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Persistent Non-SymbolicExperience in Adults
Jeffery A. MartinCenter for the Study of Non-Symbolic Consciousness
AndHarvard University
What isPersistent Non-Symbolic Experience
(PNSE)?
• ‘Gold standard’ self report measures– Example: Batch 1 - Modified M-Scale, DES2, STAI, SWLS, BFI,
TAS, and Modified MUMEX• In-depth interviews (6-12+ hours)
– Focused on Cognition, Affect, Memory and Perception– Extracting and refining testable psychological claims from self
reports• Example: “Loss of self” …what does this actually mean?• Clearly talking to someone who’s saying “I did X”
• Physiological measurement– HRV, SPV, breath, etc.– EEG, fMRI, …– DNA, blood, and other bio soon…
Approach
• Super achievers => broke and homeless• Mostly religious or spiritual• Age range late teens to mid-nineties• Globally dispersed (we only track English speakers, but come across many
others)• Generally educated• Skewed toward men• Various races but our sample is skewed towards Caucasians
Basically, if I put you in a room with a mix of people who report this and people who don’t, it would be very unlikely that you could tell the
difference from just observing them interact
Participants
PNSE Continuum
Location 1 Location 2 Location 3 Location 4
• Locations actually represent regions that have sub-locations with them
• Sub-locations are grouped within locations for convenience
• Some people stay in one spot, others move• Generally a forward progression but not
always
PNSE Continuum
- Expansion of sense of self, connection to divine- Much less affected by ‘self’ thoughts- Distance from but still have positive and negative emotions- Deep peace but can be suppressed by triggered conditioning- Effects from perceptual triggers fall off quickly- Deep peace and beingness feels more real than anything previous- Trust in ‘how things are’- Personal history less relevant, memories less
Location 1
PNSE Continuum
- ‘Self’ thoughts continue to fade- Peace increasingly harder to suppress/conditioning fades- Shift towards increasingly positive emotions, until only very positive emotions remain- Intermediate levels of perceptual triggers increasingly fade- More likely to feel that there is a correct decision or path to take when presented with choices- Higher well-being than location one
Location 2 Location 3 Location 4Location 1
PNSE Continuum
- Only single positive emotion remains- Feels like a combination of universal compassion, love, joy, …- Higher well-being than location 2
Location 1 Location 2 Location 3 Location 4
PNSE Continuum
- ‘Self’ thoughts continue to fade- Peace increasingly harder to suppress/conditioning fades- Shift towards increasingly positive emotions, until only very positive emotions remain- Intermediate levels of perceptual triggers increasingly fade- More likely to feel that there is a correct decision or path to take when presented with choices- Higher well-being than location one
- Expansion of sense of self, connection to divine- Much less affected by ‘self’ thoughts- Distance from but still have positive and negative emotions- Deep peace but can be suppressed by triggered conditioning- Effects from perceptual triggers fall off quickly- Deep peace and ‘beingness feels more real than anything previous- Trust in ‘how things are’- Personal history less relevant, memories less
- No sense of agency- No emotions- No ‘self’ thoughts- Perceptual triggers at their bare minimum- No sense of divine or universal consciousness- life was simply unfolding and they were watching the process happen- Memory deficits/scheduled appointments, etc.- Highest well-being reported
- Only single positive emotion remains- Feels like a combination of universal compassion, love, joy, …- Higher well-being than location 2
Location 1 Location 2 Location 3 Location 4
Getting There…
fMRI
rt-fMRI sEEGMEG
Narrow AI
Home Bio-feedback
PNSE
Applied Research - Feedback
fMRI
rt-fMRI sEEGMEG
tDCST/FUS
Home Unit
PNSE
Applied Research - Stimulation
Recent Experiment
• Best practices• Combined based on data• Taught by best people in each area• 4 months• 2 classes – 1 course• 6 participants– 3 men, 3 women– high, med, low well-being– 1 man did not successfully complete the program
Recent Experiment
• NSE– Location 1 = 1 person– Location 2 = 1 person
• Measures– STAI, STRESS, PILL, M-Scale, NETI, AHI, CES-D, FEQ,
GHS, PNAS, Gratitude, Optimism, Meaning, ATH, SWLS
– In ‘positive’ direction across subjects
SWLS
Jan-14 May-1432 3425 3512 2531 3528 33
5-35
STAI Y-1 (Current Anxiety)
Jan-14 May-1465 8080 8055 7277 8068 80
20-80
M-Scale
Jan-14 May-14109 13488 133
160 160114 16090 146
32-160
Toughest Case…Jan-14 May-14 Max
STAI Y-1 (Anxiety Now) 55 72 80STAI Y-2 (Anxiety Persist.) 44 71 80Stress 28 4 0MNETI (PNSE) 67 84 120AHI (Overall Happiness) 2.04 3.5 5CES-D (Depression) 25 8 0GHS (Enduring Happiness) 3.25 5.25 7SWLS (Wellbeing) 12 25 35FEQ (% Time Happy) 20 65 100
Another ExampleJan-14 May-14 Max
STAI Y-1 (Anxiety Now) 68 80 80STAI Y-2 (Anxiety Persist.) 65 79 80Stress 16 3 0MNETI (PNSE) 71 103 120AHI (Overall Happiness) 3.13 4.38 5M-Scale 90 146 160GHS (Enduring Happiness) 4.5 6.75 7SWLS (Wellbeing) 28 33 35FEQ (% Time Happy) 65 99 100CES-D (Depression) 10 1 0
