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Pivotal Mental States: Difference between revisions
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Yuri Gagarin, upon his return as the first human in space, marvelled at the planet from orbit in 1961. “''People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty — not destroy it'',” . A half-century later, ex-NASA astronaut José Hernández said that the view aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 2009 turned him into “''an instant treehugger''.” On Christmas Eve 1968, NASA astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders were aboard Apollo 8, the first manned mission to orbit the Moon. They had spent most of the day photographing the Moon’s surface when Borman turned the spaceship around, and Earth came into view. ‘Oh my God, look at that picture over there. Here’s the Earth coming up,’ shouted Anders. Like the astronauts themselves, the world was awestruck by the first images of the whole Earth from space, which are today widely credited with triggering the birth of the modern environmental movement. | Yuri Gagarin, upon his return as the first human in space, marvelled at the planet from orbit in 1961. “''People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty — not destroy it'',” . A half-century later, ex-NASA astronaut José Hernández said that the view aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 2009 turned him into “''an instant treehugger''.” On Christmas Eve 1968, NASA astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders were aboard Apollo 8, the first manned mission to orbit the Moon. They had spent most of the day photographing the Moon’s surface when Borman turned the spaceship around, and Earth came into view. ‘Oh my God, look at that picture over there. Here’s the Earth coming up,’ shouted Anders. Like the astronauts themselves, the world was awestruck by the first images of the whole Earth from space, which are today widely credited with triggering the birth of the modern environmental movement. | ||
=== Near Death Experience === | |||
A [[Near Death Experience|Near-death-experience]] (NDE) is an intense psychological experience characterised by an atypical state of consciousness typically experienced during life-threatening conditions<ref>'''The phenomenology of near-death experiences.''' ''Am. J. Psychiatry'' 137, 1193–1196. Greyson, B., and Stevenson, I. (1980). Accessed on 24th September 2022 via https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7416264/</ref>. NDEs in general are typically characterised by [[Out of Body Experiences]] and [[hallucinations]]<ref>'''Near-Death Experiences are Hallucinations'''. Keith Augustine. In Keith Augustine & Michael Martin (eds.), The Myth of an Afterlife: The Case against Life After Death. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 529-569 (2015)</ref><ref>'''Three cases of near death experience''': Is it physiology, physics or philosophy? Purkayastha M, Mukherjee KK. Ann Neurosci. 2012 Jul;19(3):104-6. doi: 10.5214/ans.0972.7531.190303. PMID: 25205979; PMCID: PMC4117086.</ref> which are affected by set and setting much like psychedelics<ref>'''Comparison of psychedelic and near-death or other non-ordinary experiences in changing attitudes about death and dying'''. Mary M. Sweeney ,Sandeep Nayak,Ethan S. Hurwitz, Lisa N. Mitchell,T. Cody Swift,Roland R. Griffiths. Published: August 24, 2022. Accessed on 26th August 2022 via https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271926</ref>. The after-effects of NDEs have been widely documented and have been shown to be powerfully life-altering. | |||
=== Sensory Deprivation === | |||
Sensory deprivation has been shown to induce pivotal mental states and restore critical-period-like plasticity in the brain<ref>'''The critical period.''' Sengpiel, F. (2007). ''Current Biology'', 17, R742-R743. <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2007.06.017</nowiki>.</ref>. For example, in the somatosensory cortex, deprivation can reactivate synaptic plasticity akin to that observed during developmental [[Critical Periods|critical periods]], highlighting the brain’s retained capacity for adaptation beyond early life stages. Moreover, sensory deprivation in one modality can lead to compensatory enhancements and reorganization in other sensory modalities. This phenomenon, known as cross-modal plasticity, demonstrates the brain's ability to adapt to sensory loss by strengthening other senses, further underscoring its potential for functional reorganization during critical periods. | |||
=== Fasting === | === Fasting === | ||
Aldous Huxley observed that Medieval Christians often reported "visions" of Heaven and Hell during the winter, a time when their diets were deficient in essential nutrients like vitamin B and vitamin C. These nutritional deficiencies, such as those leading to scurvy, often triggered hallucinations, altering their perception of reality. Huxley further suggested that religious practices like fasting were deliberately designed to induce states of delirium, enabling individuals to access these extraordinary "antipodes of the mind"—a glimpse into altered realms of consciousness that could profoundly shape their beliefs and understanding of the world. | Aldous Huxley observed that Medieval Christians often reported "visions" of Heaven and Hell during the winter, a time when their diets were deficient in essential nutrients like vitamin B and vitamin C. These nutritional deficiencies, such as those leading to scurvy, often triggered hallucinations, altering their perception of reality. Huxley further suggested that religious practices like fasting were deliberately designed to induce states of delirium, enabling individuals to access these extraordinary "antipodes of the mind"—a glimpse into altered realms of consciousness that could profoundly shape their beliefs and understanding of the world. | ||
===Stroboscopics=== | ===Stroboscopics=== | ||
[[Stroboscopics]] is a technique that flashes a bright light into the eyes of patients that in turn induces visual [[hallucinations]]. The process works as the speed at which the light is flashing is the same speed as the transmission rate of the optical nerve, this causes a temporary interference pattern which disorientates optical transmission to the brain leading to visual [[hallucinations]] similar to effects induced by psychedelic substances<ref>'''Altered states phenomena induced by visual flicker light stimulation'''. Marie Therese Bartossek, Johanna Kemmerer, Timo Torsten Schmidt. Published: July 1, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253779</ref>. | [[Stroboscopics]] is a technique that flashes a bright light into the eyes of patients that in turn induces visual [[hallucinations]]. The process works as the speed at which the light is flashing is the same speed as the transmission rate of the optical nerve, this causes a temporary interference pattern which disorientates optical transmission to the brain leading to visual [[hallucinations]] similar to effects induced by psychedelic substances<ref>'''Altered states phenomena induced by visual flicker light stimulation'''. Marie Therese Bartossek, Johanna Kemmerer, Timo Torsten Schmidt. Published: July 1, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253779</ref>. | ||