A neurophenomenological approach to non-ordinary states of consciousness: hypnosis, meditation, and psychedelics
This review (2022) proposes a unified neurophenomenological (NP) approach to studying non-ordinary states of consciousness (psychedelics, meditation, hypnosis). By focusing on the experience (phenomenology; e.g. interviews) and combining it with neurophysiological measures, a rich explanatory framework could emerge.
Authors
- Franz Vollenweider
- Christopher Timmermann
Published
Abstract
No contemporary unifying framework has been provided for the study of nonordinary 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 perspective that includes mind, brain, body, and context. We propose a neurophenomenological (NP) approach to the study of NSCs which highlights their role as catalysts of transformation in clinical practice by refining our understanding of the relationships between experiential (subjective) and neural dynamics. We outline the ethical implications of the NP approach for standard conceptions of health and pathology as well as the crucial role of experiencebased know-how in NSC-related research and application.
Research Summary of 'A neurophenomenological approach to non-ordinary states of consciousness: hypnosis, meditation, and psychedelics'
Introduction
Over the past two decades interest in the scientific study of consciousness has grown, but fundamental challenges remain. The extracted text frames these challenges as: unreliable naive first-person reports, coarse categorical taxonomies that fail to capture experiential nuance and dynamics, difficulty locating the influence of culture and context on experience, and inadequate tools for linking experiential contents and structures to neurobiology. The authors adopt the term non-ordinary states of consciousness (NSCs) to emphasise that these states expand the experiential repertoire rather than being categorically alien; NSCs are commonly transient but can precipitate longer-lasting trait changes with clinical relevance. Timmermann and colleagues set out to propose and illustrate a neurophenomenological (NP) framework for studying NSCs that integrates disciplined first-person (phenomenological) methods with neurophysiological and contextual data. They focus on three widely studied families of NSC-inducing practices—hypnosis, meditation, and psychedelics—to show how applying NP methods can make content- and structure-related aspects of experience experimentally tractable and better linked to neural dynamics, with implications for both basic consciousness research and clinical practice.
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Timmermann, C., Bauer, P. R., Gosseries, O., Vanhaudenhuyse, A., Vollenweider, F., Laureys, S., Singer, T., Antonova, E., & Lutz, A. (2023). A neurophenomenological approach to non-ordinary states of consciousness: hypnosis, meditation, and psychedelics. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 27(2), 139-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.11.006
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