A research report authored by Associate Professor Mathew Gendle in the Department of Psychology and Megan McGrath ’11 will be published in the February issue of Perceptual and Motor Skills.
“Can the 8-coil Shakti alter subjective emotional experience? A randomized, placebo controlled study” investigated a commercially available magnetic field producing device (known as the Shakti), the use of which is claimed to induce unique altered states of emotion and consciousness (such as out of body experiences).
Using a rigorous blinded and placebo-controlled design, Gendle and McGrath found that exposure to magnetic fields produced by the Shakti had no effect on the emotional response to static visual images that were viewed by the study participants. From this, the authors conclude that prior anecdotal reports of the effects of the Shakti are likely due to expectancy effects rather than any direct action of the device on the brain activity of the user.