Nervous system manipulation by electromagnetic fields from monitors (2003) | Hacker News Reader

Nervous system manipulation by electromagnetic fields from monitors (2003)

pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

67 pointspyinstallwoes34 comments

From a brief look at the citations, there doesn't seem to be any scientific basis behind it. The cited patents are either from the same inventor, describe optical manipulation of the nervous system or are related to systems where EM human exposure is relevant (e.g. MRI and X-ray machines). The one paper cited talks about a threshold voltage required to excite neurons but nothing about intensity levels relevant for this patent. I might be wrong as I didn't do an indepth search of the cited patents made by the same inventor.

From the title, I was hoping this was going to be a very elaborate description of how computer monitors emit light in patterns your brain can recognize and think about.

Haha yes. I belive a set of symbols known as the "alphabet" can be projected from the screen onto the human retina using targeted electromagnetic transmissions, triggering thought processes. [citation needed]

While this indeed is the old-school way, and still remains occasionally useful for its unparalleled flexibility, these days the industry has mostly abandoned the more systematic ways of creating thought structures, and embraced the "explorer" / "zoo" approach. A number of high-complexity patterns of colors have been identified and catalogued, many of which are derived from the likeness of the natural world, while others are reminiscent of children's drawing. These, when projected onto the human retina, tend to trigger strong thoughts, even if not very sophisticated.

I have actually seen this argument advanced in a paper! Couldn't decide if it was cute or maddening though....

Is this similar to way mindmachines are supposed to work? https://www.amazon.nl/Mega-Brain-Techniques-Growth-Expansion...

Recent research suggests 40 or 60 Hz light has an effect on perineuronal nets.

Venturino, A.; Schulz, R.; De Jesus-Cortes, H.; Maes, M.E.; Nagy, B.; Reilly-Andujar, F.; Colombo, G.; Cubero, R.J.A.; Schoot Uiterkamp, F.E.; Bear, M.F.; et al. Microglia enable mature perineuronal nets disassembly upon anesthetic ketamine exposure or 60-Hz light entrainment in the healthy brain. Cell Rep. 2021, 36, 109313. https://europepmc.org/article/pmc/pmc8284881

Also see: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359394227_Theta_and...

The link currently goes to a PubChem summary of the patent, which is not particularly helpful.

Here’s the full-text: https://patents.google.com/patent/US6506148B2/en

Also there are some decent comments below the dead post here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33859954

> in response to stimulation of the skin with weak electromagnetic fields that are pulsed with certain frequencies near ½ Hz or 2.4 Hz, such as to excite a sensory resonance

1. As a kid, I remember going to some science museum that had a thing you could touch that could be either warm or cool or quickly switching between them, and that last setting felt surprisingly hot. Is that a similar effect?

2. Aren't flashing lights supposed to be bad for siezures? That's the eyes instead of the skin, but is the mechanism related somehow?

Flashing lights can cause seizures yes. That's why you'll often see a warning at the start of more visually frenetic videogames.

Famously an old Pokemon episode gave several hundred kids seizures. The wikipedia article contains the scene if you're feeling particularly brave :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denn%C5%8D_Senshi_Porygon recommend not watching fullscreen and being ready to click away, as it is a bit intense -- I'm not epilectic but it makes me feel _weird_.

I also remember back in the day learning OpenGL I accidentally wrote a program which would flash between my desktop and a solid color at 60hz. It was literally painful to look at in the few seconds it took to shut it down.

My sister discovered she had photosensitive epilepsy when she passed out on the floor of a broadcasting school while doing editing work.

The Pokémon incident is probably also why Nintendo applies filters to old emulated NES games during rapidly flashing segments including on the NES Classic (such as when Kirby uses the Crash ability in Kirby's Adventure). They're pretty serious about this issue. I don't particularly enjoy adulteration of my old favorites, but my sister is grateful for the feature.

> I remember going to some science museum that had a thing you could touch that could be either warm or cool or quickly switching between them, and that last setting felt surprisingly hot. Is that a similar effect?

What you're describing is a variation of the thermal grill illusion -- in short, activating both heat and cold sensory receptors at the same time is perceived as extreme heat. As far as I'm aware, this phenomenon is specific to the temperature sense, and it has nothing to do with "resonance".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_grill_illusion

That is from about 20+ years ago and applies to CRTs (cathodic ray tubes).

I'd doubt contemporary screens based on LCD, (O)LED, or similar produce comparable EM-fields.

Hulu was named after this patent’s inventor.

Schizos were right again, that's dangerous.

What's dangerous? That Schizos were right or that you were led to believe that those who are right are Schizos?

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