Synaesthetic Overdrive

Mapping Intimacies ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190671181.003.0007 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jonathan Weinel

Keyword(s):

Subjective Experience ◽

Visual Media ◽

Altered States Of Consciousness ◽

Altered States ◽

Visual Music ◽

Background Theory ◽

States Of Consciousness ◽

Feature Films ◽

Expanded Cinema ◽

Improved Accuracy

This chapter discusses altered states of consciousness in audio-visual media, such as films, psychedelic light shows, and VJ performances. First, some background theory is introduced, explaining the main categories of film sound, and what research tells us regarding the way in which sound influences the perception of visual images and vice versa. Following this background section, a tour is provided through various films that represent altered states of consciousness, including surrealist movies, ‘trance films’, and Hollywood feature films. These demonstrate a progression, where more recent movies are able to make use of digital audio and visual effects to represent the subjective experience of altered states with improved accuracy. Meanwhile, beyond the traditional confines of the cinema, ‘expanded cinema’ works such as visual music, psychedelic light shows, and VJ performances have provided increasingly sophisticated synaesthetic experiences, which are designed to transform the consciousness of their audience.

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Inner Sound

10.1093/oso/9780190671181.001.0001 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Jonathan Weinel

Keyword(s):

Electronic Music ◽

Interactive Video ◽

Ethical Issues ◽

Visual Media ◽

Altered States Of Consciousness ◽

Altered States ◽

Electronic Dance Music ◽

Visual Music ◽

Person Perspective ◽

States Of Consciousness

Inner Sound explores how altered states of consciousness have shaped the design of electronic music and audio-visual media. The book begins by discussing consciousness, and how this may change during states such as dreaming, psychedelic experience, meditation, and trance. Next, a variety of shamanic traditions are reviewed, in order to explore how indigenous societies have reflected visionary experiences through visual art and music. This provides the necessary background from which to consider how analogue and digital audio technologies enable specific capabilities for representing or inducing altered states of consciousness in psychedelic rock, electronic dance music, and electroacoustic music. Developing the discussion to consider sound in the context of audio-visual media, the role of altered states of consciousness in films, visual music, VJ performances, interactive video games, and virtual reality applications is also discussed. Through the analysis of these examples, the author uncovers common mechanisms, and ultimately proposes a conceptual model for ‘Altered States of Consciousness Simulations’. This theoretical model describes how sound can be used to simulate various subjective states of consciousness from a first-person perspective, in an interactive context. Throughout the book, the ethical issues regarding altered states of consciousness in electronic music and audio-visual media are also explored, ultimately allowing the reader to consider not only the design of Altered States of Consciousness Simulations, but also the implications of their use for digital society. In this way, Inner Sound explores the limits of technology for representing and manipulating consciousness, at the frontiers of electronic music and art.

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Brain electrical activity and subjective experience during altered states of consciousness: ganzfeld and hypnagogic states

International Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1016/s0167-8760(02)00070-3 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 46 (2) ◽

pp. 123-146 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Jiřı́ Wackermann ◽

Peter Pütz ◽

Simone Büchi ◽

Inge Strauch ◽

Dietrich Lehmann

Keyword(s):

Electrical Activity ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

Altered States Of Consciousness ◽

Brain Electrical Activity ◽

Altered States ◽

States Of Consciousness

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Increased signal diversity/complexity of spontaneous EEG, but not evoked EEG responses, in ketamine-induced psychedelic state in humans

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0242056 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (11) ◽

pp. e0242056

Author(s):

Nadine Farnes ◽

Bjørn E. Juel ◽

André S. Nilsen ◽

Luis G. Romundstad ◽

Johan F. Storm

Keyword(s):

Subjective Experience ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Altered States Of Consciousness ◽

Altered States ◽

Eeg Signal ◽

Eyes Closed ◽

States Of Consciousness ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Eyes Open ◽

Signal Diversity

How and to what extent electrical brain activity reflects pharmacologically altered states and contents of consciousness, is not well understood. Therefore, we investigated whether measures of evoked and spontaneous electroencephalographic (EEG) signal diversity are altered by sub-anaesthetic levels of ketamine compared to normal wakefulness, and how these measures relate to subjective experience. High-density 62-channel EEG was used to record spontaneous brain activity and responses evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in 10 healthy volunteers before and during administration of sub-anaesthetic doses of ketamine in an open-label within-subject design. Evoked signal diversity was assessed using the perturbational complexity index (PCI), calculated from EEG responses to TMS perturbations. Signal diversity of spontaneous EEG, with eyes open and eyes closed, was assessed by Lempel Ziv complexity (LZc), amplitude coalition entropy (ACE), and synchrony coalition entropy (SCE). Although no significant difference was found in TMS-evoked complexity (PCI) between the sub-anaesthetic ketamine condition and normal wakefulness, all measures of spontaneous EEG signal diversity (LZc, ACE, SCE) showed significantly increased values in the sub-anaesthetic ketamine condition. This increase in signal diversity correlated with subjective assessment of altered states of consciousness. Moreover, spontaneous signal diversity was significantly higher when participants had eyes open compared to eyes closed, both during normal wakefulness and during influence of sub-anaesthetic ketamine. The results suggest that PCI and spontaneous signal diversity may reflect distinct, complementary aspects of changes in brain properties related to altered states of consciousness: the brain’s capacity for information integration, assessed by PCI, might be indicative of the brain’s ability to sustain consciousness, while spontaneous complexity, as measured by EEG signal diversity, may be indicative of the complexity of conscious content. Thus, sub-anaesthetic ketamine may increase the complexity of the conscious content and the brain activity underlying it, while the level or general capacity for consciousness remains largely unaffected.

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Abstractions

10.1093/oso/9780190671181.003.0009 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jonathan Weinel

Keyword(s):

Virtual Reality ◽

Video Games ◽

Electronic Music ◽

Sensory Experience ◽

Visual Media ◽

Altered States Of Consciousness ◽

Altered States ◽

Ethical Implications ◽

States Of Consciousness ◽

Immersive Technologies

The concluding chapter of Inner Sound: Altered States of Consciousness in Electronic Music and Audio-Visual Media consolidates the main arguments of the book. The journey taken is recapitulated, from shamanic rituals to psychedelic rock shows and raves; and from outdoor electroacoustic concerts to synaesthetic films and hallucinatory video games. Across these examples, similar underlying principles can be identified, revealing a continuity from ancient shamanism to modern ‘technoshamanism’. Yet while some imperatives have remained consistent, the technologies have evolved, yielding ever-more accurate and sophisticated representations of altered states in electronic music and audio-visual media. This finds us on the brink of ‘Altered States of Consciousness Simulations’, which replicate the sensory experience of altered states using immersive technologies such as fulldomes and virtual reality headsets. Looking forwards, the possible uses and ethical implications of these simulations are explored, at the frontiers of electronic music and art.

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Introduction

10.1093/oso/9780190671181.003.0001 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jonathan Weinel

Keyword(s):

Electronic Music ◽

Visual Media ◽

Altered States Of Consciousness ◽

Altered States ◽

States Of Consciousness ◽

Psychedelic Drugs ◽

Aims And Scope ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship ◽

Visual Technologies

This introduction to Inner Sound: Altered States of Consciousness in Electronic Music and Audio-Visual Media outlines the background, aims, and scope of the book. The chapter begins by introducing altered states of consciousness through a description of visual hallucinations, which may have provided a basis for some of the oldest-known artworks. Next, a brief historical overview of altered states is given, from ancient shamanic traditions and cults, to modern-day use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD. The use of altered states in these contexts has resulted in a variety of associated art, literature, music, films, and video games, which in recent years have been rendered with the aid of new sound and audio-visual technologies. These works provide the main focus of Inner Sound, which explores the relationship of altered states of consciousness with electronic music and audio-visual media, in order to develop a conceptual theory of ‘Altered States of Consciousness Simulations’.

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Increased spontaneous EEG signal diversity during stroboscopically-induced altered states of consciousness

10.1101/511766 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

David J. Schwartzman ◽

Michael Schartner ◽

Benjamin B. Ador ◽

Francesca Simonelli ◽

Acer Y.-C. Chang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Subjective Experience ◽

Altered States Of Consciousness ◽

Altered States ◽

Eeg Signal ◽

Visual Hallucinations ◽

Subjective Experiences ◽

Eeg Signals ◽

Neural Signal ◽

States Of Consciousness ◽

Signal Diversity

AbstractWhat are the global neuronal signatures of altered states of consciousness (ASC)? Recently, increases in neural signal diversity, compared to those found in wakeful rest, have been reported during psychedelic states. Neural signal diversity has previously been identified as a robust signature of the state of consciousness, showing lower scores during sleep or anaesthesia compared to wakeful rest. The increased neural signal diversity during psychedelic states raises the additional possibility that it may also reflect the increased diversity of subjective experiences associated with these states. However, psychedelic states involve widespread neuropsychopharmacological changes, only some of which may be associated with altered phenomenology. Therefore, we used stroboscopic stimulation to induce non-pharmacological altered states of consciousness while measuring the diversity of EEG signals. Stroboscopic stimulation caused substantial increases in the intensity and range of subjective experiences, with reports of both simple and complex visual hallucinations. These experiences were accompanied by increases in EEG signal diversity scores (measured using Lempel-Ziv complexity) exceeding those associated with wakeful rest, in line with studies of the psychedelic state. Our findings support the proposal that EEG signal diversity reflects the diversity of subjective experience that is associated with different states of consciousness.

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