Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the results of all meta-analyses on anomalous cognition conducted between 1989 and 2021 in order to find moderators associated with greater effect sizes. Method: We included all meta-analyses of studies related to anomalous cognition published up to 2021. Results: Our dataset, accumulated over more than 80 years of investigation, refers to 11...
No contemporary unifying framework has been provided for the study of non-ordinary states of consciousness (NSCs) despite increased interest in hypnosis, meditation, and psychedelics. NSCs induce shifts in experiential contents (what appears to the experiencer) and/or structure (how it appears). This can allow the investigation of the plastic and dynamic nature of experience from a multiscale...
Altered states of consciousness (ASC) occur when there is a deviation from normal levels of psychological functioning. They can be self-induced through meditative practices or taking psychoactive substances and therapeutically induced through processes like hypnotic induction. They are determined physiologically when brain rhythms drop from the usual rhythm of waking consciousness to the slower...
San Pedro, a mescaline containing cactus, has been used for thousands of years and is currently popular as a psychedelic substance in ceremonial retreats in Europe. The current research investigates the consciousness altering effects of San Pedro. Forty-two participants who joined ceremonial psychedelic retreats in the Netherlands were investigated with questionnaires probing 11 dimensions of...
Flow is a cognitive state that manifests when there is complete attentional absorption while performing a task. Flow occurs when certain internal as well as external conditions are present, including intense concentration, a sense of control, feedback, and a balance between the challenge of the task and the relevant skillset. Phenomenologically, flow is accompanied by a loss of...
Данная статья посвящена понятию «изменённые состояния сознания», используемому апологетами против медитативных практик. В некоторых исследованиях авторы утверждают, что медитация вводит человека в такое состояние, что может указывать на ложность духовного опыта и опасность для психического здоровья практикующего. Цель статьи — показать, почему сложно использовать понятия «изменённые состояния...
There has been increasing interest shown in experiences such as lucid dreams, hallucinations, or awe that arise in HCI. Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) is the umbrella term for these experiences, yet it has been subject to fragmented study, and design knowledge to help individuals working on technology-driven ASCs is lacking. This paper investigates HCI studies involving ASC artefacts...
The subject of the study is the mystical experience as a kind of altered states of consciousness. The purpose of the article is to solve at the conceptual level the problem of distinguishing genuine mystical experience and various kinds of surrogate states with quasi-mystical content. The theoretical basis for solving this problem was the study of the panorama of moments of divergence and...
This study addresses altered states of consciousness through Holotropic breathwork. This technique can induce a state of deep trance, giving access to different levels of identity construction, particularly on the emotional, somatic and psychological level. This considerable piece of introspective work falls within the school of transpersonal psychology whose major contribution is the...
Background: Psychedelics are able to acutely alter emotional reactivity and self-consciousness. However, whether the regular naturalistic use of psychedelics can be linked to more persistent trait-level changes in these domains remains an open question. Aim: To test the hypotheses that (1) using psychedelics is related to higher positive and lower negative emotional reactivity; and (2) an...
Through source estimation, high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) signals at scalp level can be converted into signals at cerebral cortex level, which helps to measure cortical activity during anesthesia induced changes in consciousness level to explore the mechanism. In this research, the high-density EEG of propofol-induced consciousness states alterations in 20 healthy adults were converted...
From the 1960s to the present day, American research into the therapeutic effects of psychedelic drugs has focused on their ability to facilitate “mystical” experiences in test subjects. “Mysticomimetic” research has close ties to perennialist notions of religion that gained popularity over the course of the 20th century. Figures such as William James and Aldous Huxley promoted perennialist...
ABSTRACT Introduction Altered states of consciousness (ASCs) refer to marked changes in usual waking consciousness. Sexual arousal, orgasm, and resolution, are modulated by neural pathways that are also activated by psychoactive substances that trigger ASCs. Relatedly, self-report studies show that sexual activity may trigger ASCs. However, investigation about sex-related ASCs is scarce. More...
Abstract Background: Understanding the phenomenology and content of the inhaled N, N, dimethyltryptamine (N, N-DMT) experience is critical to facilitate and support ongoing research and therapeutic models targeting mental health conditions and central nervous system pathology. Methods: Qualitative analysis of all N, N-DMT experiences posted to the r/DMT Reddit community over a 10-year period...
Conscious experiences unify distinct phenomenological experiences that seem to be continuously evolving. Yet, empirical evidence shows that conscious mental activity is discontinuous and can be parsed into a series of states of thoughts that manifest as discrete spatiotemporal patterns of global neuronal activity lasting for fractions of seconds. EEG measures the brain’s electrical activity...
"In GD and IGD, both at the preclinical level of problem game and at the clinical level of pathological game, altered states of consciousness are observed during the game and shortly before. In the scientific literature, they are called flow-state, dark flow, game trance, game intoxication, and so on. During these states, the person loses touch with reality, the real life situation completely...
This paper seeks to integrate the perspectives of analytical psychology and neurobiology in order to understand the phenomenon of addiction in contemporary society, taking into account the COVID-19 pandemic. Jung emphasizes the role of the psyche's self-regulation and the development of consciousness in the individuation process. The search for experiences of transcendence is archetypal and can...
Crick and Koch’s 1990 “neurobiological theory of consciousness” sparked the race for the physical correlates of subjective experience. 30 years later, cognitive sciences trend toward consideration of the brain’s electromagnetic field as the primary seat of consciousness, the “to be” of the individual. Recent advancements in laboratory tools have preceded an influx of studies reporting a...
We can learn more about how our reality is made and what non-ordinary states of consciousness are by studying the Quantum Hologram Theory of Physics and Consciousness (QHTC). The QHTC says that consciousness is not local and that altered states of consciousness can help us understand how our minds work in more than one way. That's what Schrödinger thought. He thought that the quantum mechanical...
The modulatory effect of nasal respiration on integrative brain functions and hence consciousness has recently been unambiguously demonstrated. This effect is sustained by the olfactory epithelium mechanical sensitivity complemented by the existence of massive projections between the olfactory bulb and the prefrontal cortex. However, studies on slow nasal breathing (SNB) in the context of...