Brain changes during a shamanic trance: Altered modes of consciousness, hemispheric laterality, and systemic psychobiology
Cogent Psychology April 24, 2017 P. Flor-Henry, Yakov Shapiro, Corine Sombrun 100 citations
A trained Mongolian shamanic practitioner self-induced a trance state without external sensory stimulation while undergoing quantitative EEG mapping and LORETA source imaging. The shamanic state of consciousness involved a shift from the normally dominant left analytical to the right experiential mode of self-experience, and from anterior prefrontal to posterior somatosensory mode. These neurophysiological changes may help explain brain networks underlying the autobiographical self, the boundary between self and others, and dissociative, psychotic, and transpersonal experiences. The findings offer a basis for integrating Western and traditional healing approaches.