Journal of Quantum Science of Consciousness.
June 29, 2026
Allison Saltzman
Non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOSC) have long been described across cultures and spiritual traditions, while contemporary research increasingly examines them through neural, physiological, and phenomenological dimensions.This narrative literature review explores nonpathological NOSC across meditation, yoga, breathwork, psychedelic experiences, near-death experiences, and mystical...
PsyArXiv
June 26, 2026
preprint
This study investigates the effects of three variants of Restricted Environmental Stimulation Techniques (REST)—guided meditation, multimodal Ganzfeld (MMGF), and a control resting condition—on subjective experiences related to altered states of consciousness (ASC). Specifically, the study examines emotional responses, time perception, and perceived body boundaries, while also assessing the...
Virtual Worlds
June 25, 2026
Nicola De Pisapia, Andrea Polo, Andrea Signorelli
Immersive virtual environments are increasingly investigated as tools capable of modulating conscious experience, yet the specific contribution of graded immersion to altered states of consciousness (ASC), time perception, and cognition remains unclear. The present study examined how different levels of immersion during videogame play influence subjective experience and post-experience...
PsyArXiv Preprints
June 25, 2026
Sleep-related out-of-body experiences (OBEs) occupy an ambiguous position between sleep paralysis and lucid dreaming. OBEs are often considered part of the vestibular-motor component of sleep paralysis, but they also share features with lucid dreaming, including vivid internally generated experience, heightened awareness, and perceived agency. Here, we examined whether the emotional composition...
PsyArXiv Preprints
June 20, 2026
This chapter proposes that self-transcendent experiences can be usefully understood through the distinction between the reflective and experiential self, originally articulated by William James and developed in contemporary philosophy and neuroscience. The reflective self involves conscious, narrative self-referential processing, while the experiential self refers to affective processing and...
Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry
June 20, 2026
Ewen Kervadec, Pauline Mathieu, Baptiste Fauvel et al.
The renewal of psychedelic medicine has garnered significant scientific interest, with large efforts dedicated to the understanding of the complex subjective experiences induced by these substances. The Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) questionnaire represents the most comprehensive instrument for measuring such experiences yet lacks a validated French translation despite its centrality to...
Вестник Московского Университета. Серия 20: Педагогическое образование
June 16, 2026
Olga V. Gordeeva
Background. Near-death experience (NDE) is an altered state of consciousness experienced at the moment of near death, which has a specific structure (which includes such elements as an out-of-body experience, a feeling of movement in a dark tunnel, a review of life, visions of bright light, other realities and meetings with the dead, and many others). The similarity of reports on the NDE of...
Frontiers in Psychology
June 10, 2026
Guy W. Fincham, Edward Caddye, Amy Kartar et al.
Background Breathwork that increases ventilatory rate or depth represents an accessible non-pharmacological modality for potentially inducing altered states of consciousness (ASCs). Despite gaining traction as a potential therapeutic tool, empirical controlled research on breathwork and ASCs remains limited. Methods We examined the effects of a single session of high ventilation breathwork,...
Neuroimage
June 1, 2026
David J Acunzo, Andrea H Denton, Marina Weiler et al.
Research efforts spanning more than seven decades have used functional neuroimaging to investigate whether putative extra‑sensory perception (ESP/receptive psi) has identifiable neural correlates. However, the field lacks a coherent and critical synthesis of its methodological approaches and reported effects. We conducted a systematic review consolidating 143 reports and qualitatively evaluated...
Psychodynamic psychiatry
June 1, 2026
Nadav Liam Modlin, Zsofia Elek, Carolina Maggio et al.
Recent clinical trials have suggested the safety and efficacy of psychedelic therapy for treatment-resistant depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, addiction, and end-of-life distress. While neurobiological mechanisms such as 5-HT2A receptor activation, increased neural entropy, and default mode network modulation have been well-characterized, significantly less attention has been given to...