The Aura: A Brief Review Column Bridgette M. Perez Skeptical Inquirer Volume 35.1, January/February 2011 Empirical studies show no evidence for the existence of an aura around humans that supposedly only psychics can see. “I used equipment he invented as well as adaptations made of Dr. One might feel compelled to reread the above quote because, after all, there is presently no objective evidence for the existence of auras. Believers in the aura describe it as a “vital force [that] spills beyond the perimeters of the skin into the atmosphere to create an energy field, or aura, which provides a great deal of information about the nature and functioning of human beings” (Pierrakos 2005, 18). Empirical Studies of Auras An obvious method for testing the existence of auras is to test psychics who claim to be able to detect them. Another experiment had a more elegant methodology (Gissurarsson and Gunnarsson 1997). Attempts have been made to measure the aura objectively and experimentally. Continued Belief in Auras
Synesthesia may explain healers claims of seeing people's 'aura' -- ScienceDaily Researchers in Spain have found that at least some of the individuals claiming to see the so-called aura of people actually have the neuropsychological phenomenon known as "synesthesia" (specifically, "emotional synesthesia"). This might be a scientific explanation of their alleged ability. In synesthetes, the brain regions responsible for the processing of each type of sensory stimuli are intensely interconnected. Synesthetes can see or taste a sound, feel a taste, or associate people or letters with a particular color. The study was conducted by the University of Granada Department of Experimental Psychology Óscar Iborra, Luis Pastor and Emilio Gómez Milán, and has been published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition. This is the first time that a scientific explanation has been provided for the esoteric phenomenon of the aura, a supposed energy field of luminous radiation surrounding a person as a halo, which is imperceptible to most human beings. The case of the "Santón de Baza"