How important is a strong interpersonal connection and a shared belief system in success when you are sending intention?

Neurophysiologist Jacobo Grinberg-Zylberbaum, of the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, studied this question by using a classical protocol applied to all 'direct mental interactions with living systems'—in other words, the ability of human thought to influence the living world around it. In his study, two people wired up to a variety of physiological monitoring equipment, such as EEG machines, were isolated from each other in different rooms. One would be stimulated with something—a picture, a light or a mild electric shock. The researchers would then examine the two EEGs to determine if the receiver's brainwaves mirrored those of the sender when he or she was being stimulated.

Grinberg- Zylberbaum employed light flashes to magnify the sender's effects and maximize the response in the receiver. Flashes of light trigger predictable, high-amplitude electrical brainwaves in viewers. In this case, the particular neuronal patterns in the brain of the sender evoked by the light turned out to be mirrored in the brain of the receiver, who was sitting in an electrically shielded room 14.5 metres away. However, Grinberg-Zylberbaum discovered that one important condition determined success: the synchrony only occurred among pairs of participants who had previously met and established a connection by spending 20 minutes with each other in meditative silence (Physics Essays, 1994; 7 (4): 422–8).

Grinberg-Zylberbaum believed that a 'transferred potential', as he termed this form of entrainment, occurred only among those who had undergone some meditative regimen, and then only after some sort of psychic connection between sender and receiver had been established.

Nevertheless, in a similar study carried out in Germany, many of the pairs had never met each other and had not had a chance to establish a bond (Neurosci Lett, 2003; 336: 60–4). The German researchers concluded that 'connectedness' and mental preparation may play a role, but were not crucial.

A final extraordinary study examined the effect of powerful emotional involvement on remote influence. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh studied and compared the EEGs of bonded couples, matched pairs of strangers, and several individuals who in actuality had no partner, but thought they were being paired off and having their brainwaves compared. Everyone who had been paired off, whether he knew his partner or not, displayed increased numbers of brainwaves in synchrony. The only participants who did not demonstrate this effect were those who had no partner (Kittenis M et al. Distant psychophysiological interaction effects between related and unrelated participants. Proceedings of the Parapsychological Association Convention, 2004: 67–76)

Noted parapsychologist Dean Radin carried out a variation of this experiment, connecting pairs who had close bonds—couples, friends, parents and their children. In a significant number of instances, the EEGs of the senders and receivers appeared to synchronize (J Altern Complement Med, 2004; 10: 315–24)

In the view of Marilyn Schlitz, vice president for research and education at the Institute of Noetic Sciences in California, motivation is a key component of success. The more urgent the situation, such as would occur with a partner suffering from cancer, the more motivated his or her partner would be in attempting to send intention to help the patient get well.

As for shared belief, psychologist Gary Schwartz and his fellow researchers at the University of Arizona carried out a study of distant Johrei healing on cardiac patients so that no one but the statistician knew who was receiving the healing. (Johrei is a Japanese healing modality that uses focusing and scanning tools to dispel negativity and increase vitality). (J Altern Complement Med, 2005; 11 (3): 455–7). When Schwartz and his colleagues tabulated the results, a fascinating picture emerged. The best outcomes were among those who had received Johrei and believed they had received it. The worse outcomes were those who had not received Johrei and were also convinced they had not received it.

Schwartz's studies uncovered something fundamental about healing: both the energy and intention of the healing itself, and the patient's belief that he or she had received healing promoted the actual healing. Belief in the efficacy of the particular healing treatment was undoubtedly another factor. Schlitz has stressed the importance of a shared belief system in the success of remote influence, and Schwartz's results bear this out.

Psychologist and mind–body researcher Jeanne Achterberg of the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, also in California, examined the effect of having a bond with the healee on the success of healing. She designed an ingenious study at a hospital in Hawaii involving highly experienced distant healers, who selected as their 'patient' a person with whom they had a special connection. Each healer was isolated from his patient, who was then placed in an MRI scanner. Randomly and at two-minute intervals, the healers sent healing intentions to their patients, using their own traditional healing practices.

Achterberg discovered significant brain activation in the same portions of the brains—mainly in the frontal lobes—of all the patients during times when healing energy was being 'sent'. When the same regime was tried out on people the healers did not know, there were no effects on the patients' brain activity (J Altern Complement Med, 2005; 11 (6): 965–71) Some sort of emotional bond or empathetic connection may be crucial to the success of both prayer and healing intention.

Lynne McTaggart is a journalist and the award-winning author of the bestselling book The Field. Her latest book is The Intention Experiment. She also publishes several alternative health and spirituality newsletters. For more information: livingthefield.com & theintentionexperiment.com