This paper introduces the Frame Theory of consciousness, a functional account of why consciousness arises in sufficiently complex cognitive systems. It argues that consciousness is not an emergent epiphenomenon of information processing, but an architectural necessity: once the number of parallel subprocesses in a system exceeds what any single processing instance can handle (estimated at N ≥...
Abstract Ego-dissolution experiences are perhaps the most philosophically germane effect of psychedelic drugs. Psychedelic ego-dissolution self-reports, in varying expressions, often claim completely selfless episodes. Some have called the experiences referred to in these reports ‘total ego dissolution,’ arguing that they lack all self-awareness while being phenomenally conscious. I identify...
Objectives: In light of the detrimental impact of burnout upon clinicians and their patients, the identification of means through which the well-being of health care professionals can be fostered and protected is timely and important. The present study explored outcomes associated with participation in Mindfulness-Based Medical Practice (MBMP), a program modeled after Mindfulness-Based Stress...
The Default Mode Network (DMN) has been characterized since its formal description in 2001 as a resting-state network subserving autobiographical memory, social cognition, and prospective thinking. This paper challenges the foundational interpretive assumption of that characterization: that adult human DMN activity constitutes a normal or optimal cognitive baseline. We propose that the DMN, as...
The aim of the present work is to explore possible similarities between the subjective experience of “being dead” described by some individuals following ayahuasca use and the conviction of being dead that may occur in certain cases of Cotard syndrome. Interest in this question arises from a recurring observation, both in testimonies collected directly and in accounts publicly available on the...
Abstract Experiences in which the sense of the body becomes distorted offer a unique window into how the brain constructs the bodily self. Despite their clinical relevance in conditions such as depersonalization and body-image disorders, large-scale brain dynamics underlying unusual bodily experiences (UBEs) remain poorly understood, and no prior study has examined them systematically across...
Consciousness research often uses overlapping terms such as consciousness, awareness, conscious access, subjective experience, reportability, selfhood, and metacognition. This conceptual compression can make it difficult to distinguish different awareness-related processes or to identify which capacities are preserved, disrupted, or restored across altered states. This paper proposes an...
This paper advances a novel framework for understanding feelings of reality (FR), the elusive yet fundamental dimension through which the self and the world are felt as real. Drawing on descriptive phenomenology, clinical psychopathology, and altered-state research, we characterize FR as non-conceptual phenomenal qualities through which the self and world are experienced as immediate and...
ABSTRACT The present study examined the relationship between naturalistic psychedelic use and two distinct forms of grandiose narcissism: admiration and rivalry . Using data from an online survey, we compared psychedelic users ( N = 630), non‐users ( N = 100) and individuals planning to use psychedelics in the future ( N = 141) on levels of admiration and rivalry. Additionally, we explored how...
Dissociative psychoactive substances (such as ketamine and PCP) present a challenge to standard models of altered states of consciousness. Unlike classical hallucinogens which enrich or distort conscious content, dissociatives induce a peculiar fragility in the construction of one’s world-model – a breakdown of the high-level coherence that ordinarily binds perception, selfhood, and meaning....