Neural Correlates of the Shamanic State of Consciousness
Emma R. Huels, Hyoungkyu Kim, UnCheol Lee, Tarik Bel‐bahar, Angelo V. Colmenero, Amanda Nelson, Stefanie Blain-Moraes, George A. Mashour, Richard E. Harris
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience March 18, 2021 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.610466 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 48 |
| Population | Shamanic practitioners and healthy controls |
| Interventions | shamanic drumming classical music listening |
| Topics | Shamanism |
| Keywords | Trance Electroencephalography Active listening Level of consciousness Absolute power Resting State FMRI Cognitive psychology Audiology |
| Citations | 51 |
| Key findings | Shamanic trance produces distinct neural changes—including increased gamma power, altered connectivity, and increased criticality—that differ from those seen in psychedelic drug states, despite overlapping subjective experiences. |
Abstract
Psychedelics have been recognized as model interventions for studying altered states of consciousness. However, few empirical studies of the shamanic state of consciousness, which is anecdotally similar to the psychedelic state, exist. We investigated the neural correlates of shamanic trance using high-density electroencephalography (EEG) in 24 shamanic practitioners and 24 healthy controls during rest, shamanic drumming, and classical music listening, followed by an assessment of altered states of consciousness. EEG data were used to assess changes in absolute power, connectivity, signal diversity, and criticality, which were correlated with assessment measures. We also compared assessment scores to those of individuals in a previous study under the influence of psychedelics. Shamanic practitioners were significantly different from controls in several domains of altered states of consciousness, with scores comparable to or exceeding that of healthy volunteers under the influence of psychedelics. Practitioners also displayed increased gamma power during drumming that positively correlated with elementary visual alterations. Furthermore, shamanic practitioners had decreased low alpha and increased low beta connectivity during drumming and classical music and decreased neural signal diversity in the gamma band during drumming that inversely correlated with insightfulness. Finally, criticality in practitioners was increased during drumming in the low and high beta and gamma bands, with increases in the low beta band correlating with complex imagery and elementary visual alterations. These findings suggest that psychedelic drug-induced and non-pharmacologic alterations in consciousness have overlapping phenomenal traits but are distinct states of consciousness, as reflected by the unique brain-related changes during shamanic trance compared to previous literature investigating the psychedelic state.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on shamanism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ayahuasca Tourism: Participants in Shamanic Rituals and their Personality Styles, Motivation, Benefits and Risks Foreigners who traveled to South America to use ayahuasca | 2015 | Observational study | n = 77 |
| Examining changes in personality following shamanic ceremonial use of ayahuasca. Participants from three ayahuasca healing and spiritual centers in South and Central... | 2021 | Observational cohort | n = 256 |
| New mescaline concentrations from 14 taxa/cultivars of Echinopsis spp. (Cactaceae) (“San Pedro”) and their relevance to shamanic practice 14 taxa/cultivars of Echinopsis (Cactaceae) subgenus Trichocereus | 2010 | Observational study | n = 14 |
| The experience of altered states of consciousness in shamanic ritual: the role of pre-existing beliefs and affective factors. Participants in a sweat lodge ceremony | 2010 | Observational study | n = 55 |
| Long-term outcomes of shamanic treatment for temporomandibular joint disorders. Women aged 25 to 55 diagnosed with TMD | 2012 | Phase I feasibility and efficacy study with longitudinal follow-up | n = 23 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 36
- The Altered States Database: Psychometric data from a systematic literature review. Scientific Data November 23, 2022
- A scoping review for building a criticality-based conceptual framework of altered states of consciousness Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience May 25, 2023
- Autonomic nervous system modulation during self-induced non-ordinary states of consciousness Scientific Reports September 22, 2023
- Changes in high-order interaction measures of synergy and redundancy during non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by meditation, hypnosis, and auto-induced cognitive trance. Neuroimage June 1, 2024
- Hypnosis, Meditation, and Self-Induced Cognitive Trance to Improve Post-treatment Oncological Patients' Quality of Life: Study Protocol. Frontiers in Psychology 2022
and 31 more in the library
Cites 40
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- The entropic brain: a theory of conscious states informed by neuroimaging research with psychedelic drugs Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2014
- Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 23, 2012
- Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences April 11, 2016
- Psychometric Evaluation of the Altered States of Consciousness Rating Scale (OAV) PLoS One August 31, 2010
and 35 more in the library