Repetitive drumming paired with shamanic instructions produces distinct subjective experiences, such as visions or altered states, but does not lead to a greater reduction in cortisol levels compared to listening to instrumental meditation music. The findings suggest that while the shamanic practice can evoke specific psychological effects, its physiological stress-reducing impact is not superior to that of meditation music.
The question of whether consciousness evolved, and what adaptive problems it solved, remains underexplored in consciousness studies. This special issue introduction discusses terminology, theoretical frameworks, and possible answers, drawing on contributions from 28 scholars. It argues that understanding the evolutionary functions of consciousness is central to biology and evolution, regardless of which species possess it. The issue aims to fill a gap in the literature by examining how consciousness might have provided survival advantages.
Consciousness may serve a core function by globally feeding back information about actions that were actually executed, thereby supporting local learning through neuronal updating. Brains operate as parallel systems that compute possible actions and predict outcomes. This hypothesis addresses critiques about the evolutionary function of consciousness by proposing that consciousness per se plays a specific role in providing feedback on executed actions, which aids in adjusting and refining neural processes for learning.