This article proposes conceptual and research design principles to identify the core neurocognitive mechanisms that support minimal self-consciousness and how this might be attenuated via computational explanations of selfless states using two different induction methods-meditation and psychedelics.As a proof-of-concept of the utility of this framework, we examine how selfless states induced by...
Soma is a central yet enigmatic concept in Vedic literature, described as a plant or elixir associated with elevated states of consciousness such as refined perception, inner bliss, reduced fear, and a sense of unity, though its biological basis remains unresolved.In a modern reinterpretation, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi proposed that Soma need not be an external substance but may reflect an...
How do people appraise their past and imagined future experiences of dissociation?Over three experiments, 1,482 people brought to mind experiences of dissociation and rated how negative, positive, and neutral those experiences were when they happened or would be in the future.People remembered their past dissociative experiences as most often neutral, and more often positive than negative.This...
Mindfulness-based interventions are efficacious nonpharmacologic treatments for chronic pain, yet the psychological mechanisms mediating the pain-relieving effects of mindfulness-based interventions remain incompletely understood. One potential mechanism may involve nondual awareness, a state of consciousness characterized by attenuation of the subject-object duality, reduced self-referential...
In comparison to adults, little is known about children's near-death experiences (NDEs).A review of the literature shows a scarcity of studies that directly involve children and an absence of direction for this area of work.This presents challenges for researchers who want to develop studies with children and generate more knowledge around the NDE.From a phenomenological perspective, children...
The unanticipated occurrence of unusually enhanced mental clarity just before death has been reported across time and cultures and has come to be known by the term “terminal lucidity.” Cases that appear to be characteristic of terminal lucidity in children have been sporadically documented in historical and more recent literature, yet no studies have systematically examined the characteristics...
This article presents a taxonomy of altered states of consciousness, primarily based on their central phenomenological features. Following taxonomic principles and a modified Delphi methodology, a multidisciplinary, international group identified eight distinct phenomenological/behavioral states (some with subcategories): proto and transitional, delirium, minimal to no awareness, experiential...
In a recent set of articles (Klein et al., 2023; Klein & Loftus, 2024), my colleagues and I used the logic of adaptationism—the application of evolutionary principles to study the functional design of naturally selected systems (e.g., Klein et al., 2002)—to help make sense of the role natural selection played in the evolution of consciousness. To avoid well-known, seemingly intractable problems...
The explanatory challenge of sentience is known as the “hard problem of consciousness”: How does subjective experience arise from physical objects and their relations? Despite some optimistic claims, the perennial struggle with this question shows little evidence of imminent resolution. In this article I focus on the “why” rather than on the “how” of sentience. Specifically, why did sentience...
While many systematic reviews have focused on relationships between mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) and myriad outcomes, no systematic review has examined the mechanisms through which MBIs affect outcomes in the context of cancer. A systematic review was conducted of experimental or quasi-experimental studies that longitudinally examined potential mechanisms of the effects of either...
This paper comprehensively examines how information processing relates to attention and consciousness. We argue that no current theoretical framework investigating consciousness has a satisfactory and holistic account of their informational relationship. Our key theoretical contribution is showing how the dissociation between consciousness and attention must be understood in informational terms...
Starting from the idea that dreaming could be considered an index of the psychological health of individuals regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, a major risk of psychological maladjustment has been registered for maladaptive daydreamers (MDers;i.e., people with a compulsive fantasy activity associated with distress and psychological impairment). Nevertheless, there is a gap in literature about...
Self-transcendence is theorized to be a core, mechanism of mindfulness. Yet, no known empirical study has investigated the process by which self-transcendent experiences emerge in novice practitioners. To address this gap, this study explored whether changes in decentering in response to mindfulness training translated into increases in self-transcendence over the course of five mindfulness...
We first review recent work from our laboratory, which construes hypnotizability as an example of a more general trait of capacity for phenomenological control, which people can use to create subjective experiences in many nonhypnotic contexts where those experiences fulfill people's goals. Second, we review recent work, which construes phenomenological control as a specifically metacognitive...
Previous experiments combining cognitive techniques and sleep disruption have been relatively successful in inducing at-home lucid dreams over training periods of 1-week or more.Here, we induce lucid dreams in a single laboratory nap session by pairing cognitive training with external stimulation.Participants came to the laboratory at 7:30 am or 11:00 am and during polysomnography setup were...
Strong conceptual and theoretical connections have been made between meditation practice, mindfulness and lucid dreaming. However, only a handful of empirical studies have evaluated the relationship between lucid dreaming and meditation, and conclusions remain tempered by methodological limitations. Here we evaluate the relationship between meditation, mindfulness and lucid dream frequency...
Throughout history there have been reports and claims that consideration of dreams can produce personal realizations and insight. We assessed Exploration-Insight scores associated with discussing Rapid Eye Movement (REM) and non-REM (NREM) dreams in connection with recent waking life experiences. Thirty-one participants were cued in the sleep laboratory for a daydream report and then awakened...
An established challenge in studying dissociation is developing effective methodologies to induce dissociative symptomatology in the laboratory. The primary aim of this study was to pilot the efficacy of virtual reality (VR) in inducing dissociative states in healthy subjects by simulating out-of-body experiences. Healthy participants (N =25) were asked to wear an Oculus Rift (Menlo Park, CA)...
Although the dream narrative, of (bio)logical necessity, originates with the dreamer, s/he typically does not know this. For the dreamer, the dream world is the real world. In this article I argue that this nightly misattribution is best explained in terms of the concept of mental ownership (e.g., Albahari, 2006; Klein, 2015a; Lane, 2012). Specifically, the exogenous nature of the dream...
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are usually associated with clinical death, although this association remains controversial. A look back to the early understanding of these experiences, since the end of the 19th century, reveals a different picture than presented in contemporary descriptions. Indeed, the more historical accounts linked NDEs with various forms of intellectual and physical...
The term consciousness is here used to represent a feature of neural systems. This constraint allows for an attempt to model its evolutionary trajectory. Various lines of evidence point to the initiating events occurring in connection with the adaptation of vertebrates to a life on land, which started more than 300 million years ago in the early amniotes. Presumably, the main evolutionary...
We are witnessing an unprecedented interest in and engagement with extreme sport activities. Extreme sports are unique in that they involve physical prowess as well as a particular attitude towards the world and the self. We have scant understanding of the experience of participants who engage in extreme activities such as BASE jumping, big wave surfing, extreme skiing, waterfall kayaking,...
It is challenging for individuals to maintain their attention on ongoing cognitive tasks without being distracted by task-unrelated thought. The wandering mind is thus a considerable obstacle when attention must be maintained over time. Mental training through meditation has been proposed as an effective method of attenuating the ebb and flow of attention to thoughts and feelings that distract...
To what extent do I have a sense of agency over my thoughts while I dream? The sense of agency in dreams can alter in a variety of interesting ways distinct from normal, waking experience. In fact, dreams show many similarities to the experiences of individuals with schizophrenia. In this paper I analyze these alterations with a focus on distinguishing between reduced sense of agency and other...
Latent semantic analysis—a technique to quantify qualitative data—was used on a large dataset of near death experience (NDE) accounts for which a sizable portion also had scores on Greyson’s NDE Scale. Given previous research with the NDE Scale showing there is a “core NDE” comprised of a probabilistic hierarchy of cognitive, affective, transcendental, and paranormal components, we hypothesized...