Increased geomagnetic activity and the occurrence of bereavement hallucinations: Evidence for melatonin-mediated microseizuring in the temporal lobe?

Abstract

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that common bereavement apparitions are hallucinatory experiences evoked by transient electrical instability within the (glucocorticoid) sensitized mesiobasal temporal lobes. All first hand reports of 'postmortem apparition' experiences were collected from a published data base. The days on which the experiences occurred displayed significantly greater (mean increase = 10 gamma) geomagnetic activity compared to the days before or afterwards. These results suggest that bereavement apparitions are situation-specific hallucinations evoked by microseizures within sensitized temporal lobe structures; the occurrence of these microseizures might be facilitated by suppression in melatonin levels that could accompany sudden increases in geomagnetic activity.