Physics of life reviews
December 1, 2024
Pietro Sarasso, Wolfgang Tschacher, Félix Schoeller et al.
11 citations
Psychotherapeutic change can be modeled using biophysical principles from synergetics and the free energy principle. Introducing sensory surprise into the patient-therapist system may trigger self-organization and the formation of new attractor states, disrupting entrenched patterns of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The therapist can facilitate this by cultivating epistemic trust and modulating embodied attention, allowing surprising affective states into shared awareness. Transient increases in free energy enable updates to generative models, expanding the phenomenal field. Increased entropy, complexity, and lower determinism at behavioral and physiological levels are proposed as markers and predictors of therapeutic gains. Future research should explore how the therapist's openness to novelty shapes outcomes.
PLOS mental health
January 1, 2024
Leonardo Christov-Moore, Félix 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.
December 21, 2022
Félix Schoeller, Abhinandan Jain, Vladimir Adrien et al.
10 citations
preprint
Aesthetic chills—shivers and goosebumps experienced during intense emotional moments—may offer therapeutic potential for depression. In an initial exploratory study, chill-inducing stimuli appeared to influence core depressive schemas, particularly shame and self-acceptance. The mechanism of action may parallel that of psychedelic and psychotherapeutic experiences, leading to similar positive outcomes. Further research is needed to assess feasibility and safety as a clinical intervention.
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.
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.
October 19, 2023
Leonardo Christov‐moore, Félix Schoeller, Caite Lynch et al.
6 citations
preprint
Aesthetic chills—the pleasurable, cold sensation often experienced during music or film—are robustly linked to self-transcendence, a positive altered state involving ego-dissolution, connectedness, and moral elevation. In 2,937 participants exposed to chills-eliciting stimuli, chills occurrence and intensity formed a tightly interrelated construct with measures of self-transcendence, even after controlling for prior state and trait differences. The findings suggest that self-transcendence experiences can be reliably evoked through exposure to audiovisual media that elicit chills, offering a more accessible path to study and apply self-transcendence for well-being and prosociality compared to conventional methods like meditation or psychedelics.
Multisensory research
November 28, 2024
Thomas J. Hostler, Giulia L. Poerio, Clau Nader et al.
3 citations
A modified Delphi study with 98 ASMR experts, practitioners, community members, and researchers generated 451 suggestions for research priorities, condensed into 13 key areas, including definition and measurement, neurophysiology, triggers, individual and cultural differences, therapeutic applications, and community culture. These were voted on by 70% of the initial participants using best/worst scaling. The resulting agenda maps important questions for the field and aims to inspire interdisciplinary collaborations.
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.
April 29, 2023
Félix Schoeller
1 citation
preprint
Primary states of consciousness are phylogenetically older than secondary states, which are governed by sociocultural inhibition. The article reviews the concept's history in psychiatry and neurobiology and its relation to consciousness theories. Primary states involve a temporary breakdown of self-control and a merging of action, communication, and emotion (ACE fusion), normally segregated in adults. The neurobiologic basis includes neural dedifferentiation, loss of modularity during altered states, and increased corticostriatal connectivity. The authors propose a gradient from primary to secondary consciousness, with changes in thalamocortical interactions and arousal function, and offer testable hypotheses for distinct phenomenological and neural signatures.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2026
Leonardo Christov-Moore, Félix Schoeller, Mathilda Von Guttenberg et al.
A guided loving kindness meditation combined with chills-inducing music enhances mood, self-transcendence, emotional breakthrough, and psychological insight more than meditation alone. In a randomized online study with 398 participants, loving kindness meditation increased connectedness to others compared to a mindfulness-based control, while adding chills-inducing music to either meditation boosted self-transcendence, mood, emotional breakthrough, and psychological insight. The experience of aesthetic chills during meditation predicted these positive effects. Individual traits like absorption, interoceptive awareness, and vividness of internal imagery also independently contributed to specific outcomes such as ego-dissolution and connectedness. Chills augmentation appears a viable method for deepening contemplative practices.