November 30, 2020
Adam Safron, Arthur Juliani, Nicco Reggente et al.
44 citations
preprint
Psychedelics may both relax and strengthen beliefs depending on the dose and brain system involved. The REBUS model holds that 5-HT2a receptor activation relaxes prior expectations, enabling new perspectives. This paper proposes that at very high levels of 5-HT2a agonism, opposite effects can occur—termed SEBUS—where synchronous neural activity strengthens beliefs, enhancing meaning-making, hallucinations, and even delusional thinking. The ALBUS framework integrates these opposing effects across the dose-response curve, suggesting psychedelic experiences resemble waking dream states with varying lucidity. The authors provide neurophenomenological models of perceptual synthesis, dreaming, and episodic memory to support this view.
Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science
October 17, 2024
Nicco Reggente, Christian Kothe, Tracy Brandmeyer et al.
15 citations
Decoding self-reported meditative depth from EEG recordings is feasible. Expert Vipassana meditators (34 people) reported their depth on a 1–5 scale during two sessions, using either traditional probing or a novel spontaneous emergence method. Machine learning models fused spatial, spectral, and connectivity information from theta, alpha, and gamma bands to predict depth across unseen sessions. The spontaneous emergence method produced more frequent reports and correlated better with post-session outcomes than probing. No single EEG channel or default mode network region captured the complex neural dynamics; multivariate patterns were necessary. The findings suggest potential improvements for neurofeedback in meditation.
Neuroscience of consciousness
January 1, 2025
Adam Safron, Arthur Juliani, Nicco Reggente et al.
13 citations
Psychedelics profoundly impact brain and mind by altering belief systems. The REBUS model proposes that 5-HT2a receptor agonism relaxes prior expectations, enabling new perspectives. An alternative but compatible view, ALBUS (Altered Beliefs Under Psychedelics), suggests that at very high levels of 5-HT2a agonism, opposite effects may occur—synchronous neural activity becomes more powerful, leading to strengthened beliefs (SEBUS). These strengthened beliefs align with enhanced meaning-making in psychedelic therapy, hallucinations, and delusional thinking. ALBUS proposes that the balance between REBUS and SEBUS effects varies across the dose-response curve. Psychedelic experiences are described as waking dream states with varying lucidity, involving mechanisms of conscious perceptual synthesis, dreaming, and episodic memory.
PLOS mental health
January 1, 2024
Leonardo Christov-Moore, Felix Schoeller, Caitlin Lynch et al.
11 citations
Aesthetic chills—pleasurable, cold sensations—are linked to self-transcendence, a state of ego-dissolution and connectedness that promotes well-being and prosociality. In a diverse sample of 2937 participants in Southern California exposed to chills-eliciting stimuli, both the likelihood and intensity of chills were positively associated with measures of self-transcendence, even after accounting for demographics, traits, and prior mood. Analyses of variance, mutual information, and correlation structure confirmed reliable interrelations across various audiovisual stimuli. The findings suggest aesthetic chills may indicate sufficiently intense feelings of self-transcendence, though generalizability to non-WEIRD populations and causal direction require further study.
January 31, 2024
Joshua Cain, Tracy Brandmeyer, Ninette Simonian et al.
9 citations
preprint
Focused ultrasound stimulation of the caudate nucleus significantly improves self-reported meditative depth and mood in experienced vipassana meditators, and is accompanied by reduced heart rate and increased heart rate variability. These physiological changes strongly correlate with reported depth, suggesting a mechanistic link between reduced arousal and successful meditation. Stimulation of the posterior cingulate cortex or insula did not produce similar effects. The findings indicate that targeted neuromodulation may help lower the barrier to consistent meditation practice for novice or intermediate meditators.
BMC Psychiatry
January 10, 2024
Abhinandan Jain, Vladimir Adrien, Pattie Maes et al.
9 citations
Depression affects over 300 million people globally, and current treatments have limited effectiveness. Aesthetic chills—peak emotional experiences involving shivers or goosebumps—may shift maladaptive beliefs in depression by influencing reward pathways. In a study of 96 people with major depressive disorder, chill-inducing multimedia positively influenced core self-related beliefs, as measured by the Young Positive Schema Questionnaire. The phenomenology of chills resembled altered states from psychedelics like psilocybin. These preliminary results suggest aesthetic chills could become a non-pharmacological intervention for depression, though more research on neurophysiology, practicality, and safety is needed.
Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging
April 1, 2025
Saampras Ganesan, Fernando A Barrios, Ishaan Batta et al.
6 citations
Meditation practices, which have shown therapeutic benefits for conditions like depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety, have been studied with neuroimaging over the past decade. However, existing neuroscientific models are based on small, heterogeneous datasets, limiting generalizability and replicability. The ENIGMA-Meditation consortium is the first worldwide collaborative effort to conduct systematic meta- and mega-analyses of globally distributed neuroimaging data using standardized methods. This framework aims to improve statistical power and address multidomain heterogeneity in meditation practice types, experience, and experimental design. The consortium will generate rigorous neuroscientific insights into the mechanisms underlying meditation's therapeutic effects on psychological and cognitive attributes.
Scientific reports
October 26, 2024
Micah Alan Johnson, Ninette Simonian, Nicco Reggente
6 citations
A novel technique of audiovisual stimulation (AVS) substantially improves self-reported mood by reducing anxiety and depression and enhancing performance on mood-sensitive cognitive tasks. In a randomized, controlled, double-blind experiment with 262 participants, mood benefits from AVS closely aligned with those from breath-focused meditation. A brief AVS exposure of about five minutes may be sufficient or even optimal for improving mood to a comparable or greater degree than meditation sessions of 11 to 22 minutes. Most AVS effects were similar whether binaural beats were present or not and regardless of duration. AVS may offer a more accessible alternative to meditation.
November 22, 2023
Félix Schoeller, Abhinandan Jain, Leonardo Christov‐moore et al.
6 citations
preprint
Aesthetic chills—pleasurable bodily sensations paired with self-transcendent emotions—are linked to greater psychological insight and emotional awareness. In 94 participants exposed to music designed to induce chills, those who experienced chills reported significantly higher insight and emotional awareness than those who did not. The intensity of chills correlated positively with these cognitive-emotional measures. The findings suggest that bodily signals may trigger shifts in cognitive and emotional processing, pointing to the potential role of interoception in such experiences.
Communications Biology
November 6, 2025
Alex Jinich‐diamant, Sierra Simpson, Juan Pablo Zuniga-Hertz et al.
4 citations
A 7-day retreat combining meditation, reconceptualization, and open-label placebo healing rituals produced broad short-term neural and molecular changes in 20 healthy participants. Meditation reduced functional integration in the default mode and salience networks and decreased whole-brain modularity. Post-intervention plasma increased neurite outgrowth, enhanced glycolytic metabolism, and induced upregulation of BDNF, inflammatory, anti-inflammatory, and endogenous opioid pathways, while modulating tryptophan metabolism and neurotransmission-associated exosome miRNA transcripts. These changes suggest enhanced neuroplasticity, metabolic reprogramming, and modulation of functional cell signaling pathways, highlighting the potential of mind-body techniques to affect neural circuits and pathways important to health and well-being.
January 31, 2024
Nicco Reggente, Christian Kothe, Tracy Brandmeyer et al.
4 citations
preprint
Meditation depth can be decoded from brain activity measured by EEG in expert Vipassana meditators. A novel 'spontaneous emergence' method, where meditators report their depth on a 1-5 scale only when they feel a shift, outperformed traditional periodic probing and correlated more strongly with post-session outcomes. A new machine learning approach that fuses spatial, spectral, and connectivity information achieved the best accuracy in predicting self-reported depth across separate sessions. Conventional EEG channel-level methods and default mode network regions were insufficient to capture the complex neural dynamics. The findings demonstrate the feasibility of decoding personally defined meditative depth and suggest that 'spontaneous emergence' is a less obtrusive, ecologically valid sampling method.
Mindfulness
January 1, 2025
Juan P Zuniga-Hertz, Sierra Simpson, Ramamurthy Chitetti et al.
3 citations
During a week-long meditation retreat, twins showed changes in gene expression, metabolites, and cytokines in blood plasma that varied with the timing of assessment. Twin pairs began the retreat with similar molecular and brain-activity profiles, diverged at the midpoint, and converged again by the end. Even when in separate rooms, twin pairs exhibited significant correlations in brain-wave (spectral power) patterns, and heart rate dynamics aligned more closely in twin pairs than in unmatched pairs. These findings suggest that meditation may influence biological markers and that genetic background contributes to these responses.
April 8, 2024
Saampras Ganesan, Aki Tsuchiyagaito, Greg J. Siegle et al.
2 citations
preprint
Meditation practices, which have been adapted into manualized interventions for conditions like depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety, show therapeutic promise, but their neuroscientific basis remains unclear. Current neuroimaging studies rely on small, heterogeneous datasets that vary in practice types, participant experience, clinical targets, and imaging methods, limiting generalizability and replicability. To address this, the ENIGMA-Meditation consortium was formed as a global collaboration to conduct systematic meta- and mega-analyses of distributed neuroimaging data using standardized methods. This framework aims to improve statistical power and rigorously characterize the neural mechanisms underlying meditation's effects on psychological and cognitive attributes, advancing the field of contemplative neuroscience.
Research Square (Research Square)
November 14, 2023
Félix Schoeller, Abhinandan Jain, Vladimir Adrien et al.
2 citations
Aesthetic chills—shivers or goosebumps from music, film, or art—may help shift deep-seated negative self-beliefs in people with depression. In a study of 96 patients with major depressive disorder, those exposed to a validated set of chill-inducing multimedia showed positive changes in core schemas, as measured by the Young Schema Questionnaire, and reported emotional breakthroughs similar to altered states from psychedelic substances like psilocybin. The findings suggest that the biological processes behind aesthetic chills could be developed into a non-pharmacological intervention for depression, though more research is needed on the underlying neurophysiology and on safety and effectiveness.
bioRxiv Preprint Server
June 30, 2026
Mihir Nath, Nicco Reggente, Neil Bailey et al.
preprint
Deep meditation is associated with heightened mental clarity, which corresponds to a measurable increase in the brain's functional signal-to-noise ratio (f-SNR). In experienced Vipassana practitioners, deeper meditative states produced stronger and more consistent neural responses to auditory tones, as measured by event-related potentials and single-trial decodability. The findings suggest that deep meditation enhances the brain's ability to faithfully represent sensory signals while reducing irrelevant background neural activity.
June 10, 2026
Theo Tobel, Aidan Cone, Emily Choquette et al.
preprint
Floatation-REST, a therapy involving floating in a tank with reduced sensory input, induces altered states of consciousness in people with anxiety and depression. In a randomized trial, 75 adults who floated reported increased awareness of their heartbeat and breathing, along with feelings of oceanic boundlessness, disembodiment, and unity—a pattern called 'aquahenosis.' These effects were strongest in those who chose longer, flexible sessions. The experiential profile overlapped with those reported for psychedelics like psilocybin and ketamine, particularly in boundary dissolution. The findings suggest Floatation-REST is a non-pharmacological method for inducing specific altered states, with oceanic boundlessness mediating improvements in positive affect.
bioRxiv Preprint Server
October 25, 2023
Joel Frohlich, Ninette Simonian, Grant Hanada et al.
preprint
Stroboscopic or flicker stimulation, which induces geometric hallucinations through closed eyelids, can entrain neural activity at specific frequencies. In a large sample of over 80 participants per condition, EEG recordings showed that multimodal stimulation combining two visual strobe frequencies with binaural beats produced powerful neural entrainment at the slower strobe frequency, resembling effects of conventional non-invasive brain stimulation. This was compared to sham stimulation with very low strobe frequencies and no binaural beats, and to a control group practicing eyes-closed meditation. The findings suggest stroboscopic stimulation warrants further development as a potential therapeutic technique for psychiatric disorders.