Is my brain wired to never see a ghost? A psychologist on three factors that make a paranormal experience more likely

When you experience something that can't easily be explained, do you think of the supernatural? Zeferli/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Around 1 in 5 Americans say they’ve seen a ghost. I’m not one of them, and I probably never will be. I blame my brain.

Let me explain. No one can say definitively that ghosts exist, but many people believe they do. Roughly three-quarters of Americans believe in some form of paranormal activity – not only ghosts, but psychic abilities, precognitive dreams, mediums and anything else that conventional explanations can’t account for.