Ghosts created by scientists in 'disturbing' lab experiment

Scientists in Switzerland have shown that ghosts are probably just an illusion created by the mind when it momentarily loses track of the body’s location

Ghostly apparitions and hauntings have pervaded folklore and legend for thousands of years, but now scientists have shown that they are just a figment of the imagination.

Artificial ‘spectres’ were conjured up by an experiment which proved so disconcerting for participants that two begged for it to stop.

Scientists have long suspected that ghosts are an illusion created by the mind. Patients who suffer from neurological or psychiatric conditions often report ‘strange presences.’

And people experiencing extreme physical or emotional pain often claim to have seen ghostly outlines or felt that departed loved ones were back in the room with them.

Now, however, scientists in Switzerland have shown that ghosts are probably just an illusion created by the mind when it momentarily loses track of the body’s location because of illness, exertion or stress.

Volunteers took part in an experiment which mixed up their movements and brain signals.

They saw up to four phantoms positioned around them and believed that ghosts were touching their backs with invisible fingers.

Professor Olaf Blanke, from the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, said: "Our experiment induced the sensation of a foreign presence in the laboratory for the first time.

“It shows that it can arise under normal conditions, simply through conflicting sensory-motor signals.

"This confirms that it is caused by an altered perception of their own bodies in the brain."

To manifest their ghosts, the scientists set up a robot device that allowed volunteers to control the movements of a jointed mechanical arm with their index fingers.

The movements were relayed to another robot arm behind them which touched their backs.

When both the finger-pushing and back-touching occurred at the same time, it created the illusion that the volunteers were caressing their own backs.

That felt weird enough to the blindfolded participants. But something a lot stranger happened when the back-touching was delayed and about 500 milliseconds out of sync with the finger movements.

Suddenly the volunteers felt as if they were being watched, and touched, by one or more ghostly presences.

At the same time, they had the disconcerting sensation of drifting backwards, towards the unseen hand.

When questioned, several reported a strong feeling of invisible people being close to them. On average, they counted two, with up to four being reported.

Two of the 12 healthy participants were so disturbed by the experience that they asked the scientists to halt the experiment.

Co-author Dr Giulio Rognini, also from the EPFL, said: "Our brain possesses several representations of our body in space.

“Under normal conditions, it is able to assemble a unified self-perception of the self from these representations.

“But when the system malfunctions because of disease - or, in this case, a robot - this can sometimes create a second representation of one's own body, which is no longer perceived as 'me' but as someone else, a 'presence'."