Neural correlates of modified subjective state of consciousness induced by hypnosis using EEG-connectivity approach
Frontiers in Neuroscience January 1, 2018 Rajanikant Panda, Olivia Gosseries, Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse et al. 2 citations
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Olivia Gosseries
University of Liège, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège
61 papers in the library · 3,977 citations · publishing 2013-2026
Papers
The central clinical relevance of near-death experiences in acute care contexts: identification, prediction, and management
Frontiers in Psychology July 22, 2025 Pascal Michael, Pauline Fritz, Olivia Gosseries et al. 1 citation
Near-death experiences (NDEs), which involve mystical-type content during life-threatening situations, are not well studied in acute medical care. This article argues for more comprehensive NDE research in emergency and critical care settings, citing reasons such as experiencers' awareness of surroundings and the need for patient support due to NDEs' profound psychological impacts. The authors suggest incorporating identification of NDEs into management plans and propose that exploring NDE incidence and their subsequent impact in acute settings may lead to favorable clinical outcomes.
Exploring Mystical-Type Experiences Through Auto-Induced Cognitive Trance.
The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis January 1, 2025 Aminata Bicego, Naji Alnagger, Etzel Cardeña et al. 1 citation
Auto-induced cognitive trance (AICT) can produce mystical-type experiences in healthy individuals, with 29% of participants reporting such experiences during AICT compared to none during a rest condition. The study examined twenty-seven people who could self-induce AICT, measuring their religious and spiritual practices and paranormal beliefs beforehand. Participants completed five conditions including rest, imagination, and AICT with or without auditory stimulation. The intensity of the AICT experience and features resembling near-death experiences were linked to mystical-type experiences only during AICT. This is the first demonstration that AICT, a technique distinct from hypnosis or meditation, can induce mystical-type experiences outside life-threatening situations.
Exploring aperiodic, complexity and entropic brain changes during non-ordinary states of consciousness
arXiv (Cornell University) September 23, 2025 Victor Oswald, Karim Jerbi, Corine Sombrun et al.
A self-induced, substance-free trance state called Auto-Induced Cognitive Trance (AICT) engages frontal regions, the posterior cingulate cortex, and the left parietal cortex, brain areas linked to rich subjective experiences. Analysis of EEG recordings from 27 trained participants showed that the aperiodic component of the power spectrum, entropy, and complexity measures distinguished AICT from rest, with the aperiodic component being the strongest discriminator. Baseline neural activity in frontal and parietal regions predicted how much brain activity changed when entering the trance. These results suggest that self-induced trance states alter neural functioning in ways that may explain their intense and unique subjective qualities.
Neural field modeling and analysis of consciousness states in the brain.
Neuroscience of consciousness January 1, 2025 Daniel Polyakov, P A Robinson, Avigail Makbili et al.
Neural field theory (NFT) can model brain activity across different states of consciousness. By fitting a corticothalamic NFT model to EEG data from healthy individuals and patients with disorders of consciousness, researchers identified correlations between NFT parameters and features of both experimental and simulated EEG. These correlations distinguish healthy from impaired consciousness and point to potential physiological biomarkers. The findings clarify how consciousness levels are represented in the NFT framework and highlight its value for in-silico experimentation in consciousness research.
Unresponsive but Not Necessarily Unconscious: An Introduction to the Special Focus
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience January 1, 2023 Charlotte Martial, Olivia Gosseries
Episodes of disconnected consciousness—where a person is outwardly unresponsive but still has mental experiences without awareness of their surroundings—occur in sleep, anesthesia, meditation, hypnosis, trance, and life-threatening situations like coma. When such episodes follow a life-threatening event and include features like out-of-body experiences or bright lights, they are called near-death experiences. Research suggests that the brain's back regions may be necessary for conscious experience, but how external stimuli are blocked during these states remains unknown. This special focus presents studies on ecstatic epilepsy, hypnosis, out-of-body experiences, and ayahuasca, examining their phenomenology and neural mechanisms to better understand consciousness and dissociation.
Chinese translation and validation of the Near-Death Experience Content scale.
Frontiers in psychiatry January 1, 2023 Yan Li, Yan Chen, Charlotte Martial et al.
A Chinese version of the Near-Death Experience Content (NDE-C) scale was translated and validated on 79 near-death experience testimonies. The translation used Brislin's back-translation model, and the scale showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.846). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the scale's structure. This new Chinese NDE-C scale is now available to screen people who have had near-death experiences or near-death-like experiences (e.g., from meditation) and to quantify their subjective experiences, enabling further research on this phenomenon in Eastern cultural contexts.
Case series of psilocybin self-medication for spinal cord injury
SSRN Electronic Journal Robin Sandell, Adele Lafrance, Olivia Gosseries et al.
In three people with incomplete spinal cord injuries who self-medicated with psilocybin, improvements in motor function, muscle activation, and strength were reported. One person with a C4–C5 injury noted better gait automaticity; another with a T7 injury regained activation of a previously non-responsive hamstring muscle; a third with a T12 injury experienced rapid strength gains and enhanced proprioceptive awareness. All three reported psychological benefits such as increased wellbeing, motivation for recovery, and improved adjustment. Benefits appeared greatest in partially innervated muscles and diminished after stopping psilocybin. Temporary spasticity was the only adverse effect. The authors suggest psilocybin may enhance recovery by amplifying existing neural pathways and call for controlled clinical trials.
The interaction between language and consciousness.
Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews January 1, 2026 Charlène Aubinet, Olivia Gosseries, Steve Majerus
Language and consciousness interact in complex ways, with high-level semantic and sentence integration requiring conscious processing, while lower-level phonetic, phonological, and lexico-semantic processes can function without consciousness. Evidence from neuroimaging, cognitive, and neuropsychological studies shows parallel recovery trajectories between aspects of language and states of consciousness, and language processing may influence consciousness content or precede the reemergence of consciousness. Associations between language processing and higher-order conscious thought exist, but observed links may reflect broader integration disruptions rather than language-specific mechanisms. Theoretical implications and methodological challenges, especially regarding causal direction, are discussed.
Neural field theory as a framework for modeling and understanding consciousness states in the brain
bioRxiv Preprint Server October 27, 2024 Daniel Polyakov, P.a. Robinson, Avigail Makbili et al. preprint
Neural field theory (NFT) may serve as a computational framework for representing states of consciousness, though its parameters' connection to consciousness levels is not yet clear. Prior work has shown NFT can distinguish normal from pathological consciousness states.
Low-dimensional organization of global brain states of reduced consciousness
bioRxiv Preprint Server September 28, 2022 Yonatan Sanz Perl, Carla Pallavicini, Juan Piccinini et al. preprint
Brain states are often described on a single scale from full consciousness to unconsciousness, but this ignores the complex, high-dimensional nature of brain activity. By combining whole-brain modeling, data augmentation, and deep learning, researchers mapped states of consciousness into a low-dimensional space where distances reflect similarities between states. They found an orderly trajectory from wakefulness to brain-injured patients, with coordinates related to functional modularity and structure-function coupling, both increasing as consciousness is lost. Model perturbations provided a geometric interpretation of state stability and reversibility. The work suggests conscious awareness depends on functional patterns encoded as a low-dimensional trajectory within the vast space of brain configurations.