EEG Correlates of the Ayahuasca Shamanic Journey Experience
EEG Correlates of the Ayahuasca Shamanic Journey Experience by Frank Echenhofer, PhD (California Institute of Integral Studies)
A new research project by Frank Echenhofer and team will take them into the heart of the Peruvian Amazon to study brain correlates of shamanic journey experiences catalyzed by ingestion of the plant-based psychedelic substance ayhuasca. The team’s research (Echenhofer, Wynia, Joffe, Luna, Benitz, Sudberg, McKenna, 2007) attempts to correlate the subjective phenomenology of shamanic journey experiences with EEG neural network pattern changes. One primary research focus is to use EEG recording during ayahuasca sessions to determine precise neural network patterns associated with specific experiential states.
Ayahuasca is a plant-based psychedelic brew that has been used by many different indigenous tribal communities in the Amazon basin for hundreds of years. Appropriately prepared individuals often report experiences of traveling to alternate worlds and encountering beings from those worlds which have been called the shamanic journey. These experiences can also include visions of exquisite Baroque-like architecture, sacred objects, and reports of received spiritual teachings (Doblin de Rios, 1971, 1972; Heuser, 2006; Luna, 1984, 1986, 1999; McKenna, 1999; Metzner, 1999; Shanon, 2002). While Tibetan Buddhism and shamanism are perhaps best known for their cosmologies that describe many worlds with many beings, similar experiences have been reported by the originating founders of religious traditions and in the continuing revelations of subsequent lineage holders as these traditions are revitalized over time (Couliano, 1991; Gyatso, 1998; Thondup, 1997).
Our research has focused upon shamanic journey experiences because these kinds of experiences have been so frequently reported in the mystical experiences at the core of so many religious traditions and world mythologies. In appropriately prepared individuals, we have found that the magnitude of EEG coherence, a measure of the degree of the strength of neural network connectivity between brain regions, is significantly altered by ayahuasca ingestion as compared to baseline conditions during subjective access to states of consciousness that are congruent with anthropological descriptions of the shamanic journey experience.
Our findings are congruent with Varela’s (2001) research and theoretical writing where he has speculated that a “unified cognitive moment relies on the coordination of scattered mosaics of functionally specialized brain regions and that “although the mechanisms involved in large-scale integration are still largely unknown…the most plausible candidate is the formation of dynamic links mediated by synchrony over multiple frequency bands.” Our subjects’ heightened, complex, and creative ayahusca experiences could be related to the fact that their EEGs showed very significantly changes in EEG coherence over many frequency bands (Benitz, 2007).
There appears to be a growing acceptance of psychedelic research as a legitimate scientific approach to examine mystical experience. One example can be seen in a recent landmark study conducted at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, that to date has been reported in over 300 newspaper and magazine articles, and found that psilocybin, the main psychoactive compound found in the psychedelic mushroom “can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance” (Griffiths, Richards, McCann, and Jesse, 2006). More than 60 percent of the research ‘ experiences after ingesting psilocybin met criteria for a “complete mystical experience” as measured by reliable psychological assessment scales. Griffiths has used the term “experimental mysticism” to describe his research approach, and the journal that published his findings, Psychopharmacology, is a prestigious scientific journal, suggesting that legitimate psychedelic research is re-emerging after nearly a 30-year hiatus.
While scientific interest and research in spiritual experiences and spiritual development is to be applauded, until recently there has been very little discussion regarding what kinds of philosophical assumptions are required for a scientific investigation of spiritual experiences and the culturally transforming values that they can contain. One noteworthy exception was Varela’s (1997) research and theoretical writing describing the necessity to develop an “embodied neuroscience” that offers an alternative to the dualistic metaphysics and epistemology now dominant in contemporary neuroscience.
It is not at all clear what the most appropriate conceptual framework or frameworks might be to interpret ayahuasca EEG and experiential findings. We hope to utilize recent embodied theories in cognitive neuroscience, linguistics, and philosophy (Gallese and Lakoff, 2005; Johnson, 2007), and to do comparative studies with texts describing similar visionary experiences from the world’s wisdom traditions, as well as spiritual practices and philosophical interpretations flowing from these visionary experiences (Gyatso, 1998; Thondup, 1997).
Dr. Frank Echenhofer is a professor in the Clinical Doctoral Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. His has conducted EEG and meditation research in collaboration with the Dalai Lama in India and since 2000 has conducted EEG and ayahuasca research in Brazil and Peru. For further information about his research he can be contacted at fechenhofer@ciis.edu
References
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Echenhofer, F., Wynia, K., Joffe, D., Luna, L.E., Benitz, G., Sudberg, S., and McKenna, D. (2007). EEG correlates of spontaneous mental imagery after ingestion of the shamanic brew ayahuasca. Manuscript in preparation.
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