1. Persistent Non-Symbolic Experience in Adults Jeffery A. Martin Center for the Study of Non-Symbolic Consciousness And Harvard University

2. What is Persistent Non-Symbolic Experience (PNSE)?

3. ‘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

4. 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

5. PNSE Continuum Location 1 Location 2 Location 3Location 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

6. 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

7. 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 3Location 4Location 1

8. 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 3Location 4

9. 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 3Location 4

10. Other interesting data…

11. You May be Surprised That… No effects for: – “Spiritual Practice” – Hallucinogenic Drugs – Exposure to “Guru’s” Psychologically “normal” – keep same preferences, hobbies, etc. Unable to be differentiated in crowd (or work, family, etc.) Dogmatic Divorce Morality, Health Behaviors, … Body Disassociation 24/7 Awareness and Anesthesia Claims of Truth – they can be primed, conditioned, … Stress, physical illness can knock it out

12. Getting There…

13. fMRI rt-fMRI sEEG MEG Narrow AI Home Bio-feedback PNSE Applied Research - Feedback

14. fMRI rt-fMRI sEEG MEG tDCS T/FUS Home Unit PNSE Applied Research - Stimulation

15. 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

16. 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

17. SWLS Jan-14May-14 3234 2535 1225 3135 2833 5-35

18. STAI Y-1 (Current Anxiety) Jan-14May-14 6580 5572 7780 6880 20-80

19. M-Scale Jan-14May-14 109134 88133 160 114160 90146 32-160

20. Toughest Case… Jan-14May-14Max STAI Y-1 (Anxiety Now)557280 STAI Y-2 (Anxiety Persist.)447180 Stress2840 MNETI (PNSE)6784120 AHI (Overall Happiness)2.043.55 CES-D (Depression)2580 GHS (Enduring Happiness)3.255.257 SWLS (Wellbeing)122535 FEQ (% Time Happy)2065100

21. Another Example Jan-14May-14Max STAI Y-1 (Anxiety Now)6880 STAI Y-2 (Anxiety Persist.)657980 Stress1630 MNETI (PNSE)71103120 AHI (Overall Happiness)3.134.385 M-Scale90146160 GHS (Enduring Happiness)4.56.757 SWLS (Wellbeing)283335 FEQ (% Time Happy)6599100 CES-D (Depression)1010

22. Thank You! Paper at: nonsymbolic.org/PNSE-Article.pdf Email: jeffery.a.martin@gmail.com