Altered states of consciousness: Review of experimental data obtained with a multiple techniques approach

Objectives: To investigate the psychophysiologic mechanisms of an altered state of consciousness (ASC) produced via systematic mental training by correlating the results of multiple computerized bioelectrographic measurements. Design: All subjects were tested, using a set of modern computerized techniques comprising digital electroencephalography, measurement of the low-frequency bilateral activity of the brain, evoked bioelectrographic signals measured by computerized Kirlian photography (otherwise called gas discharge visualization [GDV]), self-reporting by subjects, linguistic testing, and profiling of mood states. Location: Sweden and Russia from 1996 to 1999. Subjects: Young volunteers (61) who underwent systematic mental training for not less than 7 weeks. Members of the control group (56) were not engaged in mental training. Results: All participants involved in the systematic mental training showed significant positive changes in their psychoemotional status after 7 weeks of mental training. All of the techniques showed specific changes that might be associated with an ASC in the subjects. The Kirlian (GDV) patterns showed a form of ''explosive activation,'' which was stable, reproducible, and correlated with an ASC. This led the authors to introduce the concept of short-term activation of the induced bioelectrographic processes and enabled the properties of this ACS to be determined for the first time. There were practically no changes in the control group. Conclusions: ASC activation took place with harmonization of the biopotential field of the brain, the psychic state, and the bioenergy fields. This is attributed to changes in both the psychosomatic and psychoenergetic autoregulation. This conclusion is of vital importance for understanding what happens in systematic mental training and understanding the fundamentals of bioenergetic and psychosomatic medicine.