Electrophysiological evidence of intuition: Part 1. The surprising role of the heart

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to contribute to a scientific understanding of intuition, a process by which in-formation normally outside the range of conscious awareness is perceived by the psychophysiological systems. The first objective, presented in two empirical papers (Part 1 and Part 2), was to replicate and extend the re-sults of previous experiments demonstrating that the body can respond to an emotionally arousing stimulus sec-onds before it is actually experienced. The second objective, to be presented in a third paper (Part 3), is to de-velop a theory that explains how the body receives and processes information involved in intuitive perception. Design: The study used a counterbalanced crossover design, in which 30 calm and 15 emotionally arousing pictures were presented to 26 participants under two experimental conditions: a baseline condition of normal psychophysiologic function and a condition of physiological coherence. Primary measures included: skin con-ductance; the electroencephalogram (EEG), from which cortical event-related potentials and heartbeat-evoked potentials were derived; and the electrocardiogram (ECG), from which cardiac decelerations/accelerations were derived. These measures were used to investigate where and when in the brain and body intuitive information is processed. Results: The study’s results are presented in two parts. The main findings in relation to the heart’s role i