Scientists can now cause people to hear phantom voices and 'feel a presence in the room'

Scientists can now cause people to hear phantom voices. Generally, 5-10 percent of healthy individuals hallucinate, according to a recent series of psychiatric surveys conducted in Norway. But to understand why, a team of scientists in Switzerland have now tested the Link between the senses of touch and hearing, using a finger-like robotic system to find out what makes people'hear things' or feel a presence in the room a common form of hallucination. Healthy Volunteers would push a button to stimulate the movement of a device in the lab: a robotic'finger' behind them that would give the test subjects a small tap on the back. Typically, there were short to no delays between each button push and the poke -- but when there was a delay, participants would activate that sixth sense, feeling as if someone was close to them speaking.