CONSCIOUSNESS

194 5. Experiential Approaches
mary interest is an accumulated body of research focused on the neural activities of the suprachiasmatic
nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus. The SCN functions as the pacemaker of the
nervous system, and is the body’s true biological clock. Each of the several thousand neurons
within the SCN fulfills this pacemaker function by pulsating or firing in synchrony with the
other neurons in the array. These synchronized impulses allow the SCN to exert its biological
clock function as a unified entity, regulating the timing and chronology of scheduled bodily
functions from birth until death. The endogenous oscillations of the SCN pacemaker neurons
are understood as constituting the basic energy of life, and the basis of sympathetic tone. We
hoped to apply this knowledge by exploring the possibility that sympathetic tone could be enhanced
through the use of hypnotic suggestions focused on augmentation of SCN functioning.
The authors modified a hypnosis script to include imagery for augmentation of SCN activity.
As the anatomical location of the SCN corresponds exactly with that of the so-called “third
eye” of Indian mythology, we refer to our approach as “third-eye hypnosis”. Mastery of the
approach of augmenting sympathetic activity will allow for the development of new avenues
of treatment planning, and provide interventions for conditions not currently treatable. P5
291 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Onset and Altered State of Consciousness
Symptoms Brock Kilbourne (El Camino Psychology Services, PC,
Oceanside, CA)
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-4), the main source
of mental disorder diagnoses in the United States, does not identify as part of the diagnostic
criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) the mental state or cognitive mediating variables
of individuals at the onset of PTSD. The present paper develops a conceptual analysis
of the unique mental state or the cognitive mediation that occurs in the individual between
the traumatic event and the individual’s emotional reaction of numbness and/or helplessness.
Based on reports from clinical samples, both civilian and military (active and retired), chronic
PTSD clients report the onset of the traumatic event and PTSD as different from their normal
state of awareness and report vivid memories of the traumatic event (i.e., as if it happened yesterday),
lasting sometimes decades after the traumatic event. Chronic PTSD clients typically
characterize that experience in terms of some individual pattern of altered state of consciousness
symptoms (ASC) (e.g., time distortions, perceptual distortions, de-realization and depersonalization,
etc.). A conceptual analysis of PTSD onset is proffered that recognizes ASC
symptoms at the onset of PTSD, the stamping of ASC symptoms on the traumatic event(s),
neurobiochemical involvement at the onset of PTSD, the development of a neural memory
or neural imprinting at PTSD onset, and the paradox of PTSD memories. Implications for
diagnosis and treatment (i.e., early intervention and prevention) are discussed as well as implications
for understanding our normal state of consciousness. P5
292 From ‘Plants of the Gods’ to Shamanic Consciousness Elaine Perry, Valerie Laws
(Institute Of Ageing And Health, Newcastle University, Newcastle
Upon Tyne, TYNE AND WEAR United Kingdom)
Shamanic practitioners use a variety of methods, including ingestion of psychoactive
plants, to deliberately enter altered states of consciousness. The objective is to obtain otherwise
inaccessible information, allegedly from ‘other dimensions’ of consciousness. Active
across most geographic regions and extending back thousands of years, shamans have acquired
extensive knowledge on altered states of consciousness that either has contributed, or
has the potential to contribute, towards the science of consciousness. Aspects of such knowledge,
variously verified in scientific terms, impact on three important areas of consciousness
research: psychopharmacology, theoretical frameworks and psychopathology. First, chemicals
in extracts of ‘plants of the gods’ used to induce altered states (hallucinations or ‘spirit
journeys’ according to belief) continue to lead to identification of key pharmacological mechanisms
controlling conscious awareness (most recently interaction of DMT, an ayahuasca
ingredient, with sigma1 receptors) (reviewed Perry, 2002; Perry and Laws, in press). Second
and controversially, anecdotal evidence of conscious interactions beyond the physical brain
during shamanic ‘journeys’ is supported by some scientific evidence of such phenomena as te-