Pain Within Altered States of Consciousness
Nova Science Publishers, Inc. eBooks January 1, 2026 Cengiz Mordeniz
Pain is not a simple readout of tissue damage but a dynamic construction of conscious experience shaped by brain networks, attention, emotion, expectation, and the sense of self. This interdisciplinary volume brings together anesthesiology, neuroscience, pain medicine, contemplative science, and philosophy of mind to examine how pain transforms across altered states such as anesthesia, hypnosis, meditation, psychedelic therapy, dissociation, and disorders of consciousness. The same nociceptive input can produce vastly different experiences depending on global brain integration and predictive processing. Drawing on neuroimaging and clinical evidence, the book offers a unified framework for understanding pain modulation and addresses ethical questions about covert suffering and pain in non-communicative patients.