Lund University

Ongoing Projects

A. Testing a Taxonomy of Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness Using LLM

Period: 2026-2028

Funder: Tiny Blue Dot Foundation

Collaborators: Oscar Kjell, Katja Valli, Aviva Berkovich-Ohana, Steven Laureys, Michiel van Elk, David Yaden, Katrin Preller, Andrew Newberg.

This study funds a doctoral student (Kevin Ekstrand Odd) to validate through use of large language modeling (LLM), a classification of the phenomenology of altered states of consciousness formulated by 16 international experts (Cardeña et al. 2015).

B. Set, Setting and Entourage Effects on Psychedelic Experiences

Period: 2025-2027

Funder: Bial Foundation

Collaborators: Michiel van Elk

P. I. / Contact person: Michiel van Elk (P. I.), University of Leiden, the Netherlands.

We test psychological and neural (EEG) predictors of positive or negative responses to "magic mushrooms" in authorized smartshops in Amsterdam.

C. Development and Validation of a Measure of Experiences of Spirit Interaction

Period: 2025-2027

Funder: Bial Foundation

Collaborators: Matti Cervin, Alejandro Frigerio, Yvonne Schaffler, Alexander Moreira-Almeida

This project integrates top-down (expert opinion) and bottom-up (LLM of self-reports) to create and later validate online a questionnaire of experiences of spirit communications/interactions.

D. A Cross-Cultural and Experimental Investigation of the Role of Rhythmic Stimulation for Ritualistically Induced Altered States of Consciousness.

Funder: Riskbankjubileum

P. I. / Contact person: Gabriela-Alina Sauciuc, Department of Psychology, Lund University.

We are conducting two related studies. The first one involves a comprehensive gathering of traditional shamanic ritual music samples across cultures, to evaluate if there are any rhythmic and other musical commonalities among them. The second involves experimentally testing the effect of personality traits and expectations on EEG activity and phenomenology of naive participants exposed to music stimulation.

E. Development of a Dimensional Model of States of Consciousness

Collaborators: Aviva Berkovich-Ohana, Yair Dor-Ziderman, Kevin Ekstrand Odd, Krishna Kumar, Steven Laureys, Thomas Netland, Katja Vall, Michiel van Elk.

This project is creating a dimensional approach of states of consciousness to supplement the categorical taxonomy developed earlier.