San trance dance: embodied experience and neurological mechanisms
Religion, Brain & Behavior October 24, 2022 Benjamin C Campbell 6 citations
The San trance dance, a shamanic ritual, produces altered states of consciousness through specific brain mechanisms. Physical exertion activates the sympathetic nervous system and releases noradrenaline, creating a feeling of rising energy called !num. Hyperventilation activates the amygdala and insula, causing fear and an underwater sensation. During trance, insula changes disrupt the right temporal parietal junction, blurring self/other distinctions and producing body distortion and flight experiences. Altered face and body perception integrates with social information in the anterior temporal lobes, generating human, animal, and theriomorphic figures. Persistent hunting focus enables San men to undergo trance and makes the Eland central to trance imagery in San rock art.