The transliminal brain at rest: baseline EEG, unusual experiences, and access to unconscious mental activity.

People high in transliminality—a trait linked to magical thinking, paranormal belief, and creativity—show distinct patterns of resting brain activity compared to those low in transliminality. High-transliminality individuals had lower alpha, beta, and gamma power over the left posterior association cortex and lower high alpha, low beta, and gamma power over the right superior temporal region, but greater gamma power over the frontal-midline region. These differences align with patterns seen in schizotypy and schizophrenia spectrum disorders, supporting theories that altered brain asymmetries may predispose people to unusual experiences and beliefs.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Transliminality reflects individual differences in the threshold at which unconscious processes or external stimuli enter into consciousness. Individuals high in transliminality possess characteristics such as magical ideation, belief in the paranormal, and creative personality traits, and also report the occurrence of manic/mystic experiences. The goal of the present research was to determine if resting brain activity differs for individuals high versus low in transliminality. We compared baseline EEG recordings (eyes-closed) between individuals high versus low in transliminality, assessed using The Revised Transliminality Scale of Lange et al. (2000). Identifying reliable differences at rest between high- and low-transliminality individuals would support a predisposition for transliminality-related traits. Individuals high in transliminality exhibited lower alpha, beta, and gamma power than individuals low in transliminality over left posterior association cortex and lower high alpha, low beta, and gamma power over the right superior temporal region. In contrast, when compared to individuals low in transliminality, individuals high in transliminality exhibited greater gamma power over the frontal-midline region. These results are consistent with prior research reporting reductions in left temporal/parietal activity, as well as the desynchronization of right temporal activity in schizotypy and related schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Further, differences between high- and low-transliminality groups extend existing theories linking altered hemispheric asymmetries in brain activity to a predisposition toward schizophrenia, paranormal beliefs, and unusual experiences.