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Only in recent years has the psychological problem been touched upon in the discussion of telepathy. Inasmuch as in the past physical theories held the field, this development denotes a definite progress. A survey of the recently applied methods may be itemized as follows:
Physiological theories: Increase in the acuity of sensation and perception under the influence of certain poisons (strychnine); changes in the hormonal equilibrium (thyroid substances); basal metabolic rate of vitamins. Janet Steinberg, in a special investigation of the relationships between basal metabolic rate and mental speed found negative intercorrelation. The author surveys certain publications in the field of medicine, where such relationships in connection with disorders in the function of the thyroids are generally accepted. If sensory hyper-acuity combines with decreases in self-awareness, the subject may be led to telepathic ideas. Such decreases may be brought about through direct effects on the cortex in combination with peripheral changes.
Observations in pathology and psychopathology: As to general pathology, relationships between thyroid disorders and speed of mental processes are accepted (see No. a). This doesn'st mean, however, that there are definite psychopathological relationships between the tempo and such changes in consciousness which would explain telepathic phenomena. Experiences can be drawn from the increase in speed in manic disorders. But patients with depression and slowing down of the mental processes more often complain about an estrangement which they describe in this way: “I have thoughts, thoughts aplenty, but I cannot think.” In aphasics, also, we know of “circumscribed” depersonalization. Such patients again feel the estrangement of their speech. Stutterers, too, describe feelings of
The physical theories are not listed in this survey, which deals only with the development of psychological theories.
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