Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
January 1, 2012
Enrico Facco, Christian Agrillo
87 citations
Science aims to challenge dogmas, but undemonstrated scientific axioms can themselves become dogmatic when they lead to the rejection of facts that contradict them. Psychobiological explanations of near-death experiences (NDEs) often claim these are mere brain dysfunctions, yet they neglect facts incompatible with a physicalist stance. The transcendent features of NDEs demand a neutral position that distinguishes facts from speculation. Most current psychobiological interpretations remain unproven, and the delirium from brain disorders or drugs differs phenomenologically from NDEs. Facts cannot be dismissed a priori as paranormal, even if implausible; doing so risks turning knowledge into dogma and the scientific paradigm into theology.
Medical Hypotheses
April 11, 2015
Enrico Facco, Christian Agrillo, Bruce Greyson
61 citations
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are deep, universal altered states of consciousness with clear phenomenology and incidence, whose features challenge the dominant mechanist-reductionist view of mind as a byproduct of brain circuitry. This paradigm originated from Descartes' separation of mind and matter and the historical conflict between science and the Inquisition, which removed subjective mental properties from scientific inquiry. Twentieth-century physics moved beyond this classical paradigm, renewing scientific interest in mind. Modern NDE research has reopened debate on the mind-brain relationship and consciousness. The authors argue it is time to reappraise scientific interpretations of NDEs, their relationship with other altered states, and the concept of altered state itself, which appears ill-founded, suggesting a need for revision of conventional approaches to subjective phenomena and reflection on links between non-ordinary mental expressions.
The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis
January 1, 2017
Enrico Facco
39 citations
Hypnosis and meditation share common features including induction through focused attention and the ability to intentionally control biological and mental processes, but they differ in scope: hypnosis is used pragmatically for specific therapeutic goals, while Eastern meditation pursues broader philosophical aims of liberation from suffering and illusion.
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
January 2, 2019
Enrico Facco, Edoardo Casiglia, Benedikt Emanuel Al Khafaji et al.
38 citations
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) induced through hypnosis provide a controlled way to study the phenomenon. In 15 highly hypnotizable people, OBEs were evoked either as an imaginative task while resting or under hypnosis. Brain activity was recorded with EEG, and participants completed a questionnaire about their experience. The hypnotic OBEs produced stronger feelings of altered state, positive affect, and focused attention, along with decreased beta and gamma brainwave power in the right parieto-temporal region. These findings suggest that hypnotically induced OBEs can serve as a useful experimental model for spontaneous out-of-body experiences.
Medical Hypotheses
September 1, 2019
Enrico Facco, Laura Mendozzi, Angelo Bona et al.
16 citations
Five individuals with unusual hypnotic ability, free of psychiatric disorders, spontaneously experienced multiple identities during hypnosis, which they later did not recall due to post-hypnotic amnesia. Brain scans showed reduced connectivity in the Default Mode Network, particularly between the posterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex. Comparing these findings with fMRI data from Dissociative Identity Disorder patients suggests a continuum between normal mental functioning, where multiple identities can coexist unconsciously, and pathological dissociation. The authors argue that a sharp boundary between normal and pathological experiences may be artificial, and that non-ordinary mental expressions like these should be understood rather than treated.
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal
September 13, 2025
Ana Ferreira, Enrico Facco
1 citation
Growing scientific interest in spirituality and promising findings on psychedelic-induced spiritual experiences for treating psychiatric disorders are paralleled by risks. Indiscriminate use of psychedelics to induce spiritual experiences may foster psychospiritual pathology, notably spiritual bypassing. This risk arises because psychedelics can trigger transcendental phenomenology, the dominant mechanistic-reductionist paradigm inadequately addresses spirituality, and New Age beliefs promote psychedelics as growth tools. Given the frequency of transcendental phenomenology in psychedelic experiences, psychospiritual assessment and support are needed. Incorporating wisdom from Eastern and Western philosophical and spiritual traditions, from a secular, transcultural perspective, could guide informed practices in psychedelic research and therapy.
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal
January 25, 2025
Enrico Facco, Ennio Foppiani, Paolo Granone
Shamanic rituals, incubation, meditation, lucid dreaming, and hypnosis share common features—eye closure and mental imagery—that enable a shift of attention from the outer to the inner world, fostering absorption, introspective activity, and metacognitive control over mind and body, including the neurovegetative system and pain. Western rationalist thought historically dismissed mental imagery as worthless, but recent neuroscience has recognized its cognitive and metacognitive value. These mind-body techniques, despite cultural differences, have been used for healing across all cultures since ancient times, and hypnosis is a validated but underused therapeutic tool.
Enrico Facco, Edoardo Casiglia, Benedikt Emanuel Al Khafaji et al.
preprint
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) induced through hypnosis (H-OBEs) produce stronger phenomenological changes than those induced through imagination alone. In 15 highly hypnotizable participants, H-OBEs led to significantly higher scores on the Altered State, Positive Affect, Altered Experience, and Attention subdimensions of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory, alongside a decrease in beta and gamma band power in right parieto-temporal brain regions. These findings suggest that hypnotically induced OBEs may serve as a useful model for studying genuine OBEs, involving altered multisensory integration in right parieto-temporal areas.
ScienceOpen Research
February 26, 2020
Patrizio Tressoldi, Enrico Facco, Daniela Lucangeli
Two theories of consciousness are compared for their ability to explain various qualia experiences, including meta-awareness, meta-cognition, the placebo effect, out-of-body experiences, cognitive therapy, and meditation-induced brain changes. One theory holds that qualia arise from specific neural patterns; the other posits that qualia result from the interaction of a proto-consciousness with brain activity. The comparison aims to determine which theory better accounts for these phenomena and offers a more promising research agenda.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2017
Enrico Facco, Daniela Lucangeli, Patrizio Tressoldi
The concept of consciousness and the mind-brain relationship, known as the 'hard problem,' remain unresolved, involving both science and philosophy with deep epistemological implications. The debate on the foundations of consciousness science contains philosophical biases related to the adopted paradigm and axioms, and the logical contradiction between monism and dualism. These biases originated largely from Descartes' thinking and the birth of modern sciences as a compromise with the Inquisition, persisting through the Enlightenment and Positivism. A proper investigation of consciousness and subjectivity requires reflection on the paradigm of scientific medicine to identify flaws and overcome the limits of the mechanistic-reductionist approach.
F1000Research
January 1, 2017
Patrizio Tressoldi, Enrico Facco, Daniela Lucangeli
This essay argues that, given current science, some first-person descriptions of experience cannot be reduced to third-person neural or psychophysiological measurements. When analyzing the contents of qualia—the subjective qualities of experience—these first-person accounts are the only relevant information. For many phenomena, such reports are the sole reliable source, and knowing their neural or psychophysical correlates adds no further insight into the experiences themselves.