PLOS mental health
January 1, 2024
Leonardo Christov-Moore, Félix Schoeller, Caitlin Lynch et al.
11 citations
Aesthetic chills—pleasurable, cold sensations—are linked to self-transcendence, a state of ego-dissolution and connectedness that promotes well-being and prosociality. In a diverse sample of 2937 participants in Southern California exposed to chills-eliciting stimuli, both the likelihood and intensity of chills were positively associated with measures of self-transcendence, even after accounting for demographics, traits, and prior mood. Analyses of variance, mutual information, and correlation structure confirmed reliable interrelations across various audiovisual stimuli. The findings suggest aesthetic chills may indicate sufficiently intense feelings of self-transcendence, though generalizability to non-WEIRD populations and causal direction require further study.
Mindfulness
January 1, 2025
Juan P Zuniga-Hertz, Sierra Simpson, Ramamurthy Chitetti et al.
3 citations
During a week-long meditation retreat, twins showed changes in gene expression, metabolites, and cytokines in blood plasma that varied with the timing of assessment. Twin pairs began the retreat with similar molecular and brain-activity profiles, diverged at the midpoint, and converged again by the end. Even when in separate rooms, twin pairs exhibited significant correlations in brain-wave (spectral power) patterns, and heart rate dynamics aligned more closely in twin pairs than in unmatched pairs. These findings suggest that meditation may influence biological markers and that genetic background contributes to these responses.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2026
Leonardo Christov-Moore, Félix Schoeller, Mathilda Von Guttenberg et al.
A guided loving kindness meditation combined with chills-inducing music enhances mood, self-transcendence, emotional breakthrough, and psychological insight more than meditation alone. In a randomized online study with 398 participants, loving kindness meditation increased connectedness to others compared to a mindfulness-based control, while adding chills-inducing music to either meditation boosted self-transcendence, mood, emotional breakthrough, and psychological insight. The experience of aesthetic chills during meditation predicted these positive effects. Individual traits like absorption, interoceptive awareness, and vividness of internal imagery also independently contributed to specific outcomes such as ego-dissolution and connectedness. Chills augmentation appears a viable method for deepening contemplative practices.