Author Archives: James Cross

Fickle Neurons

A new paper, Beyond dimension reduction: Stable electric fields emerge from and allow representational drift, suggests that electrical fields generated by the brain stabilize mental representations. Here is the abstract: It is known that the exact neurons maintaining a given … Continue reading

Posted in Consciousness, Electromagnetism | 5 Comments

Why Is There Magnetite in the Human Brain?

Good question. The general consensus seems to be that it enables a primitive form of magnetoreception, Kirschvink thinks magnetite is the key. Receptor cells containing crystals of magnetite could register changes in magnetic fields and report this information to the … Continue reading

Posted in Consciousness, Electromagnetism, Human Evolution | 7 Comments

The Doors of Perception

The publication of The Doors of Perception[1] by Aldous Huxley in 1954 marks a useful dividing line in Western thought on entheogens. Before its publication most scientists thought psychedelic drugs as scientific curiosities. Their ability to alter the mind in … Continue reading

Posted in Philosophy, Psychedelics, Transhumanism | 19 Comments