Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences
May 23, 2022
Jakub Vohryzek, Joana Cabral, Peter Vuust et al.
62 citations
The brain balances order and disorder in its activity patterns to adapt to a complex environment. Depression involves excessively rigid, ordered brain states, while psychedelics induce more disordered, overly flexible states. This review uses dynamical system theory and neuroimaging to characterize how different healthy and altered brain states correspond to distinct spacetime dynamics, potentially guiding new treatments for rebalancing brain states in disease.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
November 20, 2023
Katarina Jerotic, Peter Vuust, Morten L. Kringelbach
19 citations
Music and psychedelics have been intertwined throughout human history, from early shamanic rituals to modern psychedelic-assisted therapy. This review examines their interplay, describing how both engage the brain's functional hierarchy for music perception and its psychedelic-induced manipulation. It explores music's role in Western psychedelic therapy and indigenous rituals, focusing on ayahuasca and the Santo Daime Church. The work also considers music's potential to induce altered states of consciousness without psychedelics and the development of psychedelic music. The authors provide an overview of several perspectives on this interaction, a topic of growing interest given increasing excitement about psychedelic interventions' therapeutic efficacy.
Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews
July 1, 2026
Athanasia Kontouli, Michael J Hove, Alexandre Lehmann et al.
Trance states induced by music, from shamanic rituals to electronic dance music raves, share common musical features and cultural narratives. Anthropological and neuroscientific evidence suggests that different forms of trance engage partially overlapping neural dynamics, including increased low-frequency brain wave synchronization and a shift from executive control networks to limbic and default mode networks. These patterns reflect the interplay of cognitive, emotional, and sensory systems, though current empirical evidence remains fragmented and methodologically heterogeneous. The review emphasizes trance as both a cultural and biological phenomenon and calls for integrating phenomenological and neurophysiological data to build comprehensive models of music-induced non-ordinary states of consciousness.