Transformative experience (TE) is studied across many disciplines, from philosophy to neurobiology and in domains from spirituality to education, yet no consistent definition exists. This work reviews models and theories of TE from different fields, extracts their main components, and examines redundancies and particularities across domains. It then proposes an integrated theoretical framework and a preliminary interdisciplinary operational definition of TE. This synthesis aims to organize current research and theories, offering a foundation for operationalizing TE and encouraging new interdisciplinary studies.
Expert meditators with over 7 years of daily practice in the NGALSO tantric self-healing meditation technique showed significantly higher EEG power in alpha, theta, and beta bands after meditation, along with higher sympathetic and lower parasympathetic tone, indicating greater effort. In contrast, inexperienced controls showed lower EEG power in those bands and higher parasympathetic tone after the same procedure. A machine learning model correctly distinguished experts from controls using only theta band activity. The findings suggest that this meditation requires substantial cognitive and physiological effort, consistent with a 'no pain, no gain' principle linking body and mind.
People with affective disorders (ADs) show emotional processing deficits involving disrupted brain network activity, especially in default mode and fronto-temporal circuits with abnormal theta and alpha oscillations. This exploratory study used virtual reality (VR) scenarios to induce awe—a self-transcendent emotion that may reduce rumination and boost positive affect—while recording EEG in ADs and healthy controls (HCs). HCs exhibited high awe responses with scenario-specific modulations in alpha and theta band activity and connectivity, indicating preserved cognitive flexibility.
Self-transcendence involves reduced self-saliency (ego disillusionment) and increased connection, and interest in the topic has grown over the past decade. Several measures with some psychometric validity and reliability exist, but no prior review has systematically described, contrasted, and evaluated the various methodological approaches—including questionnaires, neurological and physiological measures, and qualitative methods. This review fills that gap by describing existing measurement methods, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, and suggesting future research directions and recommendations for selecting appropriate methods based on research context.