The Induction of Electrocortical Oscillations Via Externally-Generated EM Field
If the oscillatory networks and rhythms of the brain can be recorded, that is transmitted out to be measured quantitatively, for what reason could those micro-voltages of pulsing electromagnetic fields not, inversely, also be received? Granted the electrical field generated by those millions of discharging neurons composing the cerebral cortex is 10,000 times smaller than that provided by a AA battery, it is safe to say that, like all oscillatory systems in nature, these circuits, too, follow the basic laws of influence: resonance, entrainment, and the convoluted phase relationships between interacting waveforms. The fluent radiance of vibratory frequency ripples outwards across a medium, any medium -- including the medium of the cortex.
Reception: The Implied Inverse of Transmission
To measure and record the pure tonal consciousness of, say, a Buddhist monk with 20 years of meditation experience as he delves down deeply into a meditative Alpha state, and maintains it purely by the strength of his years of exercised focus, is by now a commonplace application of EEG technology, explored by many researchers (a good review of the literature by Cahn, 2006). In measuring the monk's brainwaves, we can observe that they are quantitatively different in many ways from a recording made of a typical non-mediating person. An increase in electrical activity in the insula and lateral prefrontal cortices, representing the shifting of focus inwardly. Likewise, a measured decrease in the activity of the medial prefrontal cortex and parietal lobe occurs, those areas believed to be utilized when attending to our external surroundings (Aftanas, 2001).
Some of these differences between meditators and non-meditators are subtle, some are immediately obvious, but all represent, to some degree, a qualitative difference in the subjective states of the two subjects. The frenzied anxious Beta activity is common for most of us and represents the tense task-driven state of mind which we approach and manage our day to day lives in. The deep focused calm of a practiced Buddhist monk represents a dramatically different state of mind, one which may be totally foreign to many of us. Yet, the cognitive, emotional, and physiological benefits (Jevning, 1992) of that monk's maintained state of focus are well-established empirically and, however gradually, have come to be acknowledged by Western medicine.
We know that electromagnetic fields, when applied to oscillate on outward points of the scalp, can dramatically influence an individual's subjectively experienced state of consciousness (eg: the "God helmet" (Persinger, 2006), electrocranial stimulation (Limoge, 1998), etc). And we also know, however vaguely, the areas of the scalp where oscillatory changes take place in correlation to qualitative changes in SoC, like meditation. So, it seems the most logical next step to experiment with the electromagnetic stimulation of those areas of the scalp -- ideally using the measurements of the naturally-occurring range of states of consciousness, and the electric fields tied to them, as a guide. That is to say, if we know the area of frequency transmission, we can assume the area of frequency receptivity. The electrochemical circuits which oscillate neath EEG electrode points can be influenced at those same points -- and, in theory, the recorded oscillatory state of our monk can be "received" via the transmission of his frequencies to those points on another subject, like our tense Beta businessman, fresh out of a traffic jam.