Transcultural Psychiatry
April 1, 2018
Marco Aurélio Vinhosa Bastos, Paulo Roberto Haidamus de Oliveira Bastos, Igraíne Helena Scholz Osório et al.
12 citations
Female spiritist mediums who regularly engage in spirit possession showed mild, short-lived physiological arousal during possession experiences, while nonmedium participants from the same religious context showed relaxation. Compared to controls, mediums had increased heart rate and higher plasma levels of noradrenaline, thyroid-stimulating hormone, prolactin, and creatine phosphokinase during possession. These changes returned to baseline within one hour, with no lasting difference in cardiac autonomic regulation. No group differences were found in melatonin levels. The findings suggest that nonpathological dissociation, unlike pathological dissociation, may involve cognitive control processes and produce only transient physiological changes.
Brain and Behavior
July 1, 2020
Marco Aurélio Vinhosa Bastos, Paulo Roberto Haidamus de Oliveira Bastos, Loyná Euá Flores E Paez et al.
8 citations
Alleged mediums showed no differences in pineal gland or pituitary volumes, or in urinary 6-sulfatoxymelatonin levels, compared to nonmedium controls. During mediumistic experience, anxiety and heart rate increased to a level between reading and a stressful test, but 6-sulfatoxymelatonin levels did not differ across conditions. Salivary cortisol response to stress was attenuated. The normal neuroimaging and stress reactivity findings contrast with abnormalities typically seen in psychotic and dissociative disorders.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2022
Marco Aurélio Vinhosa Bastos, Paulo Roberto Haidamus Oliveira Bastos, Geraldo Barbosa Foscaches Filho et al.
6 citations
Alleged mediums who report regular communication with deceased personalities show no differences in brain structure, hypnotizability, dissociation, or empathy compared to non-medium controls. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed normal corpus callosum areas in the medium group, contrasting with abnormalities seen in psychotic and dissociative disorders. Both groups had intermediate hypnotic susceptibility levels, and the rostrum of the corpus callosum area did not correlate with hypnotizability. The medium group reported more anomalous experiences but scored similarly on dissociation, empathy, and mental health measures. The findings suggest that mediumship is not associated with the brain abnormalities or dissociative pathology found in clinical conditions.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
November 1, 2018
Marco Aurélio Vinhosa Bastos, Paulo Roberto Haidamus de Oliveira Bastos, Maria Lucília Dos Santos et al.
6 citations
No differences in the presence of the endogenous psychedelics bufotenine (BT) and dimethyltryptamine (DMT) were found in urine samples from individuals who report mediumistic communication compared to those who do not. DMT was not detected in any sample, and BT was detected in only one of five mediums and two of five controls, a non-significant difference. Mediums reported more anomalous experiences than controls, but mental health did not differ between groups. The authors suggest that BT and DMT are rapidly metabolized and may not survive long enough in the periphery to be detected in urine, and recommend alternative strategies for investigating the role of endogenous psychedelics in spiritual experiences.
April 9, 2026
Everton de Oliveira Maraldi, Amanda Sales Cafezeiro, Taís Oliveira Silva et al.
preprint
A scoping review and bibliometric analysis of 174 studies found that psychodynamic and transpersonal approaches dominate the clinical literature on non-ordinary experiences (NOEs), such as feelings of cosmic unity or sensing the deceased. Intervention techniques more frequently aimed to induce altered states (e.g., holotropic breathwork, meditation, psychedelic-assisted therapy) than to manage NOEs after they occurred. Bibliometric analysis revealed four research traditions: transpersonal/spiritual, psychiatric/psychopathological, psychedelic/meditative, and ethno-dissociative. The field relies heavily on case studies and qualitative reports, with limited experimental evidence, highlighting methodological and ethical challenges for future research.
Transcultural Psychiatry
August 1, 2025
Maria Cristina Monteiro de Barros, Frederico Camelo Leão, Homero Vallada Filho et al.
Spiritual and religious experiences (SREs) are common subjective phenomena involving awareness of transcendence that can change how people view life, death, and suffering. In an online survey of 1,053 Brazilians from all regions, 92% reported at least one SRE in their lifetime, and 47.5% had one frequently. Mystical experiences were reported by 35%, psi-related experiences by 27.7%, and mediumistic experiences by 11%. Half the sample had felt the presence of a dead person, and 70% experienced precognitive dreams at least once. SREs were more common among women but showed no link to income, education, employment, or ethnicity. Mystical experiences were more common in people aged 55 and older. The findings suggest SREs are very prevalent across different population segments and deserve more attention from researchers and clinicians in Brazil.
Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
January 1, 2013
Camilla C Braghetta, Glícia P Santana, Quirino Cordeiro et al.
A near-death experience followed by religious conversion positively affected the mental health of a former prisoner. The individual's experience scored above 7 on the Greyson scale, a measure of near-death experience depth. Such profound psychological events can occur in situations of extreme physical or emotional distress, regardless of cultural or religious background. The case suggests that studying near-death experiences may help understand coping mechanisms and moral or ethical transformations in affected individuals.