Hypnagogia, psychedelics, and sensory deprivation: the mythic structure of dream-like experiences.
Frontiers in psychology January 1, 2025 Andreas Huber, Anette Kjellgren, Torsten Passie
Dream-like and psychedelic experiences often seem internally illogical, but this may reflect a distinct, premodern mode of cognition called 'mythic' cognition rather than a cognitive deficit. Thirty-one participants underwent four 90-minute flotation REST sessions to induce altered, dream-like states. After each session, they completed the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory and additional questions targeting mythic cognition features. Participants showed significant phenomenological shifts toward experiences characteristic of mythic cognition, with altered states exhibiting ontological parallels to mythic conceptions of space, time, and substance. The findings suggest that the perceived illogicality in altered states arises from a distinct cognitive framework, not from deficits.