ArticleScientific reports2020
The multimodal Ganzfeld-induced altered state of consciousness induces decreased thalamo-cortical coupling.
Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- Qualities, subjectivity and spatial extension: is there a common factor?Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- From dots to faces: individual differences in visual imagery capacity predict the content of Ganzflicker-induced hallucinations.Neuroscience of consciousness · 2026Article
- The neurobiology of altered states of consciousness induced by drumming and other rhythmic sound patterns.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Review
- Psilocybin: From Psychiatric Pariah to Perceived Panacea.The American journal of psychiatry · 2025Review
- The Multifaceted Ganzfeld at the Crossroad Between Visual Perception and Consciousness: Behavioral, Neural and Qualitative Aspects.Open mind : discoveries in cognitive science · 2025Article
- And then there was light in the ganzfeld: clarifying the methods, experiences, and modulating factors of hallucinations and decays.Neuroscience of consciousness · 2025Article
- The Role of Momentary Dissociation in the Sensory Cortex: A Neurophysiological Review and its Implications for Maladaptive Daydreaming.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2024Review
- Visual hallucinations induced by Ganzflicker and Ganzfeld differ in frequency, complexity, and content.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The hidden structure of consciousness.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Effect of frequency and rhythmicity on flicker light-induced hallucinatory phenomena.PloS one · 2023Article
- Flicker light stimulation induces thalamocortical hyperconnectivity with LGN and higher-order thalamic nuclei.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2023Article
- The Altered States Database: Psychometric data from a systematic literature review.Scientific data · 2022Article
- The altered state of consciousness induced by Δ9-THC.Consciousness and cognition · 2022Article
- Bridging the Gap? Altered Thalamocortical Connectivity in Psychotic and Psychedelic States.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Review
- Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Different pharmacologic agents have been used to investigate the neuronal underpinnings of alterations in consciousness states, such as psychedelic substances. Special attention has been drawn to the role of thalamic filtering of cortical input. Here, we investigate the neuronal mechanisms underlying an altered state of consciousness (ASC) induced by a non-pharmacological procedure. During fMRI scanning, N = 19 human participants were exposed to multimodal Ganzfeld stimulation, a technique of perceptual deprivation where participants are exposed to intense, unstructured, homogenous visual and auditory stimulation. Compared to pre- and post-resting-state scans, the Ganzfeld data displayed a progressive decoupling of the thalamus from the cortex. Furthermore, the Ganzfeld-induced ASC was characterized by increased eigenvector centrality in core regions of the default mode network (DMN). Together, these findings can be interpreted as an imbalance of sensory bottom-up signaling and internally-generated top-down signaling. This imbalance is antithetical to psychedelic-induced ASCs, where increased thalamo-cortical coupling and reduced DMN activity were observed.
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