January 9, 2026
Valerie van Mulukom
preprint
This article proposes a dual-self states framework to demonstrate how phenomenology and neuroscience of embodied and altered states of consciousness illuminate the nature of consciousness and the sense of self. It argues that consciousness is best conceived as dynamic configurations of a reflective and an experiential self state, rather than as static, taxonomic layers of self. The reflective...
Neuroscience of Consciousness
2026
Valerie van Mulukom
This article proposes a dual-self states framework in which reflective and experiential modes of consciousness are understood as dynamic configurations along a processing continuum. The reflective/experiential self-state corresponds to narrative, denotational, and self-referential consciousness underpinned by default mode network activity. The experiential self state is characterized as an...
Mindfulness
June 21, 2023
Masoumeh Rahmani, Valerie van Mulukom, Miguel Farias
14 citations
Objectives: The beliefs and expectations people bring into mindfulness practice can affect the measurement outcomes of interventions. The aim of this mixed-method study was to examine the key beliefs in the powers of mindfulness-understood as non-judgmental awareness of the present moment-to transform the individual and the society, and to develop and validate the Belief in the Powers of...
October 7, 2021
Valerie van Mulukom, Armin W. Geertz, Robert W. Clark et al.
2 citations
preprint
In this chapter, we explore parallels between art and religion through culture and symbolic systems, drawing from past sociologists, anthropologists, philosophers, and current cognitive research. We argue that the creation of the arts and religion – as particularly important human cultural phenomena – allowed for subjective knowledge to become represented in symbols and artefacts, the latter...
Frontiers in Psychology
September 24, 2021
Martha Newson, Ragini Khurana, Freya Cazorla et al.
48 citations
Psychoactive drugs have been central to many human group rituals throughout modern human evolution. Despite such experiences often being inherently social, bonding and associated prosocial behaviors have rarely been empirically tested as an outcome. Here we investigate a novel measure of the mechanisms that generate altered states of consciousness during group rituals, the 4Ds: d ance, d rums,...
Psychopharmacology
September 1, 2020
Valerie van Mulukom, Ruairi E Patterson, Michiel van Elk
61 citations
Recent research has shown that classical serotonergic psychedelic (CSP) drugs may be used to ameliorate certain health issues and disorders. Here we hypothesised that CSP experiences, through their ability to induce awe and ego-dissolution, may result in a reduction of maladaptive narcissistic personality traits, such as a strong sense of entitlement and lack of empathy. Our objective was to...
March 10, 2020
Valerie van Mulukom, Ruairi E Patterson, Michiel van Elk
preprint
RationaleThere has been a recent increase in research showing that classical serotonergic psychedelic (CSP) drugs may be used to ameliorate certain health issues and disorders. Here we hypothesized that CSP experiences, through their ability to induce awe and ego-dissolution, may result in a reduction of maladaptive narcissistic personality traits, such as a strong sense of entitlement and lack...