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Approved For Release 2004/08/02DESIARDP96-00792R000600350001-3 DST-18105-387-75 September 1975 (U) In the Soviet Union, Doctor Y.A. Kholodov has investigated the effects of a constant magnetic field (CMF) on rabbits. Whole-body exposures to fields between 30 and 2000 oersteds resulted in nonspecific changes in the electroencephalogram, but no other directly measurable physiological responses. Kholodov showed that weak magnetic as well as other externally generated radiation fields have a direct effect on rierve tissue, and for this reason he feels that natural and artificial fields in man's environ- ment may have an influence on health and behavior via the nervous system and the hypothalamus. Kholodov's research is representative of current Soviet efforts to explain paranormal phenomena on the basis of known physical and biological parameters. (U) Another Soviet scientist, A.S. Presman, feels that biological energy and information exchange between living organisms is the result of electro- magnetic field (EMF) interactions between individuals or between the individual and the environment. He and other Soviet scientists have recorded EMF's from man, frogs, and insects of various species at ranges from several centimeters to several meters from the body surface. The frequencies of the EMF's were found to correspond to various biorhythms of organs, rhythms of movement and acoustic signals, and bioelectric rhythms. Presman thinks that in groups of animals, electromagnetic oscillations are synchronized by frequency matching and that the cumula- tive intensity may grow in proportion to the square of the number of individuals. Such cumulative emission is also thought to be possible as the result of synchronization of the emissions of many cells in animals in. a highly excited state. (U) Presman, like Kholodov, feels that the effects of subthreshold stimuli are mediated through the hypothalamic region of the midbrain. The hypo- thalamus regulates diverse physiological processes in the organism (pulse, body temperature, oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide liberation, urine volume, urine nitrogen concentration, etc.) and these are the functions most commonly disturbed by changes in EMF's. (U) Presman believes that electromagnetic signalling is universal between animals, but not between humans who may have lost the capability for such communication as a result of evolution and the development of verbal and artificial communication channels. He does not rule out the possibility that "spontaneous telepathy" may occasionally occur, but regards such occurrences as rare cases of atavism. Consequently, he regards man as the least suitable animal for studying electromagnetic communication. (U) It is important that the increased degree of sophistication which has occurred in Soviet ESP or telepathy research since 1960 be understood. At present the terms "ESP" and "telepathy" are seldom used. It is possible that the newer terms "biocommunication" and "psychotronics" will vanish in the near future only to be replaced by conventional high-energy physics il CONFIDENT TAL (This page is UNCLASSIFIED) Approved For Release 2004/08/02 : CIA-RDP96-00792R000600350001-3