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River processes and patterns are affected by changes in the watershed driven by natural and human‐induced causes. A sudden pattern alteration from a "white river" (bare soils) to a "green river" (vegetated) influences riverine biodiversity and can increase flood risk. Despite these significant impacts, knowledge on the triggers that kickstart feedback exacerbating changes in bio‐geomorphic patterns is insufficient. In this study, we collected and analyzed detailed monitoring data on a sandy, hydro‐morphologically active, and monsoon‐driven river in Korea. The surface area covered by vegetation has been increasing; this increase intensified after the 2014–2015 drought, which provided a window of opportunity for vegetation establishment. During the drought, pioneer vegetation densely colonized bare sandbars and temporarily exposed riverbed. Despite partial rejuvenation by several subsequent floods, succession to woody vegetation occurred, resulting in a stable vegetation cover. Narrowing and incision of a low‐water channel occurred, and secondary channels formed inside the floodplain. The results of this study show a rapid bio‐geomorphic alteration triggered by the shifts in flow regime in a river primed by human‐induced changes. Furthermore, modified monsoon‐driven rivers might be on the brink of similar bio‐physical alterations triggered through shifting flow regime following climate change, leading to increased flood risk and impacts on endemic biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chanting is a form of rhythmic, repetitive vocalization practiced in a wide range of cultures. It is used in spiritual practice to strengthen community, heal illness, and overcome psychological and emotional difficulties. In many traditions, chanting is used to induce mystical states, an altered state of consciousness characterised by a profound sense of peace. Despite the global prevalence of chanting, its psychological effects are poorly understood. This investigation examined the psychological and contextual factors associated with mystical states during chanting. Data were analyzed from 464 participants across 33 countries who regularly engaged in chanting. Results showed that 60% of participants experienced mystical states during chanting. Absorption, altruism, and religiosity were higher among people who reported mystical states while chanting compared to those who did not report mystical states. There was no difference in mystical experience scores between vocal, silent, group or individual chanting and no difference in the prevalence of mystical states across chanting traditions. However, an analysis of subscales suggested that mystical experiences were especially characterised by positive mood and feelings of ineffability. The research sheds new light on factors that impact upon chanting experiences. A framework for understanding mystical states during chanting is proposed.

As an artist I am interested in creative states of consciousness and the direct expression of altered states of consciousness in forms such as musical improvisation and the automatic writings and drawings of the Surrealist Artists. I have been investigating a particular spectrum of altered states characterized by an enhanced experience where out-of-the-ordinary information is accessed or an enhanced ability is realized beyond what would ordinarily be possible. Within this realm we would find the 'peak performance' state of athletes and musicians, as well as a state of intellectual inspiration where a complex problem is solved and also the phenomenon of premonition. It is related to the 'flow state' as described in Flow, The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Mihályi Csíkszentmihályi, 1990) and the experience of the American clairvoyant Edgar Cayce who resolved complex medical ailments when in a self-induced hypnotic trance. Additional examples include Haitian Vodou ritualized possession and all experiences where healing and foretelling of the future takes place through a communion with spirits. It is a broad spectrum that has been described in various ways throughout history and within all cultures. But though the descriptions vary, this spectrum of consciousness shares the common characteristic of accessing extraordinary information or demonstrating extraordinary skill or ability. This article is an attempt to help clarify and define this particular spectrum of consciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been said that our ability to identify and describe consciousness is like that of a fish describing water. Since a fish has always been immersed in water it cannot provide an accurate description. It stands to reason then that those who have experienced alternative states of consciousness have unique insight into the nature of consciousness. The historic use of imagery, music, poetry and other creative forms to describe as well as communicate not only emotion, not only intellectual data, but also states of consciousness - states of 'being' is well documented. Celtic poetry, Greek mythology, African ritual rhythms and contemporary creative works can be viewed as notational systems that encapsulate states of consciousness and could be investigated as such. As our creative instruments become more sophisticated our ability to express states of consciousness does as well and as a natural extension of this creative process, the artists' exploration of consciousness equally intensifies and expands. As the Surrealists explored sub-consciousness, what areas of consciousness does contemporary creativity explore? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes that the particular use and modification of landscapes-such as through the application of rock art and the construction of living spaces-are material projections of the shared spiritual and social experiences and beliefs of culturally related people. It is argued that people within nonindustrial cultures in particular believe that spirit beings cohabit their everyday world, largely due to the culturally agreed emphasis that these people place on altered states of consciousness, particularly dreaming and visions. Referring to the gathering and hunting San and the agriculturalist and pastoralist Zulu from southern Africa as primary ethnographic examples (with brief reference to the Blackfoot Indians of the western Prairies), ways of looking at physically bounded container-like areas and movements into and out of these contained spaces are explored in order to assist archaeological interpretations of the material record. The experiences of "soul loss" among San shamans are portrayed against rock surfaces from the perspective of the artist standing within a contained public living space looking outward, whereas the experiences of spirit-helper acquisition among Blackfoot warriors or soul possession among Zulu herders are portrayed against rock surfaces from the perspective of the artist standing outside a contained space looking inward. Among the Blackfoot the space is an isolated camp of spirit helpers, whereas among the Zulu it is the back of the inhabited hut where patrilineal ancestors reside. The metaphor Things Are Embodied Mindscapes applies to the ethnographic and archaeological examples, which include landscapes, settlements, habitation areas, and individual artifacts/motifs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We administered suggestions to see a gray-scale pattern as colored and a colored pattern in shades of gray to 30 high suggestible and eight low suggestible students. The suggestions were administered twice, once following the induction of hypnosis and once without an induction. Besides rating the degree of color they saw in the stimuli differently, participants also rated their states of consciousness as normal, relaxed, hypnotized, or deeply hypnotized. Reports of being hypnotized were limited to highly suggestible participants and only after the hypnotic induction had been administered. Reports of altered color perception were also limited to high suggestibles, but were roughly comparable regardless of whether hypnosis had been induced. These data indicate that suggestible individuals do not slip into a hypnotic state when given imaginative suggestions without the induction of hypnosis, but nevertheless report experiencing difficult suggestions for profound perceptual alterations that are pheonomenologically similar to what they report in hypnosis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

It has been hypothesized that highly hypnotizable people spontaneously slip into trance when given imaginative suggestions without prior induction of hypnosis. We tested this in two studies. In Study 1, we examined state reports from ten highly suggestible students following the administration of a suggestion for altered colour perception. The suggestion was administered twice, once with and once without prior induction of hypnosis. Students reported equivalent perceptual changes with and without the induction of hypnosis, but reported being in a hypnotic state only when a hypnotic induction had been administered. In Study 2, participants received either a hypnotic induction or specific suggestions to not slip into hypnosis. Even under these circumstances, subjective responding was equivalent in both conditions and behavioural responding was only slightly higher in the ‘hypnosis’ condition. These data disconfirm the slipping-into-hypnosis hypothesis. Copyright © 2008 British Society of Experimental & Clinical Hypnosis. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purposes: To determine the occurrence of nonconvulsive seizures (NCS) in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU); to ascertain the relationship of NCS to past medical history, etiology, EEG, and brain imaging; and to determine the concordance between abnormal EEG findings and neuroimaging abnormalities. Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of all pediatric patients who were admitted or transferred to the PICU from January 2000 to December 2003 with an unexplained decrease in level of consciousness, no overt clinical seizures, and EEG recordings performed within the 24 h of onset of an altered state of consciousness. Results: Twenty-three of 141 patients who met criteria for inclusion in the study (16.3%) were found to have NCS. The male to female ratio was 1.9:1. The largest group of patients (43%) had no preexisting neurological condition prior to the onset of NCS. In the remainder, the etiology of NCS included: acute structural brain lesion (48%), acute nonstructural brain lesion (22%), epilepsy-related seizure (13%), and others (17%). Epileptic foci were lateralized to the right side in 39.2%, the left side in 30.4%, and were bilateral in 30.4%. Of 23 patients with NCS, 18 (78.3%) demonstrated abnormal neuroimaging. In 10 of 18 of these patients (55.6%), the findings on neuroimaging were concordant with the lateralization found on EEG (p < 0.05, Fisher's exact test). Conclusions: NCS are not uncommon in pediatric patients with an altered state of consciousness. Almost half of the patients were previously healthy especially if they were under 6 months of age. This report highlights the importance of clinical awareness of NCS in the PICU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The non-veridical experiences associated with hypnosis, which are clearly at variance with reality, are a clue that the hypnotized person has ceased to test the validity of experiences. Recent brain-mapping studies implicate the anterior cingulate gyrus as a key region in the establishment of hypnotic misperceptions. Significantly, when that region of brain is damaged patients experience difficulty in distinguishing the imaginary from the real. Taken together, these observations support the claim that hypnosis entails an abandonment of reality testing. It is argued that an altered state of consciousness is an inevitable consequence of ceasing to test reality. Possible ways of researching this altered state are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chanting is a form of rhythmic, repetitive vocalization practiced in a wide range of cultures. It is used in spiritual practice to strengthen community, heal illness, and overcome psychological and emotional difficulties. In many traditions, chanting is used to induce mystical states, an altered state of consciousness characterised by a profound sense of peace. Despite the global prevalence of chanting, its psychological effects are poorly understood. This investigation examined the psychological and contextual factors associated with mystical states during chanting. Data were analyzed from 464 participants across 33 countries who regularly engaged in chanting. Results showed that 60% of participants experienced mystical states during chanting. Absorption, altruism, and religiosity were higher among people who reported mystical states while chanting compared to those who did not report mystical states. There was no difference in mystical experience scores between vocal, silent, group or individual chanting and no difference in the prevalence of mystical states across chanting traditions. However, an analysis of subscales suggested that mystical experiences were especially characterised by positive mood and feelings of ineffability. The research sheds new light on factors that impact upon chanting experiences. A framework for understanding mystical states during chanting is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]