Progress in brain research
January 1, 2019
Tracy Brandmeyer, Arnaud Delorme, Helané Wahbeh
143 citations
Meditation research has grown substantially over the last 30 years, emerging from contemplative and spiritual traditions. This chapter reviews meditation classifications, which remain varied and subjective, and suggests broader multidimensional models for future improvement. Phenomenological studies, though few, are increasing and link subjective experience to neurophysiology. EEG oscillatory studies are inconclusive due to heterogeneity in meditation styles and practitioners. Neuroimaging reveals common patterns during meditation and in long-term practitioners, reflecting general similarities, but most patterns differ across traditions. Research on attention and emotion regulation mechanisms is discussed. Evidence shows positive benefits for stress reduction, anxiety, depression, and pain in some clinical populations, though methodological and conceptual issues remain.
PLoS ONE
November 7, 2018
Cassandra Vieten, Helané Wahbeh, B Rael Cahn et al.
124 citations
A survey of 1120 meditators found that most report having had anomalous and extraordinary experiences during meditation, such as mystical, transpersonal, or difficult phenomena. While meditation research has largely focused on clinical effectiveness and neural correlates, these less-studied experiences may be crucial for psychological and spiritual development, act as mediators of meditation's benefits, or be important outcomes themselves. A task force of researchers and teachers developed recommendations to expand research into these areas, which represent largely uncharted scientific terrain suitable for rigorous investigation.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2018
Helané Wahbeh, Amira Sagher, Wallis Back et al.
103 citations
Transcendent states achieved through meditative practices have been reported across cultures and history, yet few studies have systematically examined them. This systematic review of 25 studies with 672 participants found that transcendent states during meditation are most consistently associated with slowed breathing, respiratory suspension, reduced muscle activity, increased EEG alpha power and coherence, and functional neural connectivity. Participants described the state as relaxed wakefulness in a phenomenologically different space-time. The review included various traditions: Buddhist, Christian, Mixed, and Vedic (Transcendental Meditation and Yoga). Heterogeneity between studies precluded meta-analysis, so conclusions are qualitative and preliminary.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2022
Helané Wahbeh, Dean Radin, Cedric Cannard et al.
37 citations
Consciousness remains a profound mystery. Mainstream neuroscience assumes it arises solely from brain neurons, but the origin of subjective experience (qualia) is unexplained. David Chalmers called this the 'hard problem.' This review argues the hard problem may stem from flawed materialist assumptions. It examines phenomena suggesting consciousness can extend beyond the brain and body in space and time, called non-local properties. These effects vaguely resemble quantum entanglement, but mechanisms are highly speculative. The authors suggest post-materialistic models may be needed to resolve the conceptual impasse.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2020
Helané Wahbeh, Bethany Butzer
24 citations
Trance channeling, a practice with historical roots across many cultures, is more common than often assumed. An online survey of 83 self-identified trance channelers found that most began channeling in middle age and identified as spiritual but not religious. Participants did not show pathological levels of dissociative or psychotic symptoms, anxiety, or depression. Their personality traits, absorption, and empathy were similar to norms, but they scored as sensory-processing sensitives. They reported strong noetic beliefs, including life after death and telepathy. Most described their channeling as willful and conscious, and reported a positive life impact. Lower psychotic symptoms, older age at onset, and higher sensitivity predicted greater positive impact.
F1000Research
January 1, 2019
Helané Wahbeh, Cedric Cannard, Jennifer Okonsky et al.
21 citations
In a controlled experiment with 13 healthy adult trance channels, voice recordings showed increased arousal and power differences in specific frequency bins when participants read a story in a channeling state compared to a no-channeling state. However, electroencephalography, electrocardiography, galvanic skin response, and respiration measures did not differ significantly between the two states, despite participants reporting distinct subjective experiences. The findings suggest that while voice parameters may reflect the channeling experience, other physiological measures do not capture it. Future research should explore alternative measures such as EEG connectivity, fMRI, and biomarkers.
Explore (New York, N.Y.)
January 1, 2017
Helané Wahbeh, Lauri Shainsky, Angela Weaver et al.
13 citations
A structured shamanic healing protocol was developed and tested with six veterans (average age 49.3) who had posttraumatic stress disorder. The protocol included components such as power animal retrieval, soul retrieval, and forgiveness practices. The intervention was found feasible and acceptable, with no major adverse events reported. Preliminary data on PTSD symptoms, quality of life, and spiritual wellness were collected, but no efficacy conclusions can be drawn from this small case series. The authors suggest that future research is needed to evaluate whether shamanic healing can be an effective therapy for veterans with PTSD.
Journal of integrative and complementary medicine
January 1, 2022
Helané Wahbeh, Garret Yount, Cassandra Vieten et al.
9 citations
People who feel more interconnected with others and nature tend to report better well-being, including more positive emotions and compassion, and less pain and sleep disturbance. In a study of adults attending personal development workshops, measures of interconnectedness were positively correlated with well-being and positive affect, and negatively correlated with sleep disturbance and pain. Extended perception tasks showed no link to interconnectedness or well-being. After workshops, participants reported improved well-being, interconnectedness, positive emotion, and compassion, and reduced sleep disturbances, negative emotion, and pain. Workshop formats involving lecture, small groups, pairs, and discussion predicted well-being improvements, as did content including meditation and technology tools. Meditation was the most consistent predictor of positive well-being changes. Conscientiousness was the only individual characteristic that predicted changes, but its effects were mixed.
F1000Research
June 25, 2021
Helané Wahbeh, Nina Fry, Paolo Speirn et al.
2 citations
Noetic experiences—inner wisdom, direct knowing, or intuition—are often kept private due to cultural taboos, despite growing evidence they may be real. An online survey of 521 English-speaking adults worldwide collected demographic data and four open-ended questions about such experiences. Thematic analysis identified five main themes: Ways of Engagement, Ways of Knowing, Types of Information, Ways of Affecting, and Ways of Expressing. Common codes included sharing with others, impacting decision-making, intuition or just knowing, meditation or hypnosis, inner visions, setting intentions, healing others, writing for self, and inner voice. Future research aims to explore these themes and develop standardized evaluation methods to inform curricula and therapies.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
December 18, 2025
Helané Wahbeh, Sitara Taddeo, Beth Glick
1 citation
A structured hypnotic protocol successfully guided a 45-year-old female scientist, familiar with psi phenomena but new to trance channeling, to shift consciousness and allow communication from non-physical beings. Over six sessions in an electromagnetically shielded environment, the participant progressed from deep relaxation to out-of-body experience induction and trance channeling. The participant channeled different non-physical beings, indicating that trance channeling skills may involve both inherent capacity and learned ability. Hypnosis proved effective for guiding out-of-body experiences, which helped loosen ego control and enhance awareness. The findings suggest potential for structured training in trance channeling and highlight the need for further research linking out-of-body experiences to psi abilities, demographic factors, and brain-imaging studies.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2024
Garret Yount, Sitara Taddeo, Tadas Stumbrys et al.
1 citation
Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), a marker of autonomic nervous system activity, was measured in 20 participants with PTSD symptoms who attended a six-day workshop teaching dreamwork and lucidity techniques. Participants collected saliva immediately upon waking and 30 minutes later; healing lucid dreams were those where the dreamer attained lucidity and intended a healing experience. Among four participants with usable samples who experienced healing lucid dreams, statistical tests were not significant due to low power, though nonsignificant positive associations appeared between more healing lucid dreams and increased waking sAA slope. The results did not show a consistent effect, and larger samples with stricter saliva collection controls are needed.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
July 7, 2026
Helané Wahbeh, Beth Glick, Erik Brinsmead et al.
Thematic correspondence between trance-channeled communications attributed to extraterrestrial intelligences and a large archival ufological dataset (UFODex) was examined using semantic similarity analysis. Fifty-two channeled submissions were compared to UFODex across ten matched questions about disclosure, communication, time perception, and technology. Three transformer-based language models (MiniLM, MPNet, QA MPNet) quantified conceptual overlap, yielding average similarity scores from 0.66 to 0.88. Disclosure, psychic abilities, and time perception showed highest alignment. Channeled content emphasized vibrational readiness, ethical co-creation, and consciousness-based contact, while UFODex stressed secrecy, technological engineering, and geopolitical framing. The findings suggest value in semantic analysis for mapping conceptual structures across heterogeneous sources.