RESEARCH SUMMARY AND CONSENT FORM AGREEMENT

STUDY: Gut-Brain Telepathy
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS (PIs): Garret Yount, PhD and Helané Wahbeh, ND, MCR
FUNDED BY: The Bial Foundation

PURPOSE: To explore the hypothesis that the gut-brain can “pick up” telepathic signals.

PROCEDURES: You will participate in the experiment together with a partner with whom you feel comfortable and connected. After providing informed consent, you will complete a short demographic questionnaire and be contacted by phone for an eligibility screening. If you and your partner are eligible, you will then both complete the following questionnaires prior to your experimental session:

1. Assessment of Bondedness. This is a Likert scale-based assessment of how bonded participating partners feel about each other.
2. Eating and Gut Health Questionnaire. This is a Likert scale-based assessment of gastrointestinal symptoms (e.g., Have you been bothered by pain or discomfort in your upper stomach or pit of your stomach in the past week?).
3. Multiple Brain Preference Questionnaire. This consists of questions regarding decision-making preferences as they relate neural networks of the brain (cognitive), heart (emotional), and gut (intuitive).
4. Noetic Signature™ Inventory. This consists of questions about how people experience energies or information that appear to transcend the ordinary boundaries of space and time.

Once at IONS, you will have a brief conversation with the scientist and then one of you will be assigned the role of the Sender (i.e., the one attempting to send the telepathic signal) and the other will be assigned the role of the Receiver (i.e., the one with electrodes placed on their stomach and receiving the telepathic signal). This decision will be informed by your body mass index (BMI), which is a measure of body fat based on height and weight, and the amount of body hair on your stomach. You will also exchange a personal, meaningful item (e.g., a ring) that you each will hold during the experimental session to enhance your feelings of connection.

Then, the Sender will follow the scientist and the Receiver into the Lounge to observe the placement of the electrodes, and to the Receiving Room to observe the Receiver being connected to the electrogastrogram (EGG) machine. Once the Receiver is set up, the Sender will be escorted back to the Sending Room (out of sight from each other).

In the Receiving Room, the Receiver will be seated in a reclining chair, and the scientist will place the electrodes on their stomach to measure the electrical activity of their stomach. The Receiver will wear noise-canceling headphones with white noise playing to encourage relaxation. The Receiver will relax for 10 minutes with the electrodes in place before the experimental session begins. The Receiver will be instructed to simply relax and try to maintain a connection with the Sender throughout the experimental session. After the 10-minute relaxation period, the Receiver will continue to relax and maintain the connection during the experimental session (~20 minutes).

Once back in the Sending Room, the Sender will sit at a table in front of a computer monitor with a split screen. Once the experiment begins, on one side of the screen, images will be presented that are designed to elicit different reactions. The other side of the screen will show the Receiver’s live image. The Sender will be instructed to maintain a mental connection with the Receiver while they are viewing the presented images and imagine telepathically transmitting their feelings to the Receiver in real-time. The images shown will be no different than what can be seen on the news. An example may include a distressed individual. Following the experimental session, lunch will be provided for you both and you will have an opportunity to discuss your experience of the session with the scientist.

COSTS: There is no cost to participate in this study apart from commuting to IONS.

RISKS:

• For the EGG recording, the experimenter will rub the surface of your skin at the location of the electrodes, which may cause very mild irritation. There is the possibility of needing to shave the belly where the electrodes will go in order to ensure the adhesive sticks. After removing the electrodes, there is also the possibility of a temporary slight pink “ring” where the electrodes were placed.
• While we do our best to maintain full confidentiality, there is a slight risk of loss of confidentiality (see Confidentiality section below).
• Some of the images presented may lead to negative emotions, which could be triggering or disturbing to some people. If you anticipate that seeing sad images combined with melancholic music could be harmful, traumatizing, or distressing for you, please reconsider your participation in this experiment. Images will not necessarily be violent, but they might be sensitive for some participants. Your safety and comfort are very important to us.

BENEFITS: Although there are no direct benefits from participating in this study, you will assist in general scientific research. Also, you each will receive $100 via PayPal and a free lunch for completing the experiment.

PARTICIPATION: Participation is entirely voluntary. You do not have to join this or any research study. If you join and later wish to withdraw, we will not keep any data acquired by that point, and you will not receive prorated payment. The Receiver must be comfortable showing their abdominal area, as the scientist will need to place the EGG electrodes on the skin. Participants will be required to pull their shirts up to their sternum, exposing their belly button and stomach area. By signing this consent form, you agree to this.

CONFIDENTIALITY: There is always a slight risk of loss of confidentiality. To reduce this risk as much as possible, all data collected during this study will be anonymized using random unique identifiers (e.g., studyID_0001). Only one Excel sheet will link participants’ information (name, contact information) with their study identifier and will be password-protected (only the PIs will know the password). Signed consents or any other documents containing the subject's confidential information will be scanned and stored on the Institute’s Google Drive, with only PIs having access. Anonymous data may be shared with the larger research community to advance science and health.

OVERSIGHT: This research is overseen by an Institutional review board (IRB). You may communicate with the IRB Co-chair, Dr. Dean Radin, at dradin@noetic.org if: 1) your questions, concerns, or complaints are not answered; 2) you want to talk to someone besides the research team; 3) you have questions about your rights as a research subject; 4) you want to get more information or provide input about this research. If you have any concerns or complaints regarding this study now or in the future, or you think you may have been injured or harmed by the study, contact the Research Director, Dr. Wahbeh, at 707-779-8230.