[en] Self-induced cognitive trance (SICT) is a voluntary non-ordinary state of consciousness characterized by a lucid yet narrowed awareness of the external surroundings. It involves a hyper-focused immersive experience of flow, expanded inner imagery, modified somatosensory processing, and an altered perception of self and time. SICT is gaining attention due to its potential clinical applications. Similar states of non-ordinary state of consciousness, such as meditation, hypnosis, and psychedelic experiences, have been reported to induce changes in the autonomic nervous system. However, the functioning of the autonomic nervous system during SICT remains poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to investigate the impact of SICT on the cardiac and respiratory signals of 25 participants proficient in SICT. To accomplish this, we measured various metrics of heart rate variability (HRV) and respiration rate variability (RRV) in three conditions: resting state, SICT, and a mental imagery task. Subsequently, we employed a machine learning framework utilizing a linear discriminant analysis classifier and a cross-validation scheme to identify the features that exhibited the best discrimination between these three conditions. The results revealed that during SICT, participants experienced an increased heart rate and a decreased level of high-frequency (HF) HRV compared to the control conditions. Additionally, specific increases in respiratory amplitude, phase ratio, and RRV were observed during SICT in comparison to the other conditions. These findings suggest that SICT is associated with a reduction in parasympathetic activity, indicative of a hyperarousal state of the autonomic nervous system during SICT.
Disciplines :
Neurosciences & behavior
Author, co-author :
Oswald, Victor ✱; Université de Liège - ULiège > GIGA > GIGA Consciousness - Sensation & Perception Research Group ; Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Lab, Psychology Département, University of Montréal, Montreal, Canada. victor.oswald@umontreal.ca
Vanhaudenhuyse, Audrey ✱; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège - CHU > > Service d'algologie - soins palliatifs
Annen, Jitka ; Université de Liège - ULiège > GIGA > GIGA Consciousness - Coma Science Group
Martial, Charlotte ; Université de Liège - ULiège > GIGA > GIGA Consciousness - Coma Science Group
The study was supported by the University and University Hospital of Liege, the Belgian National Funds for Scientific Research (FRS-FNRS), the BIAL Foundation, the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under the Specific Grant Agreement No. 945539 (Human Brain Project SGA3), the MIS FNRS (F.4521.23), the fund Generet, the King Baudouin Foundation, the Télévie Foundation, the Belgium Foundation Against Cancer (Grants Number 2017064 and C/2020/1357), the Benoit Foundation (Bruxelles), the ERA-Net FLAG-ERA JTC2021 project ModelDXConsciousness (Human Brain Project Partnering Project), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) in the framework of the PRODEX Programme, the Public Utility Foundation ‘Université Européenne du Travail’, “Fondazione Europea di Ricerca Biomedica”, the Mind Science Foundation, the European Commission, the Fondation Leon Fredericq, the Mind-Care foundation, Wallonia as part of a program of the BioWin Health 619 Cluster framework. We are also thankful to all participants for agreeing to take part in this study. KJ is supported by funding from the Canada Research Chairs program (950-232368) and a Discovery Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (2021-03426), a Strategic Research Clusters Program (2023-RS6-309472) from the Fonds de recherche du Quebec-Nature et technologies. OG is research associate and SL research director at FRS-FNRS.
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