Overview

Neppe’s research has focused on the intersection of neurology, psychiatry, and parapsychology, particularly examining how temporal lobe functioning may relate to anomalous experiences. He developed the Neppe Temporal Lobe Questionnaire (NTLQ), an instrument designed to measure temporal lobe symptomatology as distinct from personality traits. His work has explored the phenomenological distinctions between experiences in different populations, including temporal lobe epileptics, schizophrenics, and individuals reporting subjective paranormal experiences.

Neppe coined the term “Subjective Paranormal Experience” (SPE) to describe experiences that individuals interpret as paranormal or psychic, emphasizing that the term is “subjective” because it rests on personal interpretation rather than necessarily verifiable objective evidence. He has also developed the Neppe Multiaxial Schema for Anomalous Events, a 16-axis classification system designed to analyze subjective paranormal experiences, psychopathological hallucinations, delusional phenomena, near-death experiences, and temporal lobe symptomatology.

Life and career

Neppe is a chess champion from South Africa and organized the first interracial chess tournament in that country, which may be considered the first multi-ethnic athletic event there. The chess match was organized by the University of Witwatersrand Chess Club (UWCC), where Neppe served as captain. The tournament, held on June 15, 1972, was legal in South Africa provided no alcohol was served. As an expert chess player, Neppe has played 60-80 opponents simultaneously and has also played blindfold chess.

At the University of Washington School of Medicine, Neppe held the position of Director of the Division of Neuropsychiatry. He later became head of the Pacific Neuropsychiatric Institute. His website (www.pni.org) provides information on highly sensitive people.

Research

Temporal lobe and anomalous experiences

Neppe’s research demonstrated that individuals reporting subjective paranormal experiences have statistically and clinically more temporal lobe symptoms than non-experiencers. Using the Neppe Temporal Lobe Questionnaire, he found that anomalistic experiences appeared related both anatomically and physiologically by virtue of their co-occurrence, suggesting a common temporal lobe state. However, possible temporal lobe symptoms also occurred separately, suggesting that the temporal lobe state may be a trait in people with large numbers of varied anomalistic experiences.

His work has been cited in studies examining temporal lobe dysfunction in neuropsychiatric populations. Research by Palmer and Neppe (2003, 2004) conducted controlled analyses of subjective paranormal experiences in temporal lobe dysfunction within neuropsychiatric populations.

Déjà vu phenomenology

Neppe conducted extensive studies on déjà vu, defining the concept as “any subjectively inappropriate impression of familiarity of the present with an undefined past”. He identified no less than forty-four ways to explain the phenomenon, drawing from various scientific and non-scientific disciplines. His research demonstrated that there are qualitatively distinct nosological kinds of déjà vu experiences, and specifically that déjà vu in temporal lobe epileptics differs from that in other epileptics and in patients with non-epileptic temporal lobe dysfunction, and is qualitatively different from déjà vu in subjective paranormal experiencers.

Olfactory hallucinations

Neppe’s research on olfactory hallucinations found that the smell hallucination experience in subjective paranormal experiencers was phenomenologically distinct from that of temporal lobe epileptics. Temporal lobe epileptics characteristically had unpleasant burning or rotting olfactory experiences, while subjective paranormal experiencers, though they may have unpleasant experiences, usually reported pleasant, perfumy, flowery smells. Subjects reported an association of these pleasant smells with presences of what they perceived as dead individuals. Pleasant olfactory hallucinations probably occur in less than 10 percent of temporal lobe epileptics.

Chess mediumship case

Neppe analyzed a chess game purportedly played between a medium and the deceased Hungarian grand master Géza Maróczy (1870-1951), who was the number two player in the world around 1905. The case involved very high-level chess played by someone with little or no knowledge of the game, similar to that of the deceased grand master. Neppe argued that a survivalist interpretation of the case tells a relatively straightforward causal story, while “super-ESP… would require the repeated and active cogitation of a master chess player or players while alive, extended over a prolonged period of time with 47 different responses (47 moves in the game)”. He published a detailed analysis of this chess game in 2007.

Near-death experiences

In 1989, Neppe published commentary on neurobiological models for near-death experiences (NDEs), discussing the relationship between NDEs and temporal lobe phenomenology. He emphasized that any link between anomalous experiences and brain functioning requires detailed description of each event, noting that not all subjective paranormal experiences may derive from or be associated with the same anatomical locus. He cautioned that the anatomical or physiological link between NDEs and any pattern of brain functioning does not necessarily imply a direct etiologic link, as NDEs may reflect genuine patterns of functioning outside the brain, modulated by a particular psychophysiologic mechanism, or may be epiphenomena of an experience purely within the brain.

Theoretical contributions

Neppe co-authored Reality Begins with Consciousness: A Paradigm Shift that Works with Edward R. Close, exploring consciousness as fundamental to reality. His work has been cited in discussions of higher-dimensional theories in parapsychology.

Influence and reception

Neppe’s work on temporal lobe symptomatology in subjective paranormal experiencers has been widely cited in parapsychological literature. His research has been referenced in studies examining the relationship between temporal lobe signs and paranormal experiences. The Neppe Temporal Lobe Questionnaire has been used in subsequent research on ESP and temporal lobe dysfunction.

His concept of Subjective Paranormal Experience (SPE) has been adopted in parapsychological discourse as a way to describe experiences that individuals interpret as paranormal while acknowledging the subjective nature of such interpretations. His work on highly sensitive people has been recommended alongside that of psychologist Elaine Aron.

Neppe’s analysis of the Maróczy chess case has been discussed in philosophical literature on survival evidence, though it has also been subject to criticism regarding the super-ESP hypothesis. His work appears in handbooks and encyclopedias of parapsychology.