ArticlePloS one2023
Effect of frequency and rhythmicity on flicker light-induced hallucinatory phenomena.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- From dots to faces: individual differences in visual imagery capacity predict the content of Ganzflicker-induced hallucinations.Neuroscience of consciousness · 2026Article
- Mapping of Subjective Accounts into Interpreted Clusters (MOSAIC): Topic Modelling and LLM applied to Stroboscopic Phenomenology.Neuroscience of consciousness · 2026Article
- Thalamocortical interactions reflecting the intensity of flicker light-induced visual hallucinatory phenomena.Network neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Stroboscopically induced visual hallucinations: historical, phenomenological, and neurobiological perspectives.Neuroscience of consciousness · 2025Review
- Visual hallucinations induced by Ganzflicker and Ganzfeld differ in frequency, complexity, and content.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Flicker light stimulation enhances the emotional response to music: a comparison study to the effects of psychedelics.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Flicker light stimulation induces thalamocortical hyperconnectivity with LGN and higher-order thalamic nuclei.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Flicker light stimulation (FLS) uses stroboscopic light on closed eyes to induce transient visual hallucinatory phenomena, such as the perception of geometric patterns, motion, and colours. It remains an open question where the neural correlates of these hallucinatory experiences emerge along the visual pathway. To allow future testing of suggested underlying mechanisms (e.g., changes in functional connectivity, neural entrainment), we sought to systematically characterise the effects of frequency (3 Hz, 8 Hz, 10 Hz and 18 Hz) and rhythmicity (rhythmic and arrhythmic conditions) on flicker-induced subjective experiences. Using a novel questionnaire, we found that flicker frequency and rhythmicity significantly influenced the degree to which participants experienced simple visual hallucinations, particularly the perception of Klüver forms and dynamics (e.g., motion). Participants reported their experience of geometric patterns and dynamics was at highest intensity during 10 Hz rhythmic stimulation. Further, we found that frequency-matched arrhythmic FLS strongly reduced these subjective effects compared to equivalent rhythmic stimulation. Together, these results provide evidence that flicker rhythmicity critically contributes to the effects of FLS beyond the effects of frequency alone, indicating that neural entrainment may drive the induced phenomenal experience.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.