A neurophenomenological framework is proposed for studying non-ordinary states of consciousness (NSCs) such as hypnosis, meditation, and psychedelics. NSCs involve shifts in what appears to the experiencer or how it appears, enabling investigation of the plastic and dynamic nature of experience across mind, brain, body, and context. The approach highlights NSCs as catalysts of transformation in clinical practice by refining understanding of relationships between subjective experience and neural dynamics. Ethical implications for standard conceptions of health and pathology are outlined, along with the crucial role of experience-based know-how in NSC research and application.
Intensive mindfulness practice attenuates habituation of the acoustic startle reflex, meaning experienced meditators continue to respond strongly to repeated startling sounds rather than tuning them out. Moderate practice, however, enhances habituation, suggesting a non-linear effect of practice intensity. The study measured eye-blink muscle responses to 36 loud noises in three groups: meditation-naïve, moderate practice, and intensive practice. Only the intensive practice group showed reduced habituation across the entire experiment. Greater practice intensity correlated with slower habituation in the intensive group. The effect is modest and provides tentative evidence that intensive mindfulness may alter automatic sensory processing.
Startle modulation, specifically habituation and prepulse inhibition (PPI), reflects early sensory processing in the brain. In a comparison of regular meditators (32 individuals) and meditation-naïve individuals (36 individuals), no significant group differences emerged in either habituation or PPI. However, among meditators, those who reported being able to sustain non-dual awareness during practice (18 individuals) showed significantly greater PPI than those who could not (14 individuals). These results suggest that subjective differences in meditation experience may relate to distinct sensory processing characteristics.