Insular Stimulation Produces Mental Clarity and Bliss

For the first time, an ecstatic aura has been evoked through the electrical stimulation of the dorsal anterior insula during presurgical invasive intracerebral monitoring in a patient who did not suffer from an ecstatic form of epilepsy. This case provides more evidence that the anterior insula is the major generator of such a mystical‐type experience even in individuals with no underlying brain network changes related to a preexisting ecstatic epilepsy. ANN NEUROL 2022;91:289–292

[1]  Matthew W. Johnson,et al.  Effects of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy on Major Depressive Disorder , 2020, JAMA psychiatry.

[2]  Leyla Loued-Khenissi,et al.  Anterior insula reflects surprise in value-based decision-making and perception , 2020, NeuroImage.

[3]  Ann Taves.  Mystical and Other Alterations in Sense of Self: An Expanded Framework for Studying Nonordinary Experiences , 2019, Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

[4]  F. Bartolomei,et al.  The role of the dorsal anterior insula in ecstatic sensation revealed by direct electrical brain stimulation , 2019, Brain Stimulation.

[5]  J. Mosher,et al.  Connectivity of the human insula: A cortico-cortical evoked potential (CCEP) study , 2019, Cortex.

[6]  Peter Bossaerts,et al.  Formalizing the Function of Anterior Insula in Rapid Adaptation , 2018, Front. Integr. Neurosci..

[7]  Karl J. Friston,et al.  Active interoceptive inference and the emotional brain , 2016, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[8]  James Rucker,et al.  Psilocybin with psychological support for treatment-resistant depression: an open-label feasibility study. , 2016, The lancet. Psychiatry.

[9]  F. Picard,et al.  Ecstatic Epileptic Seizures: A Glimpse into the Multiple Roles of the Insula , 2016, Front. Behav. Neurosci..

[10]  Matthew W. Johnson,et al.  Validation of the revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire in experimental sessions with psilocybin , 2015, Journal of psychopharmacology.

[11]  Matthew W. Johnson,et al.  Validation of the revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire in experimental sessions with psilocybin , 2015, Journal of psychopharmacology.

[12]  F. Bartolomei,et al.  Induction of a sense of bliss by electrical stimulation of the anterior insula , 2013, Cortex.

[13]  F. Picard.  State of belief, subjective certainty and bliss as a product of cortical dysfunction , 2013, Cortex.

[14]  A. Clark.  Whatever next? Predictive brains, situated agents, and the future of cognitive science. , 2013, The Behavioral and brain sciences.

[15]  M. Paulus,et al.  Interoception in anxiety and depression , 2010, Brain Structure and Function.

[16]  A. Craig,et al.  Ecstatic epileptic seizures: A potential window on the neural basis for human self-awareness , 2009, Epilepsy & Behavior.

[17]  H. Critchley,et al.  A common role of insula in feelings, empathy and uncertainty , 2009, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[18]  W. James.  Varieties of Religious Experience , 2008 .

[19]  M. Paulus,et al.  An Insular View of Anxiety , 2006, Biological Psychiatry.

[20]  G. Jamieson.  A unified theory of hypnosis and meditation states: the interoceptive predictive coding approach , 2016 .