Welcome to Lost HEMA Theory!

"Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive method to excite neurons in the brain. The excitation is caused by weak electric currents induced in the tissue by rapidly changing magnetic fields (electromagnetic induction). This way, brain activity can be triggered or modulated without the need for surgery or external electrodes. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is known as rTMS. TMS is a powerful tool in research and diagnosis for mapping out how the brain functions, and has shown promise for noninvasive treatment of a host of disorders, including depression and auditory hallucinations.... A lay summary in the MIT Technology Review listed some potential mechanisms: A doctor typically holds a powerful magnet over the frontal regions of the patient’s skull and delivers magnetic pulses for a few minutes a day, over the course of a few weeks. The treatment alters the biochemistry and firing patterns of neurons in the cortex, the part of the brain nearest the surface. Preliminary research indicates that the treatment affects gene activity, levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, and the formation of proteins important for cellular signaling—any of which could play a role in alleviating depression. What’s more, magnetic stimulation seems to affect several interconnected brain regions, starting in the cortex and moving to the deep brain, where new cell growth may be important in regulating moods.... TMS is currently under study as a treatment for severe depression, mania, auditory hallucinations (e.g., associated with schizophrenia), posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, migraine headaches and tinnitus."(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcranial_magnetic_stimulation)

While TMS is a relatively recent approach, relying on devices created in the late 1980’s, the principle of inductive brain stimulation with eddy currents has been known since the 19th century.  Surely the DHARMA scientists would have been aware of this principle.  And given the timing of the whispering voices and visions of Walt—the year 2004— it is indeed entirely possible that TMS-enabling devices were in place on the island, augmented by the island’s unique electromagnetic field, projecting auditory and visual stimuli to Flight 815 passengers, producing clairaudient (hearing whispering voices) and clairvoyant (seeing Walt) experiences (see Endnote 1.)  And, like the Millennium Group, DHARMA may have developed or had access to more advanced technology than that which was currently acknowledged and available in the mainstream scientific communities (see Endnote 2.)

Despite the small effects to date and the need for replication, work by Allan Snyder (out of Sydney, Australia, no less!) has some intriguing implications for using TMS to instill and augment mental powers:

"Allan Snyder, at the University of Sydney, has reported being able to enhance certain mental skills and increased creativity by using the TMS on the frontal lobes of volunteer students. Some of these temporarily acquired skills bear remarkable similarity to those of autistic savants."
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcranial_magnetic_stimulation.  See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Snyder)

Did DHARMA and/or the Soviets experiment with TMS, leveraging the island's electromagnetic field, to explore ways in which the approach could enhance psi-related mental abilities— clairaudience (remote hearing), clairvoyance (remote viewing), precognition, retrocognition, telekinesis, etc. — through selective stimulation of different portions of the brain?  Were they successful in mapping brain areas associated with psi abilities, and subsequently exploiting these abilities, through use of TMS-based technology?

"Psychokinesis, then, is the general term that can be used to describe a variety of complex mental force phenomena (including object movement) and telekinesis is used to refer only to the movement of objects, however tiny (a grain of salt or air molecules to create wind) or large (an automobile, building, or bridge). Hypothetically, a person could have very profound telekinetic ability, but not be able to produce any of the additional effects found in psychokinesis, such as softening the metal of a spoon to allow its bending with minimal physical force. Conversely, someone who has succeeded in psychokinetically softening metal once or a number of times may exhibit no telekinetic ability to move objects."  (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telekinesis)

"Poltergeist activity tends to occur around a single person called an agent or a focus. Foci are often, but not limited to, pubescent children. Almost seventy years of research by the Rhine Research Center in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, has led to the hypothesis among parapsychologists that the "poltergeist effect" is a form of psychokinesis generated by a living human mind (that of the agent). According to researchers at the Rhine Center, the "poltergeist effect" is the outward manifestation of psychological trauma.... Some scientists propose that all poltergeist activity that they cannot trace to fraud has an explained physical explanation such as static electricity, electromagnetic fields, ultra- and infrasound and/or ionized air."

“68. (1988) Mind Over Matter (volume of Mysteries of the Unknown encyclopedia series). New York: Time-Life Books. ISBN 0-8094-6336-9. Page 7-8: "The ability to influence air temperature and magnetic fields... is also considered... micropsychokinesis." Page 27: "Another American studied in the lab, Ingo Swann, was reportedly able to influence ambient air temperature and alter magnetic fields."  (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telekinesis)

"The term 'electromagnetism' comes from the fact that electrical and magnetic forces are involved simultaneously. A changing magnetic field produces an electric field (this is the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction, which provides for the operation of electrical generators, induction motors, and transformers). Similarly, a changing electric field generates a magnetic field. Because of this interdependence of the electric and magnetic fields, it makes sense to consider them as a single coherent entity — the electromagnetic field. This unification, which was completed by James Clerk Maxwell, and formulated by Oliver Heaviside, is one of the triumphs of 19th century physics. It had far-reaching consequences, one of which was the understanding of the nature of light. As it turns out, what is thought of as "light" is actually a propagating oscillatory disturbance in the electromagnetic field, i.e., an electromagnetic wave. Different frequencies of oscillation give rise to the different forms of electromagnetic radiation, from radio waves at the lowest frequencies, to visible light at intermediate frequencies, to gamma rays at the highest frequencies. The theoretical implications of electromagnetism led to the development of special relativity by Albert Einstein in 1905. As it turns out, the electromagnetic force is the one responsible for practically all the phenomena encountered in daily life, with the exception of gravity. Roughly speaking, all the forces involved in interactions between atoms can be traced to the electromagnetic force acting on the electrically charged protons and electrons inside the atoms. This includes the forces we experience in "pushing" or "pulling" ordinary material objects, which come from the intermolecular forces between the individual molecules in our bodies and those in the objects. It also includes all forms of chemical phenomena, which arise from interactions between electron orbitals. According to modern electromagnetic theory, electromagnetic forces are mediated by the transfer of virtual photons."