Electrophysiological and phenomenological effects of short-term immersion in an altered sensory environment

Reflections on Inner and Outer Silence and Consciousness Without Contents According to the Sphere Model of Consciousness

“…This name is based on the hypothesis that, in the central place, when there is intentional non-identification with any content, perception can be experienced without the usual filters created by memories. This makes it 3 It is important to note that the alpha activity remained enhanced in the Ganzfeld despite no indication of diminished brain arousal (Miskovic et al, 2019).…”

“…Recalling the discussion of immersive environments and absorption above, we can hypothesize that when consciousness, through attention, expands and becomes able to be in connection with all contents without any of them prevail, the contents vanish due to lack of differentiation, as in the case of the ganzfeld homogeneous perceptual field 3 ( Wackermann et al, 2002 ; Miskovic et al, 2019 ). This, in turn, leads to the experience of “loss of self” ( Avant, 1965 ).…”

“… 3 It is important to note that the alpha activity remained enhanced in the Ganzfeld despite no indication of diminished brain arousal ( Miskovic et al, 2019 ). …”

Nondual Awareness and Minimal Phenomenal Experience

“…Experiences of reduced phenomenal content can occur in several situations: naturally, when transitioning to and from sleep or under special circumstances, such as when waking from anesthesia, in some minimally conscious states and near-death experiences, during sensory deprivation, under the influence of mind-altering substances, and during meditation and related practices (Windt, 2015;Dor-Ziderman et al, 2016;Milliere et al, 2018;Metzinger, 2019Metzinger, , 2020Miskovic et al, 2019). These experiences can have varying degrees of arousal or wakefulness, from low levels of arousal akin to deep sleep to high levels of hyper-arousal accompanying some altered states.…”

“…We have previously proposed that the impasse in today's scientific understanding of consciousness would be helped by understanding consciousness itself or nondual awareness (NDA), a basic aspect of consciousness that is different from all other phenomenal contents and functions of consciousness and from global states of arousal (Josipovic, 2014(Josipovic, , 2019Josipovic and Baars, 2015). Attempts to include this topic within the realm of contemporary scientific and philosophical discourse, which have been halting in the past (Forman, 1998;Shear and Jevning, 1999;Travis and Pearson, 2000), have recently gained renewed traction in both neuroscience and philosophy of mind (Baars, 2013;Tononi and Koch, 2015;Windt, 2015;Dor-Ziderman et al, 2016;Milliere et al, 2018;Koch, 2019;Metzinger, 2019Metzinger, , 2020Miskovic et al, 2019). In particular, it has been proposed that so-called minimal phenomenal experiences (MPEs) or full absorption states are examples of consciousness-as-such (Metzinger, 2019).…”