Emulating Entheogens to Enhance Empathy

Study Status

Protocol Design
Data Collection
Data Analysis
Manuscript(s) Preparation
Publication

Protocol 005 (E4002)

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Characterizing the neurophysiological and behavioral profile of aesthetic chills

With funding from the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation and Joy Ventures, The Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies will be conducting a series of basic research studies aimed at 1) building a gradient of aesthethic chills and 2) evaluate the potential of chills stimuli as psychoplasthogens (as evidenced by signature of brain criticality) and empatheogens.

Extending on past results from online studies at the institute, E4-F02 will further validate chills in selected stimuli from within experience (via state-report), physiology (via peripheral measures), neural signatures (entropy measures via sparse EEG), psychological shifts (via self-reported awe, ego-dissolution and non-ordinary experience) and behavioral outcomes (prosocial behavior, moral decision-making, dispositional empathy).

This study will investigate what causes chills, what they mean for emotions and social behavior, and how technologies could be designed to boost positive reactions. We are interested in understanding a feeling called "chills" - when you get goosebumps or shivers down your spine in response to something positive or meaningful.

Actively Recruiting Participants

If you volunteer to participate in this study, during your first on-site visit, you will complete a length behavioral questionnaire, followed by money-sharing game.

During the second visit, we will first ask you to complete a series of questionnaires that will profile your mood state.You will then be outfitted with a 64-electrode EEG cap to measure brainwaves and a series of peripherals to measure various biometrics: Electromyography, Bio-Impedance-Based Respiration Rate, Heart Rate Variability, Oxygen Saturation, and Galvanic Skin Response. All of these measures are passively recorded by making contact with various body parts and do not require any bodily insertions nor bodily samples.You will then listen to a series of short songs while wearing sensors that measure your brain waves, heart rate, breathing, and muscle movements. We will also ask you to report when you experience chills during the song. After listening, you will fill out more questionnaires about your reactions and play a money-sharing game.

This is a 2-day study (taking place within 10-14 days of each other).

The first session will take approximately 1 hour. The second session (scheduled between 10-14 days after your first visit) will take approximately 3 hours.

You will be compensated $30 per hour for your participation in this research study, with a total around $120. You are permitted to withdraw from the study at any time and will be compensated for your time (pro-rated to 15-minute intervals) prior to voluntary exclusion. Additionally, all parking in our building will be validated.

Sign Up To Be A Participant

Identify individualized pro-social chills-eliciting content

With funding from the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation, The Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies will be conducting a series of basic research studies aimed at developing a multisensory intervention that approximates the subjective/neural states and deep changes in prosocial belief and behavior associated with entheogenic, non-ordinary experience. A key component of this eventual intervention is interoceptive stimulation, achieved via aesthetic “chills” known to increase prosocial inclination. As a first step, we must conduct a pilot study to assess the “chills”-evoking properties of a pre-selected set of video stimuli, in order to (I) isolate the most universally-chills evoking stimuli ; (II) determine trait characteristics that predict chills; and (III) examine the correlations between chills and self-report outcome measures of prosociality.

E4001

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Outcomes

2024

Schoeller, F., Christov-Moore, L., Lynch, C., Diot, T., & Nicco Reggente. (2024). Predicting individual differences in peak emotional response. Predicting individual differences in peak emotional response [‌PDF]
Schoeller, F., Jain, A., Christov-Moore, L., Lynch, C., Diot, T., Reggente, N. (2024) Repeated Exposure Decreases Aesthetic Chills Likelihood but Increases Intensity. Repeated Exposure Decreases Aesthetic Chills Likelihood but Increases Intensity.
Schoeller, F., Jain, A., Dumitrescu, A., Johnson, M., Maes, P., Reggente, N. (2024) Schema Surgery: AI-generated Peak Positive Emotional Stimuli Deactivate Maladaptive Schema. Schema Surgery: AI-generated Peak Positive Emotional Stimuli Deactivate Maladaptive Schema.
Schoeller, F., Jain, A., Adrien, V., Maes, P., & Nicco Reggente. (2024). Aesthetic chills mitigate maladaptive cognition in depression. BMC Psychiatry, 24(1). Aesthetic chills mitigate maladaptive cognition in depression.[PDF]
Lulla, R., Christov-Moore, L., Vaccaro, A., Reggente, N., Iacoboni, M., & Kaplan, J. (2024). Empathy from Dissimilarity: Multivariate Pattern Analysis of Neural Activity During Observation of Somatosensory Experience. Imaging Neuroscience. Empathy from Dissimilarity: Multivariate Pattern Analysis of Neural Activity During Observation of Somatosensory Experience.[PDF]

2023

Schoeller, F., Christov-Moore, L., Lynch, C., & Nicco Reggente. (2023). ChillsDB 2.0: Individual Differences in Aesthetic Chills Among 2,900+ Southern California Participants. ChillsDB 2.0: Individual Differences in Aesthetic Chills Among 2,900+ Southern California Participants.‌‌
Schoeller, F., Jain, A., Christov-Moore, L., & Reggente, N. (2023). Musical chills induce psychological insight. Retrieved from osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/m9ea5
Christov-Moore, L., Schoeller, F., Lynch, C., Sacchet, M., & Reggente, N. (2023). Aesthetic Chills Reliably Elicit Self-Transcendence. Aesthetic Chills Reliably Elicit Self-Transcendence.[PDF]
Jain, A., Schoeller, F., Horowitz, A. H., Yan, G., Hu, X., Salomon, R., Dr., & Maes, P. (2023) Aesthetic chills cause an emotional drift in valence and arousal. Front. Neurosci. Aesthetic chills cause an emotional drift in valence and arousal [PDF][Blog Writeup]

2024

Schoeller, F., Jain, A., Pizzagalli, D. A., & Nicco Reggente. (2024). The Neurobiology of Aesthetic Chills: How Bodily Sensations Shape Emotional Experiences. The Neurobiology of Aesthetic Chills: How Bodily Sensations Shape Emotional Experiences. [PDF]
Schoeller, F., Horowitz, A. H., Jain, A., Maes, P., Reggente, N., Christov-Moore, L., Pezzulo, G., Barca, L., Allen, M., Salomon, R., Miller, M., Di Lernia, D., Riva, G., Tsakiris, M., Chalah, M. A., Klein, A., Zhang, B., Garcia, T., Pollack, U., … Friston, K. (2024). Interoceptive Technologies for psychiatric interventions: From diagnosis to clinical applications. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 156, 105478. Interoceptive technologies for psychiatric interventions: From diagnosis to clinical applications [PDF]
Jinich-Diamant, A., Reggente, N., Bolis, D., Lehmann, K., Kanske, P., Lynch, C., Iacoboni, M., Kaplan, J., Hesp, C., Schilbach, L., & Christov-Moore, L. (2024). Toward A Multiscale Account of Trust. Toward A Multiscale Account of Trust.
Safron, A., Juliani, A., Kiefer, A., Reggente, N., Klimaj, V., & Johnson, M. (in press). On the Varieties of Conscious Experiences: Altered Beliefs Under Psychedelics (ALBUS). Neuroscience of Consciousness. On the Varieties of Conscious Experiences: Altered Beliefs Under Psychedelics (ALBUS). Neuroscience of Consciousness.
Juliani, A., Safron, A., Kanai, R. (In press) Deep CANALs: A Deep Learning Approach to Refining the Canalization Theory of Psychopathology. Neuroscience of Consciousness. Deep CANALs: A Deep Learning Approach to Refining the Canalization Theory of Psychopathology. Neuroscience of Consciousness.

2023

Christov-Moore, L., Schoeller, F., Lynch, C., Sacchet, M. D., & Nicco Reggente. (2023). Self-Transcendence Accompanies Aesthetic Chills. Self-Transcendence Accompanies Aesthetic Chills.
Nicco Reggente, Pluimer, B., Lulla, R., Kaplan, J., Iacoboni, M., & Christov-Moore, L. (2023). Multivariate Connectivity Pattern Analysis of Task-Free fMRI Predicts Subdimensions of Empathy. Multivariate Connectivity Pattern Analysis of Task-Free fMRI Predicts Subdimensions of Empathy.
Schoeller, F. (2023). Negative self-schemas drive pathological doubt in OCD. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14. Negative self-schemas drive pathological doubt in OCD.[PDF]
Christov-Moore, L., Reggente, N., Vaccaro, A., Schoeller, F., Pluimer, B., Douglas, P. K., Iacoboni, M., Man, K., Damasio, A., & Kaplan, J. T. (2023). Preventing antisocial robots: A pathway to artificial empathy. Sci. Robot, 8, eabq3658. Preventing antisocial robots: A pathway to artificial empathy. [PDF] [Blog Writeup]
Schoeller, Felix. "Primary states of consciousness: A review of historical and contemporary developments." Consciousness and Cognition 113 (2023): 103536. Primary states of consciousness: A review of historical and contemporary developments.
Christov‐Moore, L., Jinich‐Diamant, A., Safron, A., Lynch, C., & Reggente, N. (2023). Cognitive Science Below the Neck: Toward an Integrative Account of Consciousness in the Body. Cognitive Science, 47(3), e13264. Cognitive Science Below the Neck: Toward an Integrative Account of Consciousness in the Body. [PDF] [Blog Writeup]

2024

Christov-Moore, L., Schoeller, F., Reggente, N. (2024) Religiosity and Body Awareness Mediate Political Conservatism's Link to Intensity of Aesthetic Experiences: A Californian-Texan Pre-registered Study. Religiosity and Body Awareness Mediate Political Conservatism's Link to Intensity of Aesthetic Experiences: A Californian-Texan Pre-registered Study.

2023

Christov-Moore, L. (2023). Interactions Between Religiosity and Political Orientation Effects on Aesthetic Chills. Interactions Between Religiosity and Political Orientation Effects on Aesthetic Chills.

2024

Christov-Moore, L. (2024). The Science of Flourishing. Transform Conference. Los Angeles, Nevada. [Talk]

2023

Moore, C. (2023, October 25-26). Emulating Entheogens for Enhancing Empathy. Compassion 2.0, San Francisco, CA. [Talk] [Supplemental]

2024

- Frohlich, J. (2024). How a total eclipse alters your psyche - Nautilus. Retrieved from https://nautil.us/how-a-total-eclipse-alters-your-psyche-542401/
- Woodward, K. D. (2024). Scientists Develop Model to Predict When You’ll Get the Chills from Beautiful Art. Today Headline. Scientists Develop Model to Predict When You’ll Get the Chills from Beautiful Art.
- X, S. (2024). Predicting who will experience aesthetic chills. Phys.org. Predicting who will experience aesthetic chills.
- Lennon, A. (2024). Feeling 'Chills' Improves Self-Beliefs in Patients with Depression. Labroots. Feeling 'Chills' Improves Self-Beliefs in Patients with Depression.
Chill-Inducing Stimuli Hold Promise as Drug-Free Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder. (2024). https://www.physiciansweekly.com/impact-of-aesthetic-chills-to-overcome-negative-thought-patterns-in-depression/
Report for: Preventing antisocial robots: A pathway to artificial empathy. https://www.altmetric.com/details/151291636
Report for: Aesthetic chills mitigate maladaptive cognition in depression. https://www.altmetric.com/details/158272397
PsyMed VenturesPsyMed Ventures. (2024). Exploring the Next Generation of Mental Health Solutions. LinkedIn. Exploring the Next Generation of Mental Health Solutions
Neuroscience News. (2024). Aesthetic chills chase depression away. Aesthetic chills chase depression away.

2023

Atomic Podcast with Dr. Rooney Sappington. (2023). Atomic Podcast EP. 14 - Interview with Dr. Nicco Reggente and Dr. Leonardo Christov-Moore [Video]. YouTube. Atomic Podcast EP. 14 - Interview with Dr. Nicco Reggente and Dr. Leonardo Christov-Moore [Video]
Britton, S. (Host). (2023). Making Transcendent Experiences More Accessible with The Institute For Advanced Consciousness Studies (IACS). [Audio podcast episode]. In EvolutionFM. Making Transcendent Experiences More Accessible with The Institute For Advanced Consciousness Studies (IACS)
Ubiquity University. (2023). Humanity Rising Day 781: Compassion 2.0 Neuroscience of Compassion & Prosociality & Self-Compassion. [Video] Youtube. Humanity Rising Day 781: Compassion 2.0 Neuroscience of Compassion & Prosociality & Self-Compassion.
Crespi, S., Mclean, K., Lloreda, L.C. (2023). The AI special issue, adding empathy to robots, and scientists leaving Arecibo. Science. The AI special issue, adding empathy to robots, and scientists leaving Arecibo.
Fan, S. (2023). Giving AI a Sense of Empathy Could Protect Us From Its Worst Impulses. Singularity Hub. Giving AI a Sense of Empathy Could Protect Us From Its Worst Impulses.
Yirka. B. (2023). How to give AI-based robots empathy so they won't want to kill us. Tech Xplore. How to give AI-based robots empathy so they won't want to kill us.
(2023). How to give AI-based robots empathy so they won't want to kill us. News Azi. Giving AI a Sense of Empathy Could Protect Us From Its Worst Impulses.
(2023). How to give AI-based robots empathy so they won't want to kill us. Today Headline. How to give AI-based robots empathy so they won't want to kill us.