Breathwork-induced psychedelic experiences modulate neural dynamics.
Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) – August 01, 2024
Source: PubMed
Summary
Breathwork can induce "psychedelic-like" experiences, as evidenced by a study involving 14 novice participants who completed up to 28 sessions over 28 days. Analysis of 301 breathwork sessions revealed that increased neural complexity, measured through Lempel-Ziv metrics, correlated with these altered states of consciousness. Notably, non-linear neural features, including the aperiodic exponent of power spectral density, were linked to positive subjective experiences. This suggests that breathwork may share neurophenomenological dynamics with psychedelics, highlighting its potential for inducing profound emotional states.
Abstract
Breathwork is an understudied school of practices involving intentional respiratory modulation to induce an altered state of consciousness (ASC). We simultaneously investigate the phenomenological and neural dynamics of breathwork by combining Temporal Experience Tracing, a quantitative methodology that preserves the temporal dynamics of subjective experience, with low-density portable EEG devices. Fourteen novice participants completed a course of up to 28 breathwork sessions-of 20, 40, or 60 min-in 28 days, yielding a neurophenomenological dataset of 301 breathwork sessions. Using hypothesis-driven and data-driven approaches, we found that "psychedelic-like" subjective experiences were associated with increased neural Lempel-Ziv complexity during breathwork. Exploratory analyses showed that the aperiodic exponent of the power spectral density-but not oscillatory alpha power-yielded similar neurophenomenological associations. Non-linear neural features, like complexity and the aperiodic exponent, neurally map both a multidimensional data-driven composite of positive experiences, and hypothesis-driven aspects of psychedelic-like experience states such as high bliss.