Renaud Evrard

Spiritist delusions and spiritism in the nosography of French psychiatry (1850–1950)

At the turn of the twentieth century there was a wave of delusions which had a direct link to spiritism in their form and content. These so-called spiritist or mediumistic delusions were the object of detailed study, and clinicians assigned them a place in nosography, especially in France. This work of classification was carried out as a function of the convictions and paradoxes that these delusions aroused; it also made it possible to question the relationship between pathology and belief. It is therefore important to emphasize certain ideological views of psychiatry on para-normality. We observed both a reductionist discourse concerning these domains, and at the same time their utilization in the construction of psychiatric knowledge.

Anomalous experiences, psi and functional neuroimaging

Over the past decade, there has been increasing scientific interest in anomalous experiences. These can be defined as “uncommon experience[s] […] that, although [they] may be experienced by a significant number of persons […], [are] believed to deviate from ordinary experience or from the usually accepted explanation of reality according to Western mainstream science” (Cardena et al., 2014). This scientific interest has led to important contributions toward the understanding of several aspects of these experiences (Brugger and Mohr, 2008). One of the most controversial hypotheses associated with anomalous experiences is the psi hypothesis, which states that anomalous experiences sometimes imply forms of interactions falling outside currently known biological and physical mechanisms (Bem and Honorton, 1994). Thus, far, small but persistent effects are frequently reported in experiments testing the psi hypothesis (Radin, 2006), while no consensus has been reached concerning their explanation (Alcock et al., 2003). Research testing the psi hypothesis has occasionally generated a great deal of interest and controversy. The most recent example is Bems series of precognition experiments (Bem, 2011), which triggered important methodological questionings on the validity of the frequentist approach (Miller, 2011; Rouder and Morey, 2011; Wagenmakers et al., 2011), widely used in experimental sciences. Bems paper was followed by an attempt of replication (Ritchie et al., 2012a), which resulted in reflections on the difficulty in publishing direct replications in psychology (Ritchie et al., 2012b). This debate, still ongoing, has shown how research about anomalous experiences can stimulate cutting-edge discussions on scientific methodology. This heuristic value of anomalous experiences has a history even in the infancy of cognitive neuroscience with the German neurologist Hans Berger, inventor of electroencephalography and the first person to describe different brain waves, having previously had a telepathic experience with his sister which made him obsessed by the idea of how his mind could have carried such a signal (Berger, 1940). More recently, attempts to test the psi hypothesis and find its neural correlates have been carried out using functional neuroimaging. The rationale behind these experiments is that if psi-related processes are indeed present in the brain, even unconsciously, they should be observable using functional neuroimaging. An example of such a study would be to test whether the brain activity of Participant A would be influenced when Participant B, situated in another isolated room, intends to send information to or simply concentrate on Participant A. Various types of hypothetical phenomena have already been examined, including forms of telepathy (Standish et al., 2003; Richards et al., 2005; Moulton and Kosslyn, 2008; Venkatasubramanian et al., 2008), distant intentionality (Achterberg et al., 2005), and precognition (Bierman and Scholte, 2002; Moulton and Kosslyn, 2008). All these six studies but one (Moulton and Kosslyn, 2008) reported results consistent with the psi hypothesis. Unfortunately, several of these studies suffer from methodological weaknesses that could account for the reported effects. Listing these flaws may contribute to the improvement of the research in this field. These methodological weaknesses can be grouped into four categories: Counter-balancing across participants is routinely used in experimental psychology and cognitive sciences to avoid systematic biases due to experimental conditions specific to one or several participants. In Venkatasubramanian et al. (2008), the receiver and the sender were presented green and red-colored stars to indicate the onset of telepathy and control trials, respectively. It is therefore not possible to know whether the difference in brain activity between the two conditions is due to the nature of the trial (telepathy vs. control) or to the difference in the color of the stimulus indicating trial onset. To disentangle this potential confound, the reverse cue association has to be given for half of the trials—or half of the participants, if their number is sufficient. Trial order randomization prevents biases that could be caused by the particular order of the trial conditions. Such biases can be caused by participants detecting a certain pattern (e.g., repetitions or alternations), leading to expectations and thus detectable neural signatures that could bias the results. Habituation, leading to different brain activity between the beginning and the end of the experiment may also bias the results. To counter-balance the potential biases produced by a particular sequence—even if it was generated randomly—each participant should be given a distinct series of randomly-ordered trials. Unfortunately, proper randomization was not met in four of the six studies: In Venkatasubramanian et al. (2008) no randomization was used at all, while in Standish et al. (2003) and Richards et al. (2005) the duration of the trials was randomized, but not their order. Moreover, in the Venkatasubramanian study, the target picture was freely chosen and drawn with a pen by one investigator used as the “sender.” A randomized target selection from a prepared set of images would have been preferable. Humans are indeed inherently biased in their attempts to generate random targets (Brugger and Taylor, 2003). Besides, a randomization would have prevented potential correlations between the target imagined by the “sender” and the guess of the “receiver” due to their potential interaction or common immediate past experience before the experiment. Information shielding: All normal mechanisms have to be excluded for correlations between the source (e.g., a “sender” or healer) and the participants brain activity to be considered as psi (see e.g., Alcock et al., 2003). However, some reports showed weaknesses on this crucial point. In Achterberg et al. (2005), the healers task is to influence from a distance the participant lying inside the scanner. In this study, the same healer was used for three different participants while the same sequence (i.e., the order of control and active sessions) was used. Consequently, this particular healer knew in advance this sequence, and it is not specified whether contact between the healer and the participants was prevented. In the Venkatasubramanian et al. (2008) study, the authors used the same target image for the only two participants whilst no information concerning a possible interaction between them was provided, potentially leading to the same problem. Small sample size, i.e., too small a number of participants and/or trials per participant, was also a weakness of several studies (Standish et al., 2003; Richards et al., 2005; Venkatasubramanian et al., 2008). As underpowered studies most often miss existing effects (leading to false negatives), reported positive results have a low probability to reflect a true effect (see e.g., Button et al., 2013). Furthermore, with too few participants, proper counter-balancing is difficult and the risk of confounds is greater. Two studies (Bierman and Scholte, 2002; Moulton and Kosslyn, 2008), however, appear methodologically sound. Both explored various potential sources of artifacts that could account for their respective significant results. Bierman and Scholte (2002) could not find any classical explanation for the significant effects observed. Moulton and Kosslyn (2008), on the other hand, concluded that their results constituted “the strongest evidence yet obtained against the existence of (psi)” despite the logical difficulties in proving a negative existential proposition (Whitehead and Russell, 1910–1913). Additionally, despite the many precautions taken by the experimenters, a subtle bias was still found in one participants data, indicating that the design could potentially be flawed. Finally, none of the studies addressed the issue of the confined and noisy environment inside the scanner tube that tends to make participants uncomfortable. As this problem is currently unavoidable, the participants could be prompted about their comfort or relaxation level and their answers used as a covariate in the analysis. Testing the psi hypothesis using neuroimaging is an important topic as it may help to shed some light on the nature of anomalous experiences (Watt and Irwin, 2010; Krippner and Friedman, 2010b), on altered states of consciousness (Krippner and Friedman, 2010a; Cardena and Winkelman, 2011) and more generally on potential methodological problems in the field of psychology and neurosciences (Watt, 2005). Nevertheless, in our opinion, no firm conclusions concerning the psi hypothesis can be made on the basis of this corpus of functional neuroimaging data, and more methodologically sound results need to be generated.

Pierre Janet and the Enchanted Boundary of Psychical Research

Among the founders of French psychology, Pierre Janet (1859–1947) is recognized for both his scientific and institutional roles. The psychology born at the turn of the 20th century was initially partly receptive to, but then engaged in, a battle with the “psychical marvelous,” and Janet was no exception. He was involved in the split between psychology and parapsychology (or “metapsychics” in France), developed at that time, playing several successive roles: the pioneer, the repentant, and the gatekeeper. At first, he was involved in so-called experimental parapsychology, but quickly chose not to engage directly in this kind of research any longer. Janet seemed to become embarrassed by his reputation as psychical researcher, so he increased his efforts to side with the more conventional thought of his time. Janet’s attitude, in this, is an example of how French nascent psychology has explored “marvelous phenomena” before recanting. Yet this aspect of Janet’s work has been rarely commented on by his followers. In this article, we describe the highlights of his epistemological journey.

From Catalepsy to Psychical Research: The Itinerary of Timothée Puel (1812-1890).

The physician and botanist Timothée Puel (1812–1890) lived through a pivotal period of psychology (1848–1878), between the academic prohibition of the study of animal magnetism to its disjointed recovery in hypnotism and psychical research. One of his cases of “catalepsy complicated with somnambulism” triggered a lively debate on “extraordinary neuroses” within the young Société médico-psychologique [Medico-psychological Society]. In 1874, Puel founded the Revue de psychologie expérimentale [Journal of Experimental Psychology], the first of its kind in French, which he intended as the vehicle of international interest in psychical research, the scholarly and institutionalized study of “psychism” that prepared the way for the recognition of academic psychology. Puel circulated between these different currents by taking advantage of the polysemy of concepts like “sleep,” “experimental psychology,” and “psychism.” This article discusses his role in the context of emerging French psychology in the mid- to late 19th century.

Mesmer et mesmérismes. Le magnétisme animal en contexte ed. by Bruno Belhoste, Nicole Edelman (review)

Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815) et sa doctrine du magnétisme animal ont déjà fait l ’objet de nombreuses historiographies. Le minutieux travail de retour aux traces historiques, proposé dans cet ouvrage, aide à passer outre les sédimentations interprétatives déposées depuis plus de deux siècles. Dix auteurs se partagent la tâche d’éclairer l ’héritage de Mesmer et de ses avatars, dans une progression à la fois chronologique et thématique, depuis sa « Naissance et Renaissance » (première partie), jusqu’à ses « Déploiements et critiques » (troisième partie), en passant par des analyses croisées des « Théories magnétiques » (deuxième partie). Bruno Belhoste suit tout d’abord, au plus près, la progression du médecin allemand dans la capitale française, depuis son arrivée en 1778. Confronté aux résistances et aux portes qui se ferment, celui-ci déploie une stratégie promotionnelle afin d’obtenir une reconnaissance officielle de l ’efficacité de sa méthode, tout en conservant, durant un premier temps, sa précieuse doctrine comme étant sa seule propriété. Belhoste met l ’accent sur un contexte extrêmement défavorable au niveau académique, puisque l ’Académie de médecine se retrouvait alors en porte-à-faux avec la création de la Société royale de médecine, qui venait empiéter sur son domaine de juridiction. Ulrike Krampl explore ensuite le devenir de la doctrine mesmérienne, d’abord présentée comme le secret d’un seul homme ; puis comme savoir commercialisé pour une poignée d’élus, en désavouant les imitateurs non accrédités ; puis comme créature qui échappe à son créateur et vient se mélanger avec tous les courants disponibles. La grande force de ce livre est de ne pas s’arrêter au personnage de Mesmer : le mesmérisme y est entendu au pluriel. Jean-Luc Chappey poursuit ainsi l ’analyse du magnétisme sous le Premier Empire, avec les mutations opérées par le marquis de Puységur, qui parle depuis 1784 de « sommeil magnétique » et met en avant des phénomènes tels que la « lucidité ». Le rendez-vous avec les savants est à nouveau manqué, mais l ’abnégation de Puységur va néanmoins troubler les esprits sur la durée. François Zanetti explore, dans la deuxième partie de l ’ouvrage, la collusion entre le magnétisme animal et l ’engouement pour l ’utilisation clinique de l ’électricité, qui fait du mesmérisme « une controverse médicale comme les autres » (p. 105).

Clés des songes et sciences des rêves de l'Antiquité à Freud ed. by Jacqueline Carroy, Juliette Lancel (review)

Cet ouvrage s’appuie sur un colloque tenu sous l ’égide du Labex Hastec, du Centre Koyré, de l ’EHESS et du CNRS, à Paris en octobre 2012. Il regroupe une introduction, puis dix contributions dont l ’ordre suit approximativement une chronologie, ainsi qu’une bibliographie générale, une présentation des auteurs et un index des noms propres. Par sa thématique, il se situe au carrefour d’une histoire des sciences, d’une histoire des pratiques populaires et d’une histoire de la médecine, le tout étalé sur deux millénaires. Artémidore et sa clef des songes est l ’un des fils rouges de l ’ouvrage. Une analyse minutieuse nous permet de saisir le contexte de son œuvre, son modelage et remodelage au fur et à mesure des traductions et des réappropriations. Artémidore démarquait déjà les songes théorématiques et allégoriques tournés vers l’avenir, et requérant un interprète, des rêves naturels n’ayant pas de valeur prédictive. Une telle distinction a perduré dans l ’histoire occidentale et dans d’autres sociétés, même si les mots « songe » et « rêve » sont devenus synonymes, ce qui était loin d’être le cas auparavant. Globalement, le propos principal de l ’ouvrage porte sur l ’utilisation du rêve en tant qu’outil de divination, avec des réceptions sociales variables selon le positionnement scientifique de l’époque. L’obstacle à l ’interprétation surnaturelle des songes est une théorie à vocation médicale qui donne au rêve une valeur diagnostique ou pronostique uniquement par rapport à la santé du rêveur. Alors que plusieurs théories successives mélangent ces deux types d’interprétation, les intellectuels vont progressivement couper avec l’onirocritique associant au rêve une valeur prédictive par rapport aux événements appelés à survenir dans la vie du rêveur. Le glissement vers le réductionnisme médical ne se fait pas subitement. On est surpris par le succès de certaines explications pseudo-physiologiques, telles que celle des « esprits animaux » énoncée par Descartes (Guillaume Garnier, chapitre sept); ou par l ’influence du contexte social. Ainsi, la levée de l ’interdit ecclésiastique sur le jeu de hasard par le pape Clément XII en 1731 facilitera le développement de loteries populaires, accompagnées de clés des songes où chaque rêve typique était associé au numéro à jouer (Claire Gantet, chapitre 5). Le songe venait compenser l ’incertitude de la vie de veille. Malgré une analyse réussie des travaux de l ’époque moderne, on peut regretter l ’absence d’une réflexion sur le retour de Freud à la

Child Sexual Abuse, Baby Gender, and Intergenerational Psychic Transmission: An Exploratory, Projective Psychoanalytic Approach.

The aim of this article is to present a French psychoanalytic model of how and to what extent the sequellae of sexual abuse by a male during a girls childhood are transmitted to the next generation, as a function of the gender of the abused mothers children. The authors conducted a qualitative exploratory study based on the longitudinal follow-up of a woman who had two boys and a girl. They focused on the impact of two general sequellae: separation anxiety and negativity-disqualification of the paternal and/or male figures. From the methodological standpoint, they used a clinical interview to assess the mother, and a projective tool, a storytelling test, to assess the childs personality using content analysis. The results confirm both the merits of the theoretical framework and the relevance of the projective methodology for grasping sequellae transmitted to the child. The sequellae turned out to be markedly different for the two baby genders: rejection for the male, overprotection and ghostly encryption for the female. Avenues for using this tool and model in future quantitative, comparative studies are suggested.