Altered States of Consciousness Flashcards
How do we qualify altered states?
Must have specific physiological markers that differentiate it from a normal state of consciousness
Must be temporary and reversible (otherwise it becomes usual)
What do we do if there are no physiological markers?
THEN… the concept of altered state is used only in a descriptive, experiential sense (it only means that the subjects feel different from their normal (usual) day to day functioning)
If only descriptive, it has NO explanatory value…
It becomes a circular argument that does not explain anything
What is an artificial state?
One can pinpoint to the cause of the behaviour:
alcohol intoxication
medication side-effects
What is a natural state? What are the causes?
In some natural states there is an independent, specific cause (eg. dreams, sleep-walking); for others there is not (hypnosis, meditation, relaxation)
Altered states are….?
Spontaneously occurring Physically and physiologically induced Psychologically induced Disease induced Pharmacologically induced (not covered here)
What is a near death experience like?
A feeling of peacefulness and well-being,
a separation from the body (out-of-body experience),
a dark tunnel, a brilliant light associated with mystical feelings of love and union, a heavenly landscape (often relatives, religious figures, or beings of light appear and finally initiate the return to the body).
Other elements: hearing of music, a slowing of time and speeding of thoughts, and a panoramic life review.
What is the incidence of a near-death experience?
Estimated to lie between 10% and 50% of all near-death situations.
What is the four- dimensional descriptive system?
Activation: readiness of an organism to interact with its physical or social environment: being alert, awake, responsive and ready to act and react
Awareness span: variability of the contents
available to attention and conscious processing
Self-awareness: Variability of self-awareness is subjectively accessed and reported mostly in post hoc, reflective evaluation
From ‘forgetting yourself’ to an intense feeling on one’s self
Sensory dynamics: variety of changes in the
sensory and perceptual subjective experience
What kind of diseases cause altered states?
Psychotic disorders:
Minor asynchrony to complete un-couplings of thalamic-cortical systems giving rise to diverse anomalous experiences
Coma and vegetative state:
loss of consciousness—coma is a consequence of severely affected brain stem functions, whereas during vegetative states brain stem functions are preserved but most cortical functions are lost.
Epilepsy:
motor activity, sensory symptoms, or cognitive, emotional, or autonomic alterations
Particular seizures of the medial temporal lobe with the underlying hippocampal and other limbic structures such as the amygdala lead to characteristics such as dreamy states, distortions of time sense
What is Restricted environmental stimulation therapy (R.E.S.T)?
Sensory deprivation tank: In flotation R.E.S.T. participants float on their backs in supersaturated, skin temperature solution of magnesium sulphate (Epsom salts) and water.
What are psychologically induced altered states of consciousness?
Hypnosis:
No specific brain patterns have been linked to hypnosis per se
With the presence of specific suggestions – it could induce an altered state characterized by specific brain changes
An ASC would be found in high responders only
Bio and Neuro Feedback:
Emphasize control
No signs of altered experience
What are physiologically induced altered states of consciousness?
Sensory deprivation:
Decrease of stress hormones; increase in blood endorphins; perceptual and cognitive changes, time perception
Homogenization (Ganzfeld experiment): up to hallucinations
Overload (very rare – no experimental model yet)
Rhythm induced trance: narrowing of attention
Drumming and dancing
Lead to reports of involuntary and effortless behaviors
Time sense, body image, more imagery are altered
Some links to absorption and hypnotizability
Relaxation and Meditation:
changes in EEG are not unique to one or the other (except in trained meditators – increased theta activity for example)
What are Physically and Physiologically Induced altered states of consciousness?
Extreme environmental conditions: anecdotal reports: ?
Hallucinations, sensory illusions, states of trance temperature
Life-threatening environments
Starvation and extreme diet: ?
attentional bias for food stimuli,
disturbed body image, illusions, or hallucinations
Sexual activity and orgasm
la petite mort : with sexual arousal and orgasm, a lateralized right hemispheric activation occurs with partial loss of consciousness (only seen in orgasm – not seen in fake orgasm or masturbation).
Respiratory maneuvers
hyper or hypocapnia: too much or not enough carbon monoxide
Respiratory-circulatory-electrocotical changes lead to ASC experiences
What are spontaneously occurring altered states of consciousness?
States of drowsiness (normal variations in vigilance)
considered an ASC only in cases of extreme sleep deprivation:
Micro-sleep episodes or amnesia behaviours
Daydreaming
considered normal variation of the sleep-vigilance continuum
blank mind…
Hypnagogic and hypnopompic (between sleep and waking) states
short transient states with intrusion of sensory experiences
mostly visual, less than 10% auditory
surrounds sleep onset and awakening
Sleep and dreaming
lucid dreaming (self-awareness while dreaming)
Near-death experiences: (cerebral anoxia)
