Many human traits are influenced by our genetics. We commonly think of inherited traits as things like eye color, height, or the risk of developing certain diseases. But when it comes to psi phenomena, could inherited biology also contribute to why some people report psychic experiences more often than others?
The curiosity and questions surrounding this topic are not new. In some cultures, we hear of families with long-described psychic abilities as occurring across generations. Within the scientific community, studies on twins have revealed greater similarities in telepathic experiences than would be expected by chance. Survey research conducted by our IONS scientists has also identified similar family patterns, suggesting that heredity may play a role in psi phenomena. Additionally, we previously conducted a genetic case-control study involving individuals who demonstrated exceptionally high psychic performance, with the findings of this study pointing to the possibility of genetic factors contributing to psychic abilities.
In our most recent study, Genomic correlates of self-reported psychic experiences: An exploratory analysis, published in Explore, we further whether genetic variation might be associated with differences in self-reported psychic experiences.
How We Investigate the Genetic Correlations of Psychic Experiences
In this study, we recruited study participants through the IONS community, across social media, and from previous research studies. Eligible volunteers completed questionnaires assessing mental health, psychic experiences, and beliefs in paranormal phenomena. To qualify, each participant needed to also report having at least one psychic experience and provide genetic data obtained through direct-to-consumer testing services, such as 23andMe and Ancestry.com. Our researchers then combined the questionnaire responses with the genetic data to explore whether particular genetic variants helped distinguish participants with relatively higher versus lower composite psychic-experience scores.
Do Genetic Patterns Exist for Psychic Experiences?
Of the 583 individuals who initially volunteered, 102 completed all study requirements. Most of the eligible participants were educated white women living in the United States. As a group, participants had average dissociation and psychotic-symptom scores that were not indicative of clinically significant pathology on the screening measures used. Participants reported a broad range of experiences, with intuitive knowing, empathic experiences, precognition, clairvoyance, and lucid dreaming among the most commonly endorsed
Rather than identifying a single “psychic gene,” the exploratory analysis identified a number of variants that helped the statistical model distinguish participants with higher versus lower self-reported psi scores. These candidate findings will require replication in much larger and more diverse samples. Several of the variants were located in or near genes with known roles in neuronal signaling, neurodevelopment, cellular structure, or related biological processes.
One variant, rs10410488, stood out as the strongest statistical signal in the analysis and was not affected by missing data. It maps to or near ARHGEF18, a gene that has been implicated in calcium-dependent dendritic growth and branching in cortical neurons. This biological function is intriguing, but the present study did not establish that the variant alters ARHGEF18 activity or that dendritic development contributes to psychic experiences. Replication and functional studies would be needed before drawing such conclusions.
Other selected variants were located in or near genes that have been associated in previous research with hormone signaling, neurodevelopment, cellular structure, calcium regulation, and retinoid-related processes. These findings also suggest that multiple interconnected systems, rather than a single biological mechanism, may contribute to varying psi phenomena. These observations are hypothesis-generating and do not demonstrate that these biological pathways underlie psychic experiences.
What are the Possible Biological Explanations of Genetic Patterns in Psi Phenomena?
The findings from this exploratory genomic analysis of self-reported psychic experiences provide several possible directions for future research. For one, several of the strongest findings involve variants located in or near genes with known roles related to calcium signaling , which is used to regulate how neurons send information, adapt to new experiences, and form new connections. Other genetic patterns observed involved hormone regulation, particularly pathways related to reproductive hormones, which may suggest that hormonal differences could influence the frequency or intensity of psychic experiences in some individuals. We also identified genes involved in retinoid signaling. Retinoid-related processes have also been discussed in connection with dreaming and sleep-related neurobiology, although their relevance to psychic experiences remains unknown.
Several theoretical models have proposed that unusual information exchange might involve sensitivity to electromagnetic or other physical signals. Voltage-gated calcium channels have been proposed as one possible biological mechanism through which electromagnetic fields could influence neuronal activity. Separately, some theories of consciousness propose roles for microtubules or quantum-level processes in the brain. These ideas remain controversial and highly speculative, and the present study did not test any of them directly. The fact that some candidate variants were located near genes connected with calcium regulation or cellular structure simply provides possible hypotheses for future investigation; it should not be interpreted as evidence for an electromagnetic or quantum mechanism of psi.
Next Steps in Genetic Research on Psychic Experiences
These findings represent an early, hypothesis-generating step toward understanding whether genetic variation may be related to differences in self-reported psychic experiences. They do not establish that psychic experiences are inherited, identify a “psychic gene,” or demonstrate any particular biological mechanism. Larger, more diverse, and independently replicated studies using standardized genomic methods will be essential to determine whether the observed associations are reliable.
The study also combined genetic files produced by different direct-to-consumer testing services, which measure partly different sets of variants and may contain different patterns of missing data. Although the strongest individual finding was not affected by missing data, future studies should use standardized genotyping procedures and independent replication samples to reduce the possibility of technical confounding.
Future studies could also examine how genetic variation interacts with environmental influences, family culture, life experiences, psychological characteristics, and other biological factors. With stronger datasets and more rigorous analytical approaches, this research may eventually help clarify whether, and in what ways, biology contributes to individual differences in reported psychic experiences.
Read the publication this blog is based on
