Positive Vibes

A psychology professor at the University of Arizona read a study that showed some interesting effects when ultrasound waves were aimed at the heads of experimental animals.

Ordinarily, of course, ultrasound is used for imaging purposes, so that expectant couples may show black and gray blobs on paper to their friends and families and demand to know which parent said blob most resembles, as well as "requesting" an acknowledgement that said blob is the "cutest baby ever." The baby, when born, may indeed be cute, but most of us without training can divine little more than that the resident of Expectant Mom's womb is probably not Cthulhu incarnate.

Dr. Stuart Hameroff, though, decided to take an ultrasound device and aim it at his own head after reading about what some other researchers had done. A 15-second exposure produced no immediate effects, but after about a minute, he said he felt like he'd had a martini -- shaken, not stirred. This led to some controlled clinical experiments on volunteer subject, who reported similar good feelings.

The ultrasound device uses sound waves in the "megaHertz" range (and we've gone to the nerd well and back again on Hertz before), and protein structures inside the brain's neurons called "microtubules" also resonate in megaHertz frequences. This, Hameroff thinks, is probably how the ultrasound waves have an effect on the brain, but the particular effect and why it happens are not yet known (The Wilson, D.; Wilson, B. and Love, M. hypothesis that the effect may be connected to "the way the sunlight plays upon her hair" is no doubt among the several possibilities under consideration).

More studies are being conducted by Hameroff and other researchers, including what effect the presence of a T-bird might have on the feelings of euphoria and fun as it varies with respect to paternal repossession of said automobile.