does not explain how memory or consciousness can be stored within it.

In his 2013 paper entitled “Billions of Human Brains Immersed Within a Shared Geomagnetic Field: Quantitative Solutions and Implications for Future Adaptations”, Michael Persinger provided a theoretical and quantitative basis for the storage of brain-based information in the Earth’s magnetic field56. Discussing the available energies to store brain activity, Persinger wrote:

The potential energy that could be maintained within the geomagnetic field is significant. The product of its dipole moment (8·1022 A·m2) and average intensity (5·10-5 T or kg·A-1·s-2) is about 4·1018 J. With ~10-20 J per action potential associated with each unit charge, an average discharge of ~10 Hz (range of alpha rhythms) and 4·1010 neurons in the cerebral cortices, the life-time (~2 Gsec) electromagnetic energy from the information associated with this activity from each human cerebrum would be about 1 J. Assuming 50 billion human brains in recent history, the total energy associated with cerebral activity (and the subsequent alterations in synaptic activity associated with memory) would have involved ~1011 J. Even if there were diminishment in the magnitude of the dipole moment by factors of 100s, there would still be sufficient potential to represent all of this information. This means the earth’s magnetic field has sufficient capacity to represent or “store” the information within the energy that has been associated with the action potentials that have been generated by every human brain that has existed on the planet.

Based upon parameters of magnetic diffusivity, Persinger explained that this holographic-like, transcerebral field could potentially activate every brain on the planet over a period of approximately 10 minutes. He argued that the same period of time associated with the duration of REM cycles could account for a functional exchange of information between the geomagnetic field and the human brain during sleep – a kind of uploading and downloading procedure for brain activity, like a neural form of cloud computing. Persinger viewed Schumann resonance as a conduit for the information transfer, with 7 to 8 Hz as the carrier wave (i.e., the signal that transports the information):

The role of the Schumann-type frequencies (fundamental around 7 to 8 Hz) may be relevant as well. This frequency is in large part determined by the fixed relationship between the velocity of light (3·108 m·s-1) and the earth’s circumference (~4·107 m). The total magnetic flux of the earth’s surface (5.1·1014 m2) for an average global value of 5·10-5 T is 2.6·1010 Webers. The amperage for this field would be the dipole moment (8·1022 A·m2) divided by the surface area, or 1.6·108 A. Therefore, the inductance, which is Weber per amp, would be 1.6·102 Henrys. With this value for inductance, a global capacitance of 2 Farads, and a frequency of 7–8 Hz, the solution would be 2 ks or about 30 min. These values are within the range required for consolidation of memory (the representation of experience) from the electrically labile stage to the patterns associated with the synthesis of proteins and the growth of dendritic spines at synapses.

It should be noted that the strongest theta rhythms produced by the brain are generated by cells in the temporal lobes – specifically, the hippocampus and adjacent entorhinal cortex334. Because the neurophysiology of memory formation – long-term potentiation (LTP) – is dependent upon theta activity within the hippocampus335, a reduced resonance potential between the Schumann frequency and the underdeveloped hippocampal circuitry of young children may account for the universal experience of infantile amnesia – our inability to remember the first few years of our lives. However, after the age of 3 or 4 and into adulthood, the brain would meet the structural criteria to resonate with the geomagnetic field and continually exchange packets of electromagnetic information. It follows that the memories of those whose brains have decayed have survived death. Instead of disintegrating with the body, they remain as electromagnetic representations in a planetary Akashic record. It should therefore come as no surprise to you, dear reader, that when I walked by Dr. Persinger’s old office after he passed away in 2018, I smiled when I read what he had written years earlier on the magnetic white board affixed to his door: “To Find Dr. Persinger Check the Akashic Record”.

Nicolas Rouleau, PhD, a neuroscientist and bioengineer, is an assistant professor at Algoma University in Canada. He received an award from the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies "An Immortal Stream of Consciousness" in response to its search for "scientific evidence for the survival of consciousness after permanent bodily death." Footnotes and bibliography are omitted from these excerpts from his essay, but the full essay is available online at https://www.bigelowinstitute.org/index.php/contest-runners-up/.