Shamanic practitioners entered altered states of consciousness with questionnaire scores comparable to or exceeding those elicited by psychedelics and exhibited distinct EEG signatures during drumming — notably increased gamma power (correlated with visual alterations), altered low‑alpha/low‑beta connectivity, reduced gamma signal diversity (inversely related to insightfulness), and increased criticality in beta/gamma bands (linked to imagery). These results indicate overlapping phenomenal traits with psychedelic states but neurophysiological differences that characterise shamanic trance as a distinct non‑pharmacological altered state.
- Published
- Journal
- Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
- Authors
- Bel-Bahar, T., Blain-Moraes, S., Colmenero, A. V., Harris, R. E., Huels, E. R., Kim, H., Lee, U., Mashour, G. A., Nelson, A.