Oceanic states of consciousness-an existential-neuroscience perspective.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience August 11, 2025 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2025.1653801 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness |
| Keywords | Neurobiology Brain science Mystical experiences Oceanic states Well-being Mental health Personal growth Unity consciousness Boundless unity Interconnectedness |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Proposes that oceanic states of consciousness represent affectively charged boundary experiences that challenge fixed notions of self and require contextual integration, rather than being purely pathological or mystical. |
Abstract
Oceanic states of consciousness-characterized by ego dissolution, unity, and timelessness-have long occupied a liminal space between psychopathology and transcendence. This paper explores these states through the interdisciplinary lens of existential neuroscience, integrating insights from psychoanalysis, existentialism, affective neuroscience, and psychedelic research. Starting with the psychoanalytic tension between Freud's view of the oceanic feeling as a regressive illusion and Jung's framing of it as a transformative encounter with the unconscious, this paper examines how creative and mystical experiences often arise from this dissolution of self-boundaries. Drawing on art theorist Anton Ehrenzweig and examples from figures like Vincent van Gogh and Antonin Artaud, I highlight how oceanic states may catalyze both visionary insight and psychological disintegration. Neuroscientific models, including the REBUS theory and studies of the Default Mode Network (DMN), suggest that ego dissolution reflects a flexible reorganization of brain function rather than dysfunction. The Peri-Aqueductal Gray (PAG), a midbrain structure associated with affect regulation and spiritual experience, emerges as a key neural hub linking primal affective states with mystical awareness. Existential thinkers such as Sartre, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty provide a philosophical framework for interpreting these phenomena as moments of existential rupture and potential authenticity. Oceanic states thus challenge conventional notions of the self as fixed and bounded. Rather than categorizing them as pathological or purely mystical, it is proposed here that these states represent affectively charged boundary experiences - ones that require contextual integration and offer deep insight into the nature of selfhood, meaning, and transformation.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on altered states of consciousness, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altered States of Consciousness | 1966 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Functional neuroanatomy of altered states of consciousness: The transient hypofrontality hypothesis | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Psychedelic Mystical Experience in the Human Encounter with Death | 1969 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| A neurophenomenological approach to non-ordinary states of consciousness: hypnosis, meditation, and psychedelics | 2022 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Hypnotic phenomena and altered states of consciousness: a multilevel framework of description and explanation | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 26
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 23, 2011
- The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2014
- REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics Pharmacological Reviews June 20, 2019
- Quality of Acute Psychedelic Experience Predicts Therapeutic Efficacy of Psilocybin for Treatment-Resistant Depression Frontiers in Pharmacology January 17, 2018
and 21 more in the library