States of consciousness Prof. dr. Anton M.L. Coenen NICI – Department of Biological Psychology

States of consciousness

Prof. dr. Anton M.L. Coenen

NICI – Department of Biological Psychology

Radboud University Nijmegen

The Netherlands

a.coenen@nici.ru.nl

States of consciousness

• Lecture 5. Altered states of consciousness

(After A. Bricolo, 1975)

Cortical involvement in tonic-clonic seizures. Red represents increases in ictal compared to interictal cerebral blood flow.

(Blumenfeld et al, 2003)

Korsakoff

Delirium

Normal ageing

Damage

Parkinson

Age (years)

Dop

amin

e (%

)

NARCOLEPSY

Narcolepsy: symptoms

(Overeem et al., Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2001)

LUCID DREAMING

DAY-DREAM

CONCENTRATION

MEDITATION

Dopamine release during attention and meditation (Kjaer et al, 2002)

HYPNOSIS

HYPNOSIS

During hypnosis an increase in activity in parts of the cingulate cortex (part of the ‘pain matrix’) is observed. (Faymonville et al, 2003)

• Coma is a low vigilant state caused by damage or affections of the midbrain reticular formation or by large parts of the cortex.

• In dementia (Alzheimer, multi-infarct dementia, Korsakoff syndrome) and delirium, disorientation in space and time can occur, together with hallucinations, confusions and a lowered state of consciousness.

• In narcolepsy and lucid dreaming, dream hallucinations occur. In lucid dreaming, the dreamer is ‘aware’ of his dream. In narcolepsy (REM sleep during waking), a frightening mixed perception of internal and external stimuli occur.

• Meditation is a technique to calm down the brain (relaxation) and to bring it in a trance-like state in which insight arises in mind, self and world. Hypnosis is a trance-like state with focused attention, in which people are sensitive for suggestions. Even feelings of pain can be reduced in the hypnotic state.