CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE Q
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1
JPRS L/8144
6 December 1978
9
USSR
TRANSLATIONS ON USSR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
BIOMEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
(FOUO 37/78)
U. S. JOINT PUBLICATIONS RESEARCH SERVICE
Approved For RepasPF2Qq0/08/CE : ONAYRDP96-00787R000500430001-1

1
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1
NOTE
JPRS publications contain information primarily from foreign
newspapers, periodicals and books, but also from news agency
transmissions and broadcasts. Materials from foreign-language
sources are translated; those from English-language sources
are transcribed or reprinted, with the original phrasing and
other characteristics retained.
Headlines, editorial reports, and material enclosed in brackets
[] are supplied by JPRS. Processing indicators such as [Text]
or [Excerpt] in the first line of each item, or following the
last line of a brief, indicate how the original information was
processed. Where no processing indicator is given, the infor-
mation was summarized or extracted.
Unfamiliar names rendered phonetically or transliterated are
enclosed in parentheses. Words or names preceded by a ques-
tion mark and enclosed in parentheses were not clear in the
original but have been supplied as appropriate in context.
Other unattributed parenthetical notes within the body of an
item originate with the source. Times within items are as
given by source.
The contents of this publication in no way represent the poli-
cies, views or attitudes of the U.S. Government.
1
COPYRIGHT LAWS AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING OWNERSHIP OF
" -
MATERIALS REPRODUCED HEREIN REQUIRE THAT DISSEMINATION
OF THIS PUBLICATION BE RESTRICTED FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY.
. , 4 . ..
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1
7
-

Approved For Release 2000/08/07 CIA RDP96-00787R000500430001-1
JPRS L/8144
6 December 1978
TRANSLATIONS ON USSR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
BIOMEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
(FOUO 37/78)
CONTENTS
PAGE
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY
Book Review Equates 'Clinical Psychology' With 'Medical
Psychology'
(V.M. Bleykher; ZHURNAL NEVROPAROLOGII I PSIKHIATRII,
No 9, 1978)
1
HYPNOSIS
Conflict Over Therapeutic Value of Hypnotic Suggestion Aired
(E.A. Fel'dman, M.S. Leyzerovich; ZHURNAL NEVROPATOLOGII
I PSIKHIATRII, No 9, 1978)
5
PARAPSYCHOLOGY
Survey and Evaluation of Parapsychology
(Nikolay Kitayev, Nikolay Yermakov; URAL'SKIY SLEDOPYT,
1977)
9
PHYSIOLOGY
Achievements in Brain Research in 1977 Discussed
(FIZIOLOGIYA CHELOVEKA, No 5, 1978)
20
The Role of Anterior Commissural Structures in the Spreading of
Synchronized Activity
(N.N. Oleshko, V.K. Berezovskiy; FIZIOLOGICHESKIY ZHURNAL
SSSR, No 2, 1978)
32
PSYCHIATRY
New System of Organizing Psychiatric Treatment Advocated
(G.V. Shteynmiller, et al .; ZHURNAL NEVROPATOLOGII I
PSIKHIATRII, No 9, 1978)
36
- a -
[III - USSR - 22 S&T FOUO]
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1
CONTENTS (Continued)
Page
"Debatable Methodological Questions" of Diagnosis of Schizoph-
renia Discussed
(A. I. Ploticher; ZHURNAL NEVROPATOLOGII I PSIKHIATRII,
No 9, 1978)
43
.
- b -
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
-

Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
PARAPSYCHOLOGY
SURVEY AND EVALUATION OF PARAPSYCHOLOGY
Sverdlovsk URAL'SKIY SLEDOPYT in Russian 1977 pp 47-51
[Article by Nikolay Kitayev and Nikolay Yermakov:
"Incredible, But True"]
[Text ]
Some new branches of science are instantly admitted into the scienti-
fic community, while others are regarded with skepticism.
The study of the still-unknown properties of the human psyche falls into
the latter group. "Parapsychology, " "bioinformation, " "psychotronics" --
such are the terms used to refer to the new science which concerns itself
with those properties.
Since ancient times men have encoutered the psychic riddles of lamas,
yogis, shamans, Magis and sorcerers. The papyri of Ancient Egypt, the
cuneiform writings of Sumer, the Sanskrit literature of India and a multi-
tude of Medieval chronicles -- all these mention certain extraordinary
properties of the human psyche which may be classified in one way or
another.
Modern scientists classify them as follows:
Telepathy. This is mental intercourse between transmitting and receiving
subjects in which information is exchanged without the use of ordinary
sensory means. The term is also used to indicate the perception of another
being at a distance.
Clairvoyance. This is the perception of events or objects without the
help of the known sensory organs.
Biophysical effect, also known as dowsing.
This is the ability of certain
persons, using an antenna (such as twig or bent wire), to observe the pre-
sence of underground water, ore, buried objects and the like.
Soviet scientist I. M. Kogan in generalizing attempts which have been made
to explain these paranormal phenomena, divides them into two general
9
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1

Approved For Release 2000/08/07: GAYRDP96-00787R000500430001-1
categories. In the first group, greatest reliance is placed on the hy-
pothesis of an association between the phenomenon (mainly telepathy) and
an electromagnetic field excited by biocurrents. This particular hypo-
thesis is consistent with a number of known telepatic phenomena, and it
does not contradict any natural laws.
Underlying the second category referred to are certain philosophic con-
cepts which emerge from the fact that all processes in the universe are
subject to unique laws.
Apart from all this, it is first necessary to have solid facts before we
proceed to confirming the truth or error of any particular hypothesis.
In the case of paranormal phenomena it is difficult to obtain such facts,
simply because such phenomena are not reproducible on demand of the in-
vestigator. Mechanical phenomena can be reproduced very readily, but
psychic laws become apparent only with a combination of a large number
of circumstances.
More than 60 years ago the great physiologist I. P. Pavlov, during the
Twelfth Session of Naturalists and Physicians, observed that the advance
of science, vigorous as it had been since the time of Galileo, had still
been somewhat retarded on account of the difficulty of studying the ex-
tremely complex higher divisions of the brain. Since that time, students
of the mysteries of the brain have indeed advanced very far, but a great
deal remains which is enigmatic.
Today more than 240 laboratories and societies in 30 different countries
are engaged in the study of paranormal phenomena, and scientific degrees
are conferred in this subject. Soviet psysiologist I. F. Tomashevskiy,
for example, has defended his candidate's dissertation on the theme "The
Physical Bases of Mental Suggestion." Czechoslovak M. Ryzl defended his
1962 dissertation with a convincing description of experiments in devel-
oping parapsychic abilities with the help of hypothetical suggestion.
Parapsychology stands at the meeting place of several areas of science.
Taking up the achievements of medicine, electronics and molecular biology,
it addresses itself to the unusual capabilities and hidden reserves of the
human psyche. The problems involved are very complex, for we have no idea
as yet of the form of energy by which living organisms interact at a dis-
tance.
The novelty and imprecision of many of the questions taken up by parapsy-
cology have made it the target of bitter attacks, at times so prejudiced
that the critic has been rebuked by the press. That is what happened in
the case of V. L'vov's book FABRIKANTY CHUDES ("Fabricators of Miracles"),
published by Lenizdat in 1974. Unverified facts, unjustified denial of test made
by known scientists, and, finally, personal attacks on the scientisis themselves,
10
Approved For Release 2000/08/07s>GJA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1
earned L'vov a well-deserved dressing down in the November 1974 issue of
ZHURNALIST, when his incompetence to deal with a number of the questions
involved as well as his superficial knowledge of the subject in general
were brought out.
Nevertheless, we should keep in mind that the present limitations of para-
psychological knowledge are sometimes taken advantage of by swindlers,
the exposure of whom casts a certain unfavorable light on the new science.
For this reason an uncritical approach to clearly sensational and exhi-
bitionistic publications may very well do more harm than good.
Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Pedagogical Sciences V. P.
Zichenko and Academician A. N. Leont'yev comment as follows: "Within the
scope of what is commonly understood by the term 'parapsychology' we must
distinguish between the 'supernatural' phenomena proclaimed by mystics and
charlatans, and certain other phenomena which actually exist, though not
as yet having received a satisfactory scientific explanation."
We have attempted in the present sketch to offer a survey of the published
literature dealing with the criminological use of parapsychology in one
form or another, limited though this literature may be. More than 500 ar-
ticles on various aspects of parapsychology were published in the USSR
alone during 1963-1973, but these deal only scantily with the criminologic-
al implications. Nevertheless, we shall go into that phase of the subject.
Telepathists
Telepathy is the most familiar area of parapsychic phenomena. Dr. Krok,
an outstanding psychologist of the last century, made a long study of the
problem of hypnotic suggestion and crime, and finally adopted a negative
view of the use of telepathy in crime detection.
A. Moll, president of the Berlin Psychological Society, in his work"Pro-
phecy and Clairvoyance"denouncing swindlers as false parapsychologists,
points out the special training of "lebashi"-persons who, in an hypnotic
state, are able to locate criminals in some extrasensory manner, and even
at a great distance. Of interest in this connection are ancient and med-
ieval sources which mention precisely the same training and use of chil-
dren in criminal research. It is possible that these early efforts were
based on the hidden reserves of the youthful psyche which we no longer
know how to tap.
German criminologist G. Schneikert published a book in our own country
half a century ago in which he writes of telepathic mediums: "Ambitious,
aggressive persons hankering for reputations as crime-solvers, though they
may be without an iota of advanced criminological knowledge, have only to
take advantage of police difficulties and the natural emotions of the vic-
tim in order to exercise their 'telepathic power'. If their guesses
11
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1

Approved For Release 2000/08/07E OJAYRDP96-00787R000500430001-1
happen to be correct, that works to their undeserved advantage; if not,
then nothing is lost."
That is a pretty strong statement, of course, but we must not regard Schnei-
kert's seeming prejudice as a denial of parapsychic facts in general. Far
from that, he was concerned with denouncing those mediums who often enough
in real life swindle the naive man in the street, and not without pecuniary
motive. But in Schneikert's own Germany during the 1920s there were sev-
eral cases of the use of telepathy in the solution of mysterious murders and
robberies. Several eminent specialists in psychology and parapsychology
(Helwig, Tischner and Geise) were invited to attend a court trial being held
in the city of Bernburg, in which the judges were interested in testing the
validity of paranormal means of obtaining information, and its possible use
in criminal proceedings. In this instance a telepathist named Drost was in-
volved who specialized in identifying criminals.
But here is an excerpt drawn from court records of those times: "In exam-
ining all instances under judicial examination, the court is in full agree-
ment with the experts that telepathy is achievable and probable when the
thought of any criminal at a seance, emerging from either the conscious or
the subconscious sphere, is transmitted directly to a medium without the
help of known sensory organs ...
.
In the opinion of the experts, the many tests conducted by Drost which
showed positive results support the probable existence of some sort of
supernatural power in mediums."
The Austrian To-Rama was another famous personality of the time, who was
able to hypnotize both animals and spectators at a circus and also to in-
duce insensitivity to pain. However, To-Rama soon after decided to become
a "criminological telepathist", and in a 1934 session with scientists at the
criminological institute and university in Prague his fradulent character
was revealed.
Of some interest in this connection was the exposure of a certain "telepath-
ist", A. R., who had been invited by the journal ZNANIYE-SILA for a demon-
stration of his supposed powers. A. R. drilled a hole in the wall of the
editor's office, through which he was perfectly able to observe supposedly
invisible objects in the next room! One of the scientists present at the
unmasking of this swindler remarked bitterly: "I suppose that every self-
respecting rogue has to try his hand at clairvoyance or telepathy sooner
or later. Especially in foreign countries where they don't use a plush
room as a testing laboratory for 'telepathists', but where, at least, it
is possible to do a lot more work on this subject."
Some authorities say that the existence of telepathy would contradict the
doctrine of I. P. Pavlov. But coming out against any such dogmatic inter-
pretation of the great physiologist is D. A. Biryukov, corresponding member
12
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 :UCIA RDP96-00787R000500430001-1
.

Approved For Release 2000/08/07 :CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1
of the USSR Academy of Pedagogical Sciences: "Instead of developing Pav-
lov's doctrine on the basis of his own methods and principles, we have
turned it into a mere explanatory tool. The point here is that the striking
classical information extracted by Pavlov and his colleagues in their study
of dogs is absolutely inadequate to explain the profound complexity of the
psychic activity of man."
During the period 1942-1946 the Office of Strategic Services, a military
and political reconnaissance agency, was active in the United States. In
1947 it formed the basis for the Central Intelligence Agency. The OSS
was headed by General William Donovan, a leading intelligence specialist
of the time. Donovan was a sober and calculating man who, back in the
years of World War I had been a confidant of President Wilson. People
who were well acquainted with the general remark that "during the time
of his public service Donovan exhibited real talent in surrounding him-
self with eminent specialists, so he was able to extend his sphere of ac-
tivity over the most varied fields."
An innovator in the intelligence field, Donovan recruited for his staff a
great number of varied "specialists" indeed-more precisely, thieves, pick-
pockets, safecrackers and experienced hypnotists! Donovan knew that his
old rival, Admiral Canaris, Hitler's chief of military intelligence, was
pursuing a similar recruitment policy. However, this American Knight No. 1
of the Cloak and Dagger had at his disposal a special "staff" which was not
available to the German. This consisted of several telepathic specialists,
no less, who were quite different from the fellows who overawe the public
at circuses or on the stages of music halls! That Donovan actually em-
ployed these people is an established fact, though the particular manner in
which they were put to use remains unknown to this day. Nevertheless, it
is hard to imagine that the pedestrian-minded general would invest money
in anyone who did not have some real parapsychological ability. Another
point is that prospective intelligence in those days had to pass compli-
cated examinations and demonstrate their quality before a very exacting
commission over a period of several weeks.
In our own country very great fame among mediums was realized by Wolf
Messing. His outstanding abilities in thought transferance, and his ex-
tensive exhibitions, brought out a varied response. Some writers have con-
sidered Messing as being very sensitive to the ideomotor acts of his part-
ner, which would explain his puzzling accomplishments.
Idecmotor acts are involuntary, but perceptible movements unconsciously
executed by a person at the moment he gets a clear mental impression of
some action. As I. P. Pavlov remarks, "It was long ago observed and scien-
tifically demonstrated that the moment you think about some particular
bodily movement
you involuntarily and unconsciously execute that
movement . "
13
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1

Approved For Release 2000/08/0ZE: ONA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1
But Messing's capabilities, which cannot be explained on the basis of
ideomotorism, have been discarded by a number of authorities as running
counter to the Pavlovian doctrine. Still, Messing repeatedly exposed
criminals, and his abilities are entirely explainable on the basis of
psychotronics.
The recently deceased M. A. Kuni, who was able to unravel a number of
crimes, had telepathic abilities similar to those of Messing. During
the interrogation of some person who concealed his name and the where-
abouts of his accomplices, Kuni was able to come up with the necessary
facts and to do so without asking any questions whatever. He employed
no skills beyond the unique powers of the telepathist.
In similar fashion, Kuni once produced the precise date of birth of a woman
who had specified a later date at one of his public appearances.
Tofik Dadashev, who performed with great success around the country a few
years ago, likewise exhibits talents not explainable by the theory of
ideomotor acts. Given varied examinations by a number of commissions,
Dadashev successfully passed all of them, demonstrating not only his mind-
reading ability but also a capacity for influencing people around him.
Presented by criminologists with the task of identifying three criminals
from a set of photographs, Dadashev did so with complete success. Beyond
this, Dadashev is quite able to "read" the thoughts of foreigners without
even knowing their language. This is explained by his imagic perception
of the thoughts and experiences of the people he meets.
In our own country, K. Nikolayev, Ye. Vinogradov and some others have
passed similar psychological tests.
Clairvoyants
A second question of interest to us here is the phenomenon of criminologic-
al clairvoyance.
We shall not go into the pre-Revolutionary literature on this subject (the
magazine REBUS published a great many articles on clairvoyance), since the
bulk of this material is an inseparable mixture of mysticism and fact and
is therefore invalidated.
To return to H. Schneikert's"The Secret of the Criminal and the Means of
Its Revelation": "All cases of known identification of criminals, recovery
of stolen articles or location of missing persons," he maintains, "can be
ascribed to the cleverness and perseverance of the fortune-teller or clair-
voyant, but not to clairvoyance as such. Admit, if you like, that there
might be an atom of truth in the doctrine of clairvoyance; the fact remains
that 'clairvoyance on demand' is an impossibility."
14
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1

Approved For Release 2000/08/07ICA-RDP96 00787R000500430001-1
Of course, a scientist who has not overburdened himself with special research
is likely to be somewhat on the negative side. But what do the recorded
facts of the matter have to say?
.
In 1930 a passenger plane crashed in France killing 48 persons, and a
special commission was set up to investigate the causes of the tragedy.
The well-known clairvoyant E. Garette, in a trance state, was able to
offer an immediate down-to-earth, technically correct description of the
flight and the causes of the crash. Some time later the commission came
out with conclusions which agreed with Garette's in every particular.
We need not at this point offer a long list of authorities who acknowledge
the existence of clairvoyant phenomena. Let us recall the remarks of I. P.
Pavlov: " ... In certain instances, in explaining ordinary conscious action,
the human ability to differentiate becomes unusually acute. Under the spe-
cial conditions of so-called clairvoyance, this ability to differentiate
approaches an infinite degree of acuity."
The Polish engineer Stefan Ossowecki was popular as an "outstanding clair-
voyant" during the 1920s and 1930s. One could show Ossowecki any sort of
object, and would at once be able to describe the physical appearance of
the owner of the object, as well as the person's recent psychic exper-
iences. The police resorted to Ossowecki's help in solving very difficult
cases. Professor S. Manczarski, who observed Ossowecki for a long period,
concluded that certain "traces" remaining on the object were absorbed by
the medium's skin, and that a chemical reaction occured there which in-
tensified the "traces". Processes of the same sort are well known to chem-
ists. The "trace" acts on the nervous system of the medium, signals are
transmitted to the cerebrum and are there analyzed. Manczarski was for
many years a student of parapsychic qualities. He summarizes his work as
follows:
" ... Paranormal phenomena, so-called, are really ordinary physical phenomena
based on the transfer of energy. This energy can be measured and calcu-
lated, despite its insignificant magnitude."
African explorer Lawrence Green in journeying around the continent "kept
running across facts indicating the existence of extrasensory perception,
telepathy and clairvoyance among primitive peoples ... " Green's book con-
tains accounts of clairvoyance being used to solve crimes.
Traveler D. Corbett, in notes taken by the present authors 15 years ago,
describes how the prime minister of Nepal recovered a stolen jewel with
the help of a clairvoyant.
Gerard Krause, one of the best known Dutch mediums, who has aided police
in finding lost children, missing objects and bodies, was studied by parar
psychologists of Utrecht University for a period of 20 years. Krause goes
into a twilight state in which a series of pictures pass before his inner
15
Approved For Release 2000/08/07E CIA-RISP96-00787R000500430001-1

1
Approved For Release
5QRe 2006/08/07: CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1
ONLY
eye in the manner of motion picture scenes. Everything he says during this
state is recorded on magnetic tape. In locating a missing body, he confi-
dently describes the scene and the surroundings, no matter how far away
these may be, and the police are very quickly able to find the victim.
Many such examples of Krause's performances are attested by witnesses,
tape recordings and police documentation. This medium has successfully
solved a number of serious crimes, and has even been able to explain the
causes of industrial accidents and breakdowns. A man without technical
education, he is able to pinpoint minute disorders which are later con-
firmed by laboratory examination. Nevertheless, some of Krause's asser-
tions, being of a negative character, might be regarded as errors.
Czeslav Klimuszko is a Polish clairvoyant whose diaries are currently be-
ing published in the journal LITERATURA. Klimuszko is concerned mainly
with the search for dead or missing children, making use of photographs
taken at any time in their lives. Extracts from his diaries are trans-
lated into Russian. Klimuszko was of substantial help in the search for
the criminals who robbed the Wolow national bank of 12 million zlotys.
Using a photograph of a missing person, Klimuszko is able to specify the
exact location of the subject, living or dead; the distance involved is of
no importance. There are, however, some restrictions in the use of pho -.
tography. Photographs taken for a parapsychic seance must be no older
than 10 years and must not be touched up. Any photograph used by Kli-
muszko must not have been arrried around a long time by a second person,
nor must it have been stored with other photographs. In addition, it is
desirable that the missing person should have been photographed in a shady
place, and the subject must not have been intoxicated. The genuineness
of Klimuszko's abilities is confirmed by his many years of performance,
though of course the essence of the phenomenon he typifies remains unclear
to scientists.
At the present time a whole group of people possessing rare parapsychic
gifts are known, such as the Frenchwoman Marie Maire, the Brazilian Jose
Pedro de Freytas and the Italian woman Peccoc. In Europe alone there are
20-30 mediums who function in crime detection. Making a special study of
this problem in 1975, the American journalist Rudolf reports that a growing
number of jurists are coming out in favor of the use of mediums.
There are people of similar capability in the USSR. In Chitinskaya Oblast,
to name one example, there is an aged woman, A. G. Popova, who is able to
locate lost cattle, various missing objects and dead bodies. Her methods
are similar to those of Krause. Soviet scientist L. V. Vilenskaya devoted
an article to Popova's abilities which was published in 1975 in the
INTERNATIONAL PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL JOURNAL (London) .
Also well-known are instances of the appearance of paranormal abilities
following trephining of the skull, or from the use of certain narcotics.
The first of these was deliberately used by Tibetan lamas in connection
with the higher degrees of their orders (the candidate would have repeat-
ed examinations and continuous instruction for over 30 years!), though
16
Approved For Release 2000/08/07SECIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1

Approved For Release 2000/08/076GIAURDP96-00787R000500430001-1
surgical methods of any sort occupy only a very modest place in Tibetan
medical practice. In the USSR, as late as the 1930s, there were living
several lamas of the Tsanit movement ("tsanit" means wisdom) who had ex-
perienced the operation. At that time their remarkable psychic capa-
cities were of use in searching out criminals and persons lost without a
trace. The secret of this surgical operation is unknown.
Still another method has been used in Africa, America and Medieval Europe.
The celebrated astrologer-clairvoyant Nostradamus at the start of his
career was continually busy with alchemical experiments, and studied a
large number of narcotics. Jacques Bergier, eminent specialist in scien-
tific research and scholar of ancient history, concluded that Nostradamus
had discovered one narcotic of unusual parapsychic force. Events occurring
down to our own times have confirmed the remarkable predictive powers of
Nostradamus. Among these may be mentioned several political murders and
revolutions, all of which took place at the times specified in his pro-
phecies.
Here we come to the most. enigmatic branch of clairvoyance -- prophecy, or
the extrasensory receipt of information about future events. The reality
of this phenomenon is confirmed by a number of historical examples, des-
pite an overburden of mysticism. There remain detailed descriptions of
the prophetess Cassandra, in Homer's "Iliad, " the Delphic Pythians and the
Roman Sibyls. The great Soviet jurist M. Gernet in his five-volume"History
of the Czarist Prison" recalls the prophesying monk Avel', who was confined
for many years in the terrible casemates of Schlusselburg and the Solo-
vetskiy Monastery. This indubitably real person certainly possessed the
gift of prevision. Avel' accurately forecast the year and day of the deaths
of Catherine II and Paul I, and the year of the French invasion of Russia.
His prophecies earned him 20 years in prison.
One hypothesis is that all processes taking place in the universe are in-
terconnected by laws of causality which exhibit themselves not only in the
past, but indicate as well all events which will take place in the future.
Viewed on that basis, prophecy is entirely explainable: that which we per-
ceive as a preview of the future, as a consequence of what has happened in
the past, has in reality already been predetermined by the laws of causality.
Dowsers
The following area of parapsychology is that of dowsing. Known from very
ancient times (there are references to it in the Bible), biophysical effect
is not now embraced by any theory. Its reality, however, has been fully
confirmed by a number of special experiments run under the aegis of UNESCO.
An interdepartmental commission was set up in the USSR in 1974 for the
coordination of work being done on the phenomenon of biophysical effect.
17
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1
·
In this effort, tens of thousands of tests were run at a great many differ-
ent points in the country. From a large number of instances illustrating
the practical application of the effect, one may select the work of the
young scientist Ogil'vi, who was able to determine the dimensions and lay-
out of karst rifts underlying the asphalt cover of Moscow streets, near
Khoroshevskoye Highway. During repair of Ostankinskiy Court, the under-
ground surveying plans for which had been lost beyond recall, Ogil'vi
used precisely the biophysical effect in order to determine the configura-
tion of the ancient karstic drainage system.
Since ancient times dowsers have been called upon to investigate crimes and
discover buried valuables and corpses. French dowser Jacques Eimer bril-
liantly solved the terrible murder of a Lyons family in 1692. Eimer was
so famous that his criminological exploits have been the subject of an ex-
tensive literature. French physicist Rocquard in his book"The Sign of
Dowsing' attempts to find some rational explanation of such cases of finding
Lost bodies and murder weapons. His explanation is that there is an in-
crease of ion concentration in underground water close to the concealed
object.
In our own century there have been training schools for dowsers in a num-
ber of countries. In the United States dowsers formed a union numbering
25,000 members.
It is possible that development of further knowledge on this phenomenon
will make possible its use in criminal cases in which a large open area
must be examined, such as a plain or a forest.
In 1966 C. Baxter, American specialist in electronic detectors and long-
time head of the Research Committee of the Academy of Criminalogical Sci-
ences, observed a curious phenomenon when applying pickup electrodes to
plant tissue. He states that plants distinctly react to the actions and
thoughts of human beings, Similar results have been obtained quite inde-
pendently in the Soviet Union.
The American criminologist has actually devised a crime model.
Six persons,
one at a time, are directed into a room where two flowers have been placed.
Baxter then enters the room and discovers that one of the flowers has been
destroyed. To establish the "plant's murderer," the scientist applies
electrodes to the remaining flower, and then summons one at a time the
six participants in the experiment. The plant immediately points out the
"criminal" by a change in his encephalogram.
Following Baxter's work, Doctor of Psychological Sciences V. N. Pushkin,
after making a series of plant tests of his own, reports as follows:
18
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1

Approved For Release 2000/08/07: CIA-RDP98-00787R000500430001-1
" ... The living plant cell (blossom cell) reacts to processes taking place
in the nervous system (emotional state of the person) ... A person's psyche,
no matter how complex-perception, intellection, memory and so on-is
never more than a specialization of the 'information service" which func-
tions on the level of the plant cell." Here we observe an interaction be-
tween living organisms at a distance-an interaction which is the object
of study of the parapsychologist. Of great promise for future criminal
investigation is the use of plants in identifying the perpetrators of
violent crimes. According to Academician B. Dombrovskiy and Docent V.
Inyushin, "It is likely that the conclusions of American scientists regard-
ing the practical application of plant reception in forensic research are
somewhat too categorical. But the experiments of C. Baxter cannot fail to
attract the attention of experimenters."
Our knowledge of the world around us is still far from complete. Undoubted-
ly, further research in parapsychology will enrich many forms of human ac-
tivity, and in particular supply new methods for crime detection.
COPYRIGHT :
Notice Not Available
6277
CSO:
8144/0258
19
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1

Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1
FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
PHYSIOLOGY
... . ... .
ACHIEVEMENTS IN BRAIN RESEARCH IN 1977 DISCUSSED
Moscow FIZIOLOGIYA CHELOVEKA in Russian No 5, 1978 pp 922-930
/Article: "Overall Scientific Research Programs in the Field of Biology
and Medicine and Ways of Realizing Them"
Basic Research Results in 1977 and the Prospects for Their Further Develop-
ment Within the Framework of the "Brain" Program of the USSR Academy of Sci-
ences in the Section "Principles and Mechanisms of the Activity of the Human
Brain"
/Text/ An analysis of the 1977 scientific research results presented in the
report by N. P. Bekhtereva, director of this section, at the 23d Joint Ses-
sion of the Scientific Council for Overall Problems of Human and Animal
Physiology of the USSR Academy of Sciences held jointly with the Scientific
Council for Problems of Applied Human Physiology of the USSR Academy of Sci-
ences (17-19 April 1978) made it possible to single out the scientific in-
stitutions of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the USSR Academy of Medical Sci-
ences and the ministries of health of the USSR and the Union republics most
actively working in the field of neurophysiology of the human brain and neu-
ropsychology, developing the principles of and approaches to memory control
in health and disease and investigating the mechanisms of information coding
in the brain and the mechanisms of speech perception.
In the field of neurophysiology of the healthy and sick human brain the gen-
eralization of the results of neurophysiological investigation of the brain
mechanisms ensuring man's psychic processes was the most significant in 1977.
The principles of neurophysiological coding of verbal signals revealed dur-
ing previous years were confirmed. When decision making mechanisms were
studied, data were obtained on the possibility of forecasting results accord-
ing to a simultaneous appearance of blocks of elementary code sequences in
the dynamics of impulse activity in various neuron populations of the cortex
and subcortical formations.
Confirmation of the significance of code sequences in investigations with
the introduction of quasiwords, which were artificially given a certain mean-
ing, into the semantic field was obtained. It was found that their inclu-
sign in the semantic field occurs as a result of the formation of the same
20 : -
Approved For ReleaseR2000/08/07'SCIA-RDP96-00787R000500430001-1