Hypnosis and meditation share some features in how they feel and in brain activity, but it is unclear whether they are fundamentally the same or different. A review of studies that directly compare them finds some evidence for differences and other evidence for similarities, yet such experiments are scarce and no consensus exists. Comparing the two could illuminate how attention, metacognition, and executive control shape consciousness, but research is still in its early stages.
Immersive virtual reality cave environments can induce higher emotional arousal, spiritual engagement, and improvements in creativity and flexible thinking compared to virtual open spaces. Participants performed pareidolic tasks in both settings, and the cave setting led to changes in semantic network organization and subjective experience. These findings support the hypothesis that ancient humans used caves for rituals involving altered consciousness, and demonstrate that VR can reconstruct early human experiences to investigate psychological and cognitive states. The work bridges cognitive archaeology and immersive VR technologies.