Subscribe
The latest psychology and neuroscience discoveries.
My Account
  • Mental Health
  • Social Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Psychopharmacology
No Result
View All Result
PsyPost
PsyPost
No Result
View All Result
Home Exclusive Cognitive Science

Manipulating light can induce psychedelic experiences – and scientists aren’t quite sure why

by Matthew MacKisack and Reshanne Reeder
May 19, 2023
in Cognitive Science

[Subscribe to PsyPost on YouTube to stay up-to-date on the latest developments in psychology and neuroscience]

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

For millennia, people have used mind-altering techniques to achieve different states of consciousness, envision spiritual figures, connect with nature, or simply for the fun of it. Psychedelic substances, in particular, have a long and controversial history. But for just as long, people have been having these experiences without drugs too, using rhythmic techniques such as rocking, chanting or drumming.

Perhaps the most powerful technique of this kind is flickering light, called “ganzflicker”. Ganzflicker effects can be achieved by turning a light on and off, or by alternating colours in a rapid, rhythmic pattern (like a strobe). This can create an instant psychedelic experience.

Ganzflicker elicits striking visual phenomena. People can see geometric shapes and illusory colours but sometimes also complex objects, such as animals and faces – all without any chemical stimulants. Sometimes ganzflicker can even lead to altered states of consciousness (such as losing a sense of time or space) and emotions (ranging from fear to euphoria).

Although its effects are little known today, ganzflicker has influenced and inspired many people through the ages, including the two of us. We are an art historian and brain scientist working together on an interactive showcase of ganzflicker techniques used in science and art. Our collaboration has culminated in the museum exhibition “Ganzflicker: art, science, and psychedelic experience”, which is part of the 2022 Being Human festival.

Ganzflicker’s effects were first documented in 1819 by the physiologist Jan E. Purkinje. Purkinje discovered that illusory patterns could appear if he faced the sun and waved his hand in front of his closed eyelids.

Near the end of the 19th century, an English toymaker and amateur scientist, Charles Benham, produced the first commercially available flicker device: a top with a monochrome pattern that, when spun, produced illusory colours that swirled around the disc.

Modified versions of Benham’s “artificial spectrum top” were used in experiments well into the 20th century. William Grey Walter, a pioneering neurophysiologist and cybernetician, pushed flicker effects further by using electric strobe lights, synchronised with the brain’s rhythms.

Fascinated by the mind-altering potential of Walter’s machinery, the artist Brion Gysin, in collaboration with writer William S. Burroughs and mathematician Ian Sommerville, invented the Dreamachine (1962).

The swinging 60s of drug-free psychedelics

A Dreamachine consists of an upright cylinder with patterns cut into it and a lightbulb suspended at its centre. When spun on a turntable at 78rpm, the flickering patterns (viewed through closed eyelids) can cause trance-like hallucinations.

Gysin thought of the Dreamachine as a new kind of artwork – “the first art object to be seen with the eyes closed” – and a form of entertainment, which he believed could replace the television. Others saw the Dreamachine’s potential to be a source of spiritual inspiration.

Burroughs thought it could be used to “storm the citadels of enlightenment”. The poet Alan Ginsberg said: “It sets up optical fields as religious and mandalic as hallucinogenic drugs – it’s like being able to have jewelled biblical designs and landscapes without taking chemicals.”

Flicker experiments in art did not stop with the Dreamachine. Others included Tony Conrad’s groundbreaking structuralist film The Flicker (1966), which was the first artwork to include the warning “may induce epileptic seizures or produce mild symptoms of shock treatment in certain persons”.

The conceptual artist James Turrell’s Bindu Shards (2010) was an enclosed globe that bombards the observer with strobe light. And, more recently, Collective Act created its own Dreamachine (2022) , a public planetarium-style artwork inspired by Gysin’s which toured the UK.

The science of ganzflicker

Two hundred years after Jan Purkinje documented the physiological properties of ganzflicker, scientists still do not have a definitive explanation for how it works.

A recent theory proposes that visual phenomena may be the result of interactions between external flicker and the brain’s natural rhythmic electrical pulses, with more intense images manifesting when the frequencies of flicker and the brain are closest.

It is also likely that a strong visual flicker influences brain states. Meaningful visions, altered conscious states and heightened emotions may be the result of imaginative suggestion, which is amplified by the trance-inducing properties of rhythmic stimulation.

What is perhaps most powerful about ganzflicker is its universality. Engineers, mathematicians, artists, historians and scientists have all been united by this modest, drug-free means of eliciting dramatic changes in consciousness. The new wave of popularity on this topic will undoubtedly lead to illuminating discoveries in the coming years.The Conversation

 

 

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ShareTweetSendScanShareSharePin1Send
Previous Post

Mindfulness might hinder prosocial behavior among individuals with high intelligence

Next Post

Study finds no link between immune system functioning and male facial attractiveness

STAY CONNECTED

Find these awesome psychology shirts and more at the PsyPost Store!

TRENDING

Social anxiety tends to be elevated among those who suffered emotional maltreatment in childhood

New study identifies perceived mattering as a core psychological component of happy marriages

Scientists use deep learning algorithms to predict political ideology based on facial characteristics

New study hints at the characteristics of the “ideal” female breast

Higher prenatal testosterone exposure is linked to Machiavellianism and psychopathy, study suggests

Diversity of the gut microbiota is associated with the severity of depression

RECENT

Diversity of the gut microbiota is associated with the severity of depression

Higher prenatal testosterone exposure is linked to Machiavellianism and psychopathy, study suggests

New research: Brain implant can objectively measure chronic pain severity

New study hints at the characteristics of the “ideal” female breast

Our brain prefers positive vocal sounds that come from our left

Study highlights the importance of napping for memory consolidation in early childhood

People with advanced biological age are at greater risk of developing depression and anxiety, study finds

Sun avoidance and lack of vitamin D dietary intake linked to heightened anxiety among college women

Currently Playing

Childhood adversity associated with increased emotional response to others’ suffering in adulthood

Childhood adversity associated with increased emotional response to others’ suffering in adulthood

Childhood adversity associated with increased emotional response to others’ suffering in adulthood

Mental Health
New study sheds light on cognitive mechanisms linked to hypnosis

Chronic intake of refined carbohydrates between meals is associated with decreased cognitive performance, study finds

Cognitive Science
Mindfulness might hinder prosocial behavior among individuals with high intelligence

Mindfulness might hinder prosocial behavior among individuals with high intelligence

Social Psychology
Women who have larger breasts tend to have lower levels of satisfaction with their breasts, study finds

Women who have larger breasts tend to have lower levels of satisfaction with their breasts, study finds

Social Psychology
Unwanted celibacy is linked to hostility towards women, sexual objectification of women, and endorsing rape myths

Depressive symptoms tied to malevolent creativity in new study

Depression
Psychosocial stress triggers an oxytocin response in women, study finds

Oxytocin alters amygdala activation in response to angry faces in antisocial personality disorder

Cognitive Science
  • Cognitive Science
  • COVID-19
  • Mental Health
  • Social Psychology
  • Drug Research
  • Conspiracy Theories
  • Meditation
  • Psychology of Religion
  • Aviation Psychology and Human Factors
  • Relationships and Sexual Health
  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Neuroimaging
  • Psychedelic Drugs
  • Dark Triad
  • Political Psychology

About

PsyPost is a psychology and neuroscience news website dedicated to reporting the latest research on human behavior, cognition, and society. (READ MORE...)

  • Contact us
  • Privacy policy

Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Cognitive Science Research
  • Mental Health Research
  • Social Psychology Research
  • Drug Research
  • Relationship Research
  • About PsyPost
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used.