You will likely find some of the information in this post to be astounding and even terrifying! I know I did. I am so thankful that I am covered by the Blood of Yahushua!
Have you not wondered why the ruling elite are so gung-ho to get everyone on some kind of high? Whether it is recreational drugs, or the more dangerous STREET DRUGS, or Prescription Drugs or Alcohol, they want everyone to be in an altered state of consciousness most of the time. They have nearly the whole world now practicing mindfulness, meditation and out of body experiences. They whole world is talking about Spiritual Experiences whether that is Lucid Dreaming, Ghost hunting, shapeshifting, ecstatic dancing, drumming, séances, tantric Yoga, Sacred Sexuality, Possession, Sex with demons/angels, voodoo, hoodoo, Black Magic, CHATBOT connection, Alien encounters… whatever floats your boat. It is all good, as long as you experience that altered state of consciousness. As long as you are in that state, you are far more controllable, suggestable, and capable of accepting fantasy as if it were reality. You are unable to think clearly, discern spiritually, judge wisely, make solid and sound choices.
There is a reason they spend so much time and money studying our brains. Just like they used humans willing to feed them data about their jobs so that they could be replaced with robotics, they are using people willing to allow them to probe and study their brains so that they can be replaced. The future is the MACHINE in case you have not heard that enough times to get it into your head. This is the end of humanity!!
They have already breached so many of our bodies’ gateways. Our skin, our blood, our DNA and countless others. They have blasted through out blood brain barrier leaving us open to God only know what kinds of diseases and/or manipulation of our minds. Our bodies are full of chemicals, metals, minerals, our DNA has been altered, we have nanobots and the immortal Hydra–like life form swimming around and multiplying, BIOHYBRID Neuro implants and it is never enough for these madmen. They will not be happy until they either have established complete control or killed us in the process.
The BIG SWITCH applies both the NEW GATEKEEPER they have found that can turn our consciousness on and off and to the switch in attitude in regard to the truth about spirits and their role in diseases, especially those of the mind. Their answer to the latter, just adore them. Worship the spirits and make peace. Naturally that is their advice as that merely opens the person up to further influences of the spirits, who will bring their friends.
Folks, WAKE UP! You are in the GREATEST BATTLE OF YOUR LIFE! And you are losing! This is a spiritual battle and the enemy is not only at your gates…he is busting through! It is very rare that a fortress can be saved once the gates have been breached!
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New research identifies what part of the brain is responsible for a critical switch.
The brain is constantly sorting through an endless barrage of sensory stimuli. In the same five minutes, you could be navigating your way through a crush of pedestrians, while calling the office, picking up your dog’s doo-doo, and keeping an eye on that the driver who’s sure to blow through a stop sign.
Because we can’t possibly absorb every single stimulus, our brain lets some of these signals filter through to our consciousness while others don’t.
But where specifically in the brain does that filtering take place? If somewhere in the brain exists the gateway to consciousness, which part of the brain functions as the gatekeeper?
Researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School set out to answer this question. Their study, published Tuesday in Cell Reports, suggests they’ve found the answer.
“The findings reveal a gateway in the cortex where sensory information has to pass through in order to reach its destination (conscious access),” co-author Zirui Huang, tells Inverse. Huang is a research investigator at the University of Michigan Medical School.
What you need to know first — Information processing is an act in two parts.
First, the body processes the sensory information from the environment (all that information the body is picking up on a busy street). That is done without awareness — it’s your body functioning behind the scenes before you become consciously aware of it.
The brain then sorts through all the information and decides what is important for you to become conscious of — like that car whizzing through a stop sign or the stranger standing closer than necessary behind you. Somewhere in the brain exists a so-called “gate to consciousness” that opens for the most important information.
What’s new — The researchers conducted two experiments, both using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify what they call “the cortical gate for conscious access of sensory information.” The gate determines which sensory stimuli we become consciously aware of.
In the first experiment, the researchers asked participants to engage in three mental imagery tasks (playing tennis, navigating a location, and squeezing a hand) and execute one motor response task (squeezing a ball). When a person imagines doing a task, the area of their brain responsible for controlling movement is activated. When the person actually does the task, other regions of the brain become less active, because mental attention is focused on the activity.
Task-induced brain imagery taken during the study.
The researchers wanted to identify what areas of the brain were responsible for this switch between activation and deactivation.
During these exercises, the researchers administered varying levels of propofol, a general anesthetic. As anyone who has gone under the knife can attest, anesthesia shuts the brain’s consciousness down, mercifully making the patient unaware of sensory information in the body during surgery. By modulating the participants’ consciousness through propofol, the researchers could monitor what was happening in various areas of the brain as they went in and out of consciousness.
What they discovered— Researchers found that the brain’s anterior insular cortex (AIC) was correlated with that activation/deactivation switch. The AIC is “the gate” they were looking for.
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Anterior insular cortex
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While the AIC is believed to be responsible for emotional feelings, like fear and love, more recently, it’s been posited that the area is also responsible for “interoceptive” attention —attention that comes from sensory information. The fMRI findings of these researchers confirm that hypothesis.
To further test their findings, the researchers conducted a second experiment in which a face appeared on a screen for three-hundredths of a second — a barely perceptible amount of time — before switching to a high contrast image for a much longer period of time.
The researchers then asked the participants if they saw a face or not, ultimately finding that the participants who saw the face had more activity in their AIC than the participants who didn’t. In other words, participants consciously seeing a face was directly correlated with activity in the AIC.
Activity in the AIC when a participant was conscious of a face on the screen vs. when they were not.
The Inverse analysis — Despite having identified this likely gate, Huang says that more research is needed to fully understand the functional role of the AIC in human cognition and consciousness.
Filtering stimuli and figuring out what’s important enough to make us aware of is one of our brain’s most vital functions. It keeps us from being so focused on insignificant stimuli that we don’t notice a bus barreling through a stop sign and headed right for us.
We’ve long known that this gate, or filtration process, exists. But finding the gate, and understanding how it works, could open the doors to a new understanding of human consciousness. As well as new was to control and manipulate the human brain…which is really their ultimate goal.
Summary: Conscious access to sensory information is likely gated at a site intermediate between primary sensory and transmodal association cortices but the structure responsible remains unknown. We report results from functional neuroimaging performed to determine the neural correlates of conscious access using a volitional mental imagery task, a report paradigm not confounded by motor behavior. Titrating propofol to loss of behavioral responsiveness in healthy volunteers creates dysfunction of the anterior insular cortex (AIC) in association with an impairment of dynamic transitions of default-mode and dorsal attention networks. Candidate subcortical regions mediating sensory gating or arousal (thalamus, basal forebrain) fail to show this association. The gating role of AIC is consistent with findings in awake participants, whose conscious access is predicted by pre-stimulus AIC activity near perceptual threshold. These data support the hypothesis that AIC, situated at an intermediate position of the cortical hierarchy, regulates brain network transitions that gate conscious access.
This article was originally published on
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A new study using direct brain recordings reveals that specific thalamic regions, especially the intralaminar nuclei, play a key role in triggering conscious perception by synchronizing with the prefrontal cortex. This challenges the traditional cortex-focused view and highlights the thalamus as a central gateway to awareness.
Thalamic regions drive conscious perception by syncing with the prefrontal cortex, acting as a gateway to awareness.
Using direct intracranial brain recordings in humans, a new study has identified the thalamus, a small, deeply situated brain structure, as a key player in conscious perception. The researchers found that specific higher-order regions of the thalamus function as a gateway to awareness by transmitting signals to the prefrontal cortex.
These findings offer important insights into the complex nature of human consciousness. Unraveling the neural basis of consciousness remains one of neuroscience’s greatest challenges. Prior research has proposed that consciousness consists of two main components: the conscious state (such as being awake or asleep) and conscious content (the specific experiences or perceptions one is aware of).
The Thalamus Beyond Sensory Relay
While subcortical structures are primarily involved in regulating conscious states, many theories emphasize the importance of subcortical-cortical loops in conscious perception. However, most studies on conscious perception have focused on the cerebral cortex, with relatively few studies examining the role of subcortical regions, particularly the thalamus. Its role in conscious perception has often been seen as merely facilitating sensory information.
To better understand the role of the thalamus in conscious perception, Zepeng Fang and colleagues performed a unique clinical experiment and simultaneously recorded stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG) activity in the intralaminar, medial, and ventral thalamic nuclei and prefrontal cortex (PFC), while five chronic, drug-resistant headache patients with implanted intracranial electrodes performed a novel visual consciousness task.
A Thalamic “Gateway” to Awareness
Feng et al. discovered that the intralaminar and medial thalamic nuclei exhibited earlier and stronger consciousness-related neural activity compared to the ventral nuclei and PFC.
Notably, the authors found that activity between the thalamus and PFC – especially the intraluminal thalamus – was synchronized during the onset of conscious perception, suggesting that this thalamic region plays a gating role in driving PFC activity during conscious perception.
Reference: “Human high-order thalamic nuclei gate conscious perception through the thalamofrontal loop” by Zepeng Fang, Yuanyuan Dang, An’an Ping, Chenyu Wang, Qianchuan Zhao, Hulin Zhao, Xiaoli Li and Mingsha Zhang, 4 April 2025, Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.adr3675
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The Challenge of Studying Awareness
Unlike peripheral neural functions, consciousness resists simple experimental manipulation. Deep brain regions such as the thalamus are difficult to access without invasive techniques, and animal models cannot report subjective awareness. Despite these challenges, researchers have begun applying rigorous, reproducible paradigms to dissect the neural correlates of consciousness. As noted by Liad Mudrik, skepticism about the field is gradually diminishing with the advent of increasingly systematic investigations.
Leveraging Clinical Interventions
Zhang and colleagues capitalized on a unique opportunity: patients undergoing invasive treatment for chronic headaches. These individuals already had electrodes implanted into deep brain regions, permitting unprecedented neural recording without additional surgical intervention. Participants reported whether they consciously detected a briefly flashing icon in a controlled task. The icon was calibrated to be visible only 50% of the time, isolating trials where conscious perception occurred from those where it did not.
Temporal Signatures of Conscious Perception
During this task, neural activity was recorded in both cortical and subcortical regions, including the thalamus and prefrontal cortex. Strikingly, awareness of the icon corresponded with earlier and stronger activation in the thalamus, relative to the cortex. Moreover, the activity patterns were not isolated; they appeared synchronized across both regions. This suggests a model in which the thalamus precedes and coordinates cortical activation during moments of conscious perception.
Consciousness Beyond the Cortex
These findings challenge cortical-centric theories of consciousness. The thalamus, classically known for its role in sensory relay and working memory, may in fact serve as an active participant—perhaps even the initiator—in the transition from unconscious processing to conscious awareness. Thalamo-cortical graphic © Netter.
I find it amusing that the thalamus shown above looks like a BUG!
Supporting Evidence in Animal Models
Animal research echoes these findings. A 2020 study demonstrated that rodents trained to respond to subtle whisker movements exhibited activation in cortical regions that projected to the thalamus when consciously detecting the stimulus. This bidirectional communication between cortex and thalamus aligns with the hypothesis that both structures contribute to conscious gating, with the thalamus possibly serving as a prerequisite hub.
Gatekeeping is the neural process by which the central nervous system selectively permits or inhibits information flow or motor output based on contextual demands. For example, the basal ganglia function as a motor gatekeeper by suppressing competing or inappropriate motor programs, thereby facilitating the execution of goal-directed movements (Mink, 1996).
Methodological Caveats
Despite the robustness of the data, interpretive caution is warranted. As Mudrik observes, it remains unclear whether the neural activity observed truly corresponds to consciousness or simply to attention—a related but distinct cognitive function. Attention may modulate perception without necessarily invoking awareness, and disentangling the two remains a central methodological challenge in the field.
Future Directions
To address these uncertainties, Zhang’s team plans to extend their experiments to non-human primates, specifically macaque monkeys, whose brains provide a closer anatomical match to humans. These future studies may help differentiate attention-driven neural activity from activity directly linked to conscious experience. In parallel, advanced neuroimaging in humans will further map the interplay between thalamus and cortex.
Conclusion
The study marks a significant advance in consciousness research, offering the strongest evidence to date that the thalamus plays a critical role in filtering sensory inputs into conscious awareness. While the findings are preliminary, they open new avenues for understanding the distributed and hierarchical nature of conscious processing in the brain.
Key Takeaways
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The thalamus may act as a neural gatekeeper, filtering stimuli that enter conscious awareness.
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Conscious perception involves early and strong activity in the thalamus, coordinated with the cortex.
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Electrode recordings in patients enabled direct observation of deep-brain activity during awareness tasks.
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Animal studies support the thalamus’ bidirectional communication with the cortex in perceptual tasks.
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Future work aims to distinguish between attention and conscious perception in both humans and primates.
Glossary
attention: a cognitive process of selectively concentrating on specific stimuli while ignoring others.
cerebral cortex: the brain’s outermost layer involved in higher-order functions such as perception, cognition, and motor control.
consciousness: the state of being aware of and able to think about one’s own existence, thoughts, and environment.
cortical-centric theories of consciousness: theoretical frameworks that posit the cerebral cortex—particularly its higher-order regions such as the prefrontal and parietal cortices—as the primary or exclusive substrate for generating conscious experience.
electrode: a conductive device used to detect or stimulate electrical activity in the brain.
gatekeeping: the dynamic regulation of neural signaling pathways that allows certain sensory, cognitive, or motor processes to proceed while suppressing others, thereby enabling adaptive behavior through selective prioritization and inhibition.
macaque monkey: a genus of Old World monkeys often used in neuroscience research due to their brain structure’s similarity to humans.
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): a non-invasive imaging technique used to visualize internal structures of the body, especially the brain.
prefrontal cortex: the front portion of the cerebral cortex involved in decision-making, executive function, and complex cognitive behavior.
sensory relay: the transmission of sensory information from peripheral receptors to specific regions of the brain for processing.
thalamus: a deep brain structure that relays sensory and motor signals and is implicated in regulating consciousness and alertness.
working memory: a cognitive system responsible for temporarily holding information available for processing and manipulation.
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Again, looks like a BUG!
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Scientists Discover the Gatekeeper to the Human Mind
[Adobe Stock]
A new study published in Science has identified the thalamus as a central player in how humans become consciously aware of visual information. By recording electrical activity directly from the brains of five patients during a visual task, scientists discovered that specific thalamic regions activate earlier and more strongly during moments of visual awareness. These findings suggest that the intralaminar and medial thalamic nuclei act as a gateway that initiates conscious perception by influencing the activity of the prefrontal cortex.
The thalamus is a small, egg-shaped structure located deep in the center of the brain. It acts as a hub for relaying sensory information—like sight, sound, and touch—to the cerebral cortex, where perception and interpretation occur. In addition to this relay role, it also helps regulate alertness, sleep, and attention.
While the thalamus has long been understood as a relay station for sensory information, it has been largely viewed as a supporting actor—important for maintaining wakefulness, but not the actual source of conscious experience. The current study challenges this idea, offering new evidence that the thalamus does more than just relay signals. It may actively shape what enters our conscious awareness.
To investigate this, the research team took advantage of a unique opportunity to record deep brain activity in humans. Five adult men undergoing treatment for severe, drug-resistant headaches had stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG) electrodes implanted in their brains. These electrodes allowed researchers to monitor neural activity in real-time across multiple brain regions, including various parts of the thalamus and the prefrontal cortex.
Participants completed a visual awareness task that presented images at the edge of conscious visibility. On each trial, a patterned stimulus briefly appeared to one side of a central fixation point. Some images were bright and clearly visible, while others were faint and difficult to detect. Occasionally, no stimulus was shown at all. After each trial, participants responded with an eye movement indicating whether they had seen the stimulus and where it had appeared.
This setup allowed the researchers to compare brain activity between trials where participants consciously saw the stimulus and trials where they did not, even though the visual input was nearly identical. This critical contrast helped isolate the neural processes specifically linked to awareness, rather than simple sensory input.
The results showed that certain regions deep within the thalamus—specifically the central medial nucleus, mediodorsal medial nucleus, and parafascicular nucleus—showed increased activity during trials when participants reported seeing the stimulus. These regions are known as the intralaminar and medial thalamic nuclei. Their responses occurred earlier and with greater intensity than activity in other thalamic regions, such as the ventral nuclei, and even earlier than responses in the prefrontal cortex.
Using a range of analyses, the researchers found that these high-order thalamic nuclei exhibited stronger electrical signals, increased low-frequency oscillations, and more synchronized activity during moments of awareness. Importantly, the timing of this activity—beginning around 200 milliseconds after stimulus presentation—aligned with the earliest known brain signatures of conscious perception, such as the visual awareness negativity signal recorded in prior scalp-based studies.
To understand how these signals travel through the brain, the researchers examined how different brain regions communicated during conscious versus unconscious trials. They measured the synchronization of neural oscillations, particularly in the theta frequency range (about 4–8 Hz), which has been linked to cognitive control and awareness. They also analyzed cross-frequency coupling, which describes how slow brain rhythms may coordinate faster activity in other areas. Both measures revealed that the intralaminar and medial thalamic regions drove neural coordination with the prefrontal cortex during conscious perception.
In other words, when participants were aware of the stimulus, the thalamus was not simply reacting to sensory input—it was actively shaping the brain’s response, sending signals to the prefrontal cortex and helping to organize brain-wide activity in support of awareness.
Additional analyses showed that the neural patterns in the thalamus and prefrontal cortex encoded information about whether participants were consciously aware of the stimulus, rather than simply reflecting aspects of the task like contrast strength, motor response, or reaction time. This strengthens the case that these regions are directly involved in conscious perception, rather than just downstream reflections of other cognitive processes.
Interestingly, the researchers also found that the activity in the thalamus, particularly in the intralaminar and medial nuclei, could begin even before the stimulus appeared. This pre-stimulus activity was more synchronized in trials where participants would later report being aware of the stimulus, suggesting that these regions may help set the stage for conscious perception by influencing the brain’s state of readiness.
This study is the first to offer such detailed recordings from multiple thalamic nuclei in humans during a task designed to probe the boundary between conscious and unconscious visual perception. Prior studies using imaging methods like functional MRI or magnetoencephalography hinted at thalamic involvement in awareness but lacked the precision to pinpoint when and where this activity occurred. The use of sEEG here provided a rare opportunity to capture the dynamics of deep brain structures with both high temporal and spatial resolution.
The findings provide strong support for the idea that consciousness is not solely a cortical phenomenon. Instead, the thalamus—especially its high-order nuclei—appears to play an active and early role in making sensory information available to our awareness. This may reflect the thalamus’s unique position as a hub, with widespread connections to both cortical and subcortical brain regions, allowing it to coordinate complex patterns of neural activity required for consciousness to emerge.
However, the authors note some limitations. The study was conducted in a small sample of five male patients, all of whom had electrodes implanted for clinical reasons related to headache treatment. Although their cognitive abilities and vision were intact, these participants do not represent the general population. Moreover, electrode placement was determined by medical need, not research goals, which means some brain regions may have been under-sampled or missed entirely.
Additionally, while the study strongly suggests that intralaminar and medial thalamic nuclei initiate the conscious perception process, it does not rule out important contributions from the cortex. The prefrontal cortex, particularly the lateral regions, still showed significant activity and participated in synchronized neural networks during awareness. The researchers suggest that the thalamus may act as a gate or initiator, while the cortex elaborates on the content of experience.
The study, “Human high-order thalamic nuclei gate conscious perception through the thalamofrontal loop,” was authored by Zepeng Fang, Yuanyuan Dang, An’an Ping, Chenyu Wang, Qianchuan Zhao, Hulin Zhao, Xiaoli Li, and Mingsha Zhang.
Human high-order thalamic nuclei gate conscious perception through the thalamofrontal loop
CONCLUSION
We provide direct sEEG evidence in the human brain that supports the gate role of the intralaminar and medial nuclei in the rapid process of conscious perception. More specifically, the intralaminar and medial nuclei play a more important role than the ventral nuclei during the emergence of conscious perception. The interaction between the LPFC and intralaminar and medial nuclei, which originates from the intralaminar and medial nuclei, may play an essential role during conscious perception. Moreover, the stimulus-evoked activity in the thalamofrontal loop primarily encodes consciousness-related information rather than other task-relevant events. These results support the argument that the intralaminar and medial thalamic nuclei play a gate role to modulate the activity of PFC during the emergence of conscious perception.
Chinese scientists from State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Division of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, published a new study in Science (Fang et al., 2025) challenges cortico-centric models of consciousness by demonstrating that high-order thalamic nuclei actively gate human awareness.
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The term “consciousness”originates from the 1630s, derived from the Latin word “conscius,”meaning knowing or aware.It refers to the state of being aware of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts, and surroundings. Over time, its meaning has evolved to encompass awareness of internal and external experiences, and it has been a subject of philosophical and scientific debate regarding its nature and implications. Online Etymology Dictionary+2
Entries linking to consciousness
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An altered state of consciousness (ASC) is any condition that significantly differs from normal waking awareness, often induced by various physiological, psychological, or pharmacological factors.
Definition and Characteristics
Induction Methods
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:a psychoactive, hallucinogenic substance or preparation (such as psilocybin or ayahuasca) especially when derived from plants or fungi and used in religious, spiritual, or ritualistic contexts
Entheogen is a neologism to designate psychoactive substances employed in culturally sanctioned visionary experiences in ritual or religious contexts.—Carl A. P. Ruck
Scholars of religion often call them entheogens, from the term “god within.”—Jeremiah CreedonEntheogen:
The word “entheogen” originates from the Greek words “entheos,” meaning divine inspiration or possessed by a god (“en” = within, “theos” = god), and “genesthai,” meaning to generate. Combined, “entheogen” can be interpreted as “generating the divine within.”People have ingested psychoactive plants and mushrooms for millennia to enhance consciousness and as a route to ecstasy, which refers to “the withdrawal of the soul from the body” concurrent with mystical or visionary states. Frequently, people of many cultures use plants and mushrooms in group rituals to alter consciousness, commune with the gods, or stay alert while engaged in long expeditions. Alternatively, they may use such substances individually to stimulate vision quests, sleep, or treat pain and wounds.
Entheogen refers to “god/goddess within.” Those plant substances that, when ingested, engender an experience of the divine (gods, goddesses, demons, fallen angels, jinn, fairies, sprites, etc.) Entheogens are also called psychedelics, a term psychiatrist Humphrey Osmond coined from the root words psyche (mind) and delos (manifest). During the 1950s and 60s, they were called hallucinogens and psychotomimetics (Wasson et al., 1988).
Ya, and hippies used them to “TRIP OUT”. I lost some of my best friends in that time period. Their minds were fried by these “entheogen”. Eventually, they became popular across the country, how many mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers have been lost to the recreational drug industry??Some pharmaceuticals derive from these plants, with chemical compounds extracted, synthesized, and concentrated in laboratories. People use psychoactive plants and mushrooms recreationally, ritually, and in microdoses. Source: Psychology Today
Yes, just because they are created in a lab and prescribed by “doctors” does not make them any less harmful. How many people do you know who are either addicted to prescription drugs, or know someone who is, or who has DIED due to the use of them???Entheogens are psychoactive substances used in spiritual and religious contexts to induce altered states of consciousness. Hallucinogens such as the psilocybin found in so-called “magic” mushrooms have been used in sacred contexts since ancient (pagan) times. Derived from a term meaning “generating the divine from within”, entheogens are used supposedly to improve transcendence, healing, divination and mystical insight. What they do is connect you to demonic entities. NOT TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER.
They open doors for demonic spirits to enter your body and take control. IF you want demons to rule over you and live their fantasies out using your body…well, I can’t help you. Entheogens have been used in religious rituals in the belief they aid personal spiritual development.[1][2] Anthropological study has established that entheogens are used for religious, magical, shamanic, or spiritual purposes in many parts of the world. Civilizations such as the Maya and Aztecs used psilocybin mushrooms, peyote, and morning glory seeds in ceremonies meant to connect with deities and perform healing. They have traditionally been used to supplement diverse practices, such as transcendence, including healing, divination, meditation, yoga, sensory deprivation, asceticism, prayer, trance, rituals, chanting, imitation of sounds, hymns like peyote songs, drumming, and ecstatic dance.In ancient Eurasian and Mediterranean societies, scholars hypothesized the sacramental use of entheogens in mystery religions, such as the Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece. According to The Road to Eleusis, psychoactive kykeon brews may have been central to these rites, aimed at inducing visionary states and mystical insight.[3] These interpretations emphasize entheogens as central to religious practices in antiquity.Terminology and etymology
The term entheogen was coined in the late 20th century as a more neutral and respectful alternative to terms like “hallucinogen” or “psychedelic.” The word is derived from the Greek words ἐν (en, “within”), θεός (theos, “god”), and γεννάω (gennao, “to generate”), meaning “generating the divine within.” This term emphasizes the spiritual and religious contexts in which these substances have traditionally been used, distinguishing them from purely recreational or pharmacological classifications.[3] The Greeks used it as praise for poets and other artists. Genesthai means “to come into being”. Together, the term entheogen refers to a substance that “generates the divine (god) within,” typically producing feelings of inspiration, religious ecstasy, or spiritual insight. As in YOU SHALL BECOME AS GOD or YOU SHALL BECOME GOD.
The term hallucinogen was deemed inappropriate owing to its etymological relationship to words relating to delirium and insanity. The term psychedelic was also seen as problematic, owing to the similarity in sound to words about psychosisand also because it had become irreversibly associated with various connotations of the 1960s pop culture. In modern usage, entheogen may be used synonymously with these terms, or it may be chosen to contrast with recreational use of the same drugs. The meanings of the term entheogen was formally defined:
In a strict sense, only those vision-producing drugs that can be shown to have figured in shamanic or religious rites would be designated entheogens, but in a looser sense, the term could also be applied to other drugs, both natural and artificial, that induce alterations of consciousness similar to those documented for ritual ingestion of traditional entheogens. — Ruck et al., 1979, Journal of Psychedelic Drugs[8] Source: Wikipeda
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Cultural and Historical Context
Throughout history, altered states of consciousness have been recognized and utilized in various cultural contexts. For example, shamanic practices
often involve ASCs to connect with spiritual realms (to open gateways for demonic spirits) or facilitate healing. In contemporary society, ASCs are sometimes viewed with skepticism, but they are increasingly recognized for their potential therapeutic benefits. Yale University+1
Yes, certainly, because they want all of us in an ALTERED STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS, which leaves us in a state where we are HIGHLY SUGGESTABLE, DOCILE, SUBMISSIVE and where we are prone to accept fantasy as reality. That is the world they want to move us into.
Scientific Perspective
Recent scientific research has begun to take ASCs seriously, exploring their implications for understanding consciousness itself.
Studies have shown that ASCs can provide insights into the nature of self-awareness, perception, and the brain’s functioning. This growing interest reflects a shift in how ASCs are perceived in both psychological and neuroscientific fields. MIT – Massachusetts Institute of Technology
And just what do you think is the reason for the sudden change? Do you really believe it is in the interest of improving life for humans? They have already told you they don’t need humans. The BRAVE NEW WORLD belongs to machines! They are studying our brains to collect information on how to make ROBOTS more humanlike. IF and WHEN they prove robots are sentient/conscious, ROBOTS become equal to humans with equal rights.
Conclusion
By exploring these states, individuals may gain new perspectives on their lives and experiences, potentially leading to personal growth and healing. BS!
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The Dangers of Altered States of Consciousness
| By: Dr. John Ankerberg, Dr. John Weldon; ©2012 |
The Dangers of Altered States of Consciousness
- ↑ Arnold M. Ludwig, “Altered States of Consciousness” in Charles Tart, ed., Altered States of Consciousness (Garden City, NY: Doubleday/Anchor, 1972), p. 16.
- ↑ Lynn Andrews, Jaguar Woman and the Wisdom of the Butterfly Tree (San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row, 1986), p. 183.
- ↑ Stanislav Grof, Christina Grof, eds., Spiritual Emergency (Los Angeles, CA: J. P. Tarcher, 1989).
- ↑ Garabed Paelian, Nicholas Roerich (Agoura, CA: The Aquarian Educational Group, 1974), p. 77; Ring, “A Transpersonal View,” pp. 149-50.
- ↑ Ankerberg and Weldon, The Coming Darkness, ebook; Ankerberg and Weldon, The Facts on Spirit Guides, ebook; ; John Warwick Montgomery, ed., Demon-Possession: A Medical, Historical, Anthropological and Theological Symposium (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany, 1976).
- ↑ Kenneth Ring, “A Transpersonal View of Consciousness: A Mapping of Farther Regions of Inner Space,” Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 1974, no. 2, pp. 142-43,150.
- ↑ John White, ed., What Is Enlightenment?: Exploring the Goal of the Spiritual Path (Los Angeles, CA: J. P. Tarcher, 1984), p. xiii.
- ↑ e.g., Tal Brooke, Riders of the Cosmic Circuit: Rajneesh, Sai Baba, Muktananda…Gods of the New Age (Batavia, IL: Lion, 1986).
- ↑ Elizabeth L. Hillstrom, Testing the Spirits (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995), pp. 71-72.
- ↑ Ibid., p. 75.
- ↑ Ibid., p. 78.
- ↑ Ibid., p. 79.
- ↑ Ibid., p. 79.
- ↑ Ibid., pp. 69-70.
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Abstract
This paper focuses on understanding how cultural influences, social expectancy, and personal beliefs shape the perception of altered states of consciousness and how these mental states have been interpreted as a way to communicate with the spiritual world. Altered states of consciousness are commonly encountered in religious, spiritual, and therapeutic (e.g., hypnosis) practices. While neurophysiological aspects of altered states of consciousness are an important part of understanding the nature of human consciousness, the cultural meaning that these states of mind assume in different communities is equally fundamental. The phenomenon of spirit possession is a meaningful example of how sociocultural factors influence and shape the perception of altered states of consciousness. An understanding of the meaning of spirit possession as a tool to “exorcise” individual trauma or to address communal fears and turmoil is provided here. From the historical concept of the supernatural nature of physical and mental illness through the discussion of rituals aiming at casting out or taming the possessing spirit, this paper wants to provide an understanding of how sociocultural factors have been determinant in embedding altered states of consciousness in religious and spiritual practices, and how these states are of therapeutic value for mental wellbeing.
Introduction
Altered states of consciousness (ASCs) refer to any mental state different from normal waking consciousness (Vaitl et al., 2013). They are characterised by changes in awareness, cognition, sense of self and perception (e.g., daydreaming, trance states) (Vaitl et al., 2013). ASCs do often involve dissociation (disconnection of some aspects of mental functioning from conscious awareness, such as perception, sense of identity, memory, or emotions) (Lanius, 2015) and can be induced voluntarily or involuntarily using psychedelic drugs (e.g., LSD), chanting, dancing, meditation, praying, or hypnosis (Preller & Vollenweider, 2018; Vaitl et al., 2013). ASCs such as trance states are commonly encountered in religious (e.g., spirit possession, religious ecstasy) (Lewis, 2002), spiritual (e.g., meditation) (Lutz et al., 2006), and therapeutic (e.g., hypnosis) (Leo et al., 2024) contexts. ASCs have gained symbolic (cultural) value in cultures all around the world, leading to the adoption of spiritual and religious rituals aiming at inducing alteration of normal consciousness as a means to communicate with the supernatural (Price-Williams & Hughes, 1994). A meaningful example of how sociocultural factors shape the perception of ASCs can be encountered in the phenomenon of spirit possession.
Spirit possession is the belief that a supernatural entity can take over the control of someone’s body and mind, influencing their actions and behaviours (Cohen, 2008). Although in some spiritual practices (e.g., Shamanism) spirit possession may be seen as beneficial for the individual (e.g., granting them healing powers) (Lewis, 2002), in some religious traditions (e.g., Christianity) it may be seen as negative (e.g., cases of demonic possession) (Cook, 2025). While medicine discuss allegedly symptoms of spirit possession as a matter of mental and physical illness (e.g., neurological – epilepsy; or psychiatric – schizophrenia) (Perrotta, 2019), religion and cultural traditions have elaborated complex rituals of symbolic value to “exorcise” (i.e., cast out) the spiritual entity from the possessed individual (Young, 2016) or to integrate it with the individual (“adorcism”), often as a spiritual guide and companion (Lewis, 2002). These rituals aim to induce a trance state (e.g., through chanting, dancing, or praying), where the individual is free to exhibit the stereotyped behaviour associated with their state of being possessed, reaching mystic ecstasy that leads to spiritual and physical healing (Lewis, 2002). Although in several social, religious, and cultural contexts spirit possession has been a way to label mental and physical issues (Cavanna et al., 2010; Ward, 1980), with rituals aiming to ‘evict the demon’ considering the cause of the symptoms; in other contexts, spirit possession has been seen as a source of divine intervention and guidance (Kawamura, 2003). The religious and spiritual perception of physical and mental disorders has always sought a cause of supernatural origin, especially in the case of psychosomatic symptoms, delusions, and seizures, which have often been seen as of a divine or diabolical nature (Hecker et al., 2016). Moreover, mental health and psychiatric disorders have always been hidden behind the fear of stigma and social judgment, especially in religious communities (Lloyd & Panagopoulos, 2022), and a form of psychological support has been delivered in many instances in the form of religious or spiritual interventions (Nooney & Woodrum, 2002). Based on cultural significance, communities have seen in ASCs a means to foresee the future, cure illnesses, and reach unity with the divine, as well as the cause of disease, the work of evil spirits, and the ruin of the soul. ASCs provide a window into understanding human consciousness and the mind-body connection. Consciousness is not only a biological phenomenon, but is also shaped by culture, social contexts, and beliefs. Thus, integrating physiological mechanisms with social and cultural factors is essential in understanding ASCs and their symbolic and therapeutic value. Spirit possessions are a relevant example of culturally influenced integration of ASCs, which has been carefully investigated from an anthropological, psychological, and medical point of view. Therefore, the aims of this paper are to discuss: (i) how sociocultural influences have integrated ASCs in the sphere of spirit possession, and (ii) the religious and spiritual integration of ASCs in practices aiming at emotional and mental healing.
A Devilish Illness: Physical and Mental Disease Across Time and Cultures
A brief overview of how mankind has understood and treated diseases through the centuries is essential to grasp the role and meaning of spirit possession, especially in physical and mental health. The animistic approach of ancient civilisations toward nature, and the role of the supernatural in everyday life, has been essential in the development of magic as a mean to influence nature and reality (as described by Freud in his idea of the omnipotence of thoughts) (Freud, 2012), thus supporting its practice in ancient medical treatments. Ancient medicine relied on a combination of religious, magical, and naturalistic approaches (e.g., herbal remedies) (Nutton, 2012). Diagnosis of disease and prescription of specific cures were already well documented by the ancient Egyptians and the Sumerians, who tried to understand the cause of disease and illness, often providing supernatural and religious explanations (Heeßel, 2004; Karenberg & Leitz, 2001; Walker, 1990). Sumerians thought of illness as a punishment for sins against the gods or caused by the attack of evil spirits (Heeßel, 2004; Retief & Cilliers, 2007). Thus, magic spells and amulets, together with exorcisms to cast out the evil spirits, were essential to assist the recovery of the individual affected by the disease (Heeßel, 2004; Retief & Cilliers, 2007). Similarly, for the ancient Egyptians, diseases were associated with evil spirits and spirit possession, but also induced by natural causes (Zucconi, 2007). To treat the disease, physicians adopted practices that embedded magic rituals, exorcisms, medical procedures, and medical prescriptions (Karenberg & Leitz, 2001; Walker, 1990). In ancient Greece, medicine was initially based on religious rites administered by priests at the temples dedicated to the worship of the healer-god Asclepios (Savel & Munro, 2014). For them, illness was caused by supernatural phenomena. It was Hippocrates (460 − 370 BC) who later on proposed that diseases were caused by natural phenomena instead, separating medicine from religion and leading the way to modern medicine (Jacques Jouanna & Van der Eijk, 2012). Advancements to a more scientific approach to medicine were made with Galen (129–216 CE), who strongly contributed to the development of anatomy, physiology, neurology, pharmacology, and pathology (Jacques Jouanna & Van der Eijk, 2012).
Do You Believe in Magick? Part 16 – Science is MAGICK/WITCHCRAFT Originally Posted 1/30/16; Updated 8/2018; RESTORED 9/6/25 “(Magick’s) fundamental conception is identical with that of modern science; underlying the whole system is a faith…” Aleister Crowley Magick From Thelemapedia Belief in various magical practices has waxed and waned in European and Western history, under pressure from either organized monotheistic religions or from skepticism about the reality … Click Here to Read More |
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The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (c.37–100 CE), in his ‘Antiquities of the Jews’ report the practice of Jewish exorcism tradition being attributed to King Solomon, also reporting a demonstration of exorcism he claimed to be witnessed (where the exorcist would use a ring and root to drawn the demon out of the nostrils of the possessed) (Josephus, 2006), showing how the concepts of spirit possession and exorcism were relevant also in Jewish tradition. Examples of exorcism as a therapeutic tool can also be seen in the New Testament. Jesus is depicted in several instances practising exorcisms on individuals who were presented as being “possessed”, manifesting tracts that can now be associated with physical and mental illness (Cook & Hamley, 2020). Famous is in this regard the exorcism performed by Jesus on the man possessed by a multitude (a “legion”) of evil spirits reported in the story of the “Gerasene demonic” of the New Testament (Matthew 8:28, Luke 8:26–39, and Mark 5:1–20) (The Holy Bible: New King James Version., 1982), describing the unusual behaviour of the possessed man (not wearing clothes and living in a tomb – as probably exiled by the community for his unusual behaviour).
The perception of physical or mental diseases as of supernatural nature is still largely accepted in some communities (Mathison et al., 1895; Simba et al., 2023), with religious beliefs of miraculous cures still present all around the world (Leal et al., 2024). People with mental disorders often suffer high levels of stigma, and the disorders are commonly associated with supernatural causes, such as spirit possession, in several religious communities (Kate et al., 2012). In some cases, instead, mental illness is seen as the cause of spiritual weakening that can make the individual more susceptible to demonic possession (Lloyd & Panagopoulos, 2023). This reinforces the stigma about mental illness present in many communities, with religious individuals often refusing or delaying medical diagnosis and treatment in favour of alternative interventions (such as prayers and religious rituals) (Mathison et al., 1895). Religious and personal beliefs can also negatively affect preventive strategies, such as vaccine campaigns (Tiwana & Smith, 2024). Moreover, access to life-saving medical procedures, such as blood transfusion, can be strongly obstructed by religious beliefs (Feane & Uprichard, 2025). On the other hand, religious beliefs and behaviours can also support mental health, alleviating one’s negative emotions or life stressful events (religious coping) (Pargament, 2001). However, while positive religious coping (e.g., spiritual connection) has demonstrated positive outcomes on mental wellbeing and self-esteem (Ano & Vasconcelles, 2005), negative religious coping (e.g., demonic reappraisal) has been demonstrated to lead to more significant emotional distress (such as anxiety and depression) (Ano & Vasconcelles, 2005). Nevertheless, in some instances, negative religious coping can still lead to positive outcomes (such as spiritual growth and increased self-esteem), as it may represent spiritual struggles that are a pathway to spiritual growth (Ano & Vasconcelles, 2005).
Voices in My Mind: Dissociation, Altered States of Consciousness, and Spirit Possession
Despite the nature of spirit possession being strongly related to the social and cultural context where it manifests, often as an explanation for physical and mental illness, it is also important to note that this phenomenon can also be experienced by people who do not necessarily present symptoms of mental illness. Indeed, natural neurophysiological and psychophysiological changes can lead to experience ASCs, inducing a state of mind where the perception of the situation by the possessed individual becomes embedded in sociocultural and personal beliefs, thus manifesting as the idea of supernatural work. To understand this concept is essential to understand what dissociation is, and its role in inducing ASCs (either of pathological or non-pathological nature). Dissociation is a disruption in one or more aspects of psychological functioning, such as consciousness, memories, feelings, and sense of identity (Krause-Utz et al., 2017; Spiegel et al., 2011). Dissociative episodes of various levels naturally occur during the day (e.g., mind-wandering, daydreaming), with individuals more inclined to fantasy-proneness, absorption, and cognitive failure, having a higher tendency to dissociate (Merckelbach et al., 1999). However, severe episodes of dissociation are also characteristic of mental disorders (e.g., dissociative disorders, functional neurological disorders – FNDs) (Espay et al., 2018; Spiegel et al., 2011). The alteration in the individual’s sense of reality and the continuity of their consciousness, typical of dissociation, is a core component of ASCs, both in natural and trauma-related ASCs (Butler, 2006; Lanius, 2015).
Neurophysiological and psychophysiological changes associated with ASCs and dissociation are linked to alterations in brain activity that impact cognitive functions. These changes explain some of the mechanisms behind the “symptoms” and manifestations of spirit possession (e.g., post-possession amnesia or the feeling of being controlled by an external force). More in details, three specific large-scale brain networks in particular (the triple network model of psychopathology) (Menon, 2011) are relevant in the context of ASCs: (i) the Default Mode Network (DMN – involved in self-referential processes, autobiographical memory, and future planning) (Andrews-Hanna et al., 2014), (ii) the Executive Control Network (ECN – regulating goal-oriented behaviour, cognitive control, and attention) (Shen et al., 2020), and (iii) the Salience Network (SN – involved in emotional control, also regulating the switch between self-referential processes and goal oriented thinking) (Goulden et al., 2014). In ASCs, such as mind wandering and daydreaming, it has been observed an increase in self-referential thinking (highlighting increased activity of the DMN) and a reduced focus on external tasks (denoting a decrease in the activity of the ECN) (Zhou & Lei, 2018). Prolonged periods of mind wandering have been associated with low activity of the SN (Bonnelle et al., 2012; Bozhilova et al., 2018). During ASCs, such as hypnosis, a reduced activity of the DMN (Deeley et al., 2012), together with changes in functional connectivity between the DMN, the ECN, and the SN have been observed (Jiang et al., 2017). The reduced functional connectivity between the DMN and ECN observed during ASCs explains the increased suggestibility typical of these states (Jiang et al., 2017), which in turn favours the immersion into a role-play type of setting, where personal beliefs and cultural expectations dictate stereotypical behaviours of how an individual possessed by a spirit should behave. During pathological dissociation, symptoms of depersonalisation and derealisation have been associated with hyperconnectivity within regions of the ECN during the resting state and altered connectivity between the ECN and the DMN (Lebois et al., 2022). This momentary loss of self-identity and contact with reality contributes to the feeling of being controlled by a supernatural entity. Alterations in memory recall and emotional control observed in patients with dissociative disorders have been linked to reduced hippocampus and amygdala volumes (Vermetten et al., 2006). Dissociative amnesia has been observed in both pathological dissociation and in normal ASCs (Kihlstrom & Evans, 2014; Staniloiu & Markowitsch, 2014), and can be linked to failure in activating specific areas of the ECN and of the DMN, together with a decreased connectivity between areas of the DMN and of the SN (Taïb et al., 2023). The effects of dissociation and ASCs on memory can explain why people experiencing spirit possession are often unable to recall their experience once they snap out of possession trance. High anxiety levels have also been observed in individuals reporting an increased occurrence of dissociative experiences (dissociative anxiety) (Belli et al., 2017; Lofthouse et al., 2023), which can be partially explained by the increased DMN activity observed during emotional distress (Coutinho et al., 2016; Yuan et al., 2023). Thus, anxious situations can trigger dissociative episodes that can be interpreted as of supernatural origin based on the cultural and personal beliefs of the individual. Dissociation seems to have a higher occurrence in female individuals (Page & Green, 2007; Raynor & Baslet, 2019), similarly to episodes of spirit possession (De Martino & Zinn, 2005; Lewis, 2002; Seligman & Kirmayer, 2008), which can be potentially explained by the higher intra-functional connectivity of the DMN observed in women compared to men (Ficek-Tani et al., 2023; Mak et al., 2017). However, the role that sociocultural factors have in the incidence of spirit possession in women should not be underestimated (Lewis, 2002; Seligman & Kirmayer, 2008).
Both natural and pathological dissociation can be linked to experiences of spirit possession. While in ritualistic possession, ASCs aiming at natural forms of dissociation can be temporary and in line with the objective of the ritual (Lewis, 2002), in cases of persistent spirit possession (occurring spontaneously, and not linked to specific rituals) it may involve pathological dissociation (e.g., dissociative disorders) or other mental conditions (e.g., schizophrenia) (R. Seligman & L. J. Kirmayer, 2008). Dissociative identity disorders (DID) are defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DMS-5) as the alternation of two or more distinct personality states (alters), seen in some cultures as a form of possession by an external entity (American Psychiatric Association, 2022). In DID, dissociative episodes can induce “inter-identity amnesia”, where one alter does not recall the events that occurred while the other alter took control (Morton, 2017). This is similar to post-trance amnesia reported by people experiencing ASCs and spirit possession, which is related to alterations in the intra- and extra-connectivity of the large-scale network previously discussed. In the International Classification of Disease for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics (ICD-11-MMS) (World Health Organization, 2019), dissociative disorders where the individual is convinced to be possessed by an external entity fall under the name of “possession trance disorder”, with the individual manifesting a trance state (not induced by medications or by psychoactive substances) that leads to alteration of consciousness and personal identity, also experiencing the feeling of being controlled by an external possessing entity (sense of involuntariness). The illusion of being controlled by an external agent can be attributed to alteration in self-awareness due to changes in activity and connectivity of the DMN (Jiang et al., 2017; Monsa et al., 2018) experienced during ASCs and spirit possession episodes, together with personal beliefs (Wolfradt, 1997) concerning the possession by a supernatural entity. Moreover, the increased suggestibility related to dissociation (Pekala et al., 2010; Wieder et al., 2022) can lead to culturally-influenced stereotyped behaviours, such as the ones observed during possession rituals. The allegedly “possessed” individual does not necessarily exhibit multiple personalities but can experience other psychosomatic symptoms (conversion symptoms) that fall into the classification of Functional Neurological Disorders (FNDs – previously known as “conversion disorders”, also known as “dissociative neurological symptoms disorders”) (Canna & Seligman, 2020). FNDs involve the experience of neurological symptoms (such as weakness, movement problems, convulsions, and other sensory problems) without a tangible disease affecting the structure of the patient’s body (Aybek & Perez, 2022). Potential causes of FNDs can be stress-related (Hallett et al., 2022) or due to brain dysfunction (Aybek & Vuilleumier, 2016). FNDs’ manifestations and perception can be dictated by sociocultural factors, with social and personal beliefs influencing the perception of the nature of the illness (e.g., of supernatural origin) and the manifestation of the psychosomatic symptoms (Canna & Seligman, 2020; Kirmayer & Santhanam, 2000).The association of FNDs to episodes of spirit possession can be observed, for example, in the phenomenon of Tarantism, where the bite of the tarantula brings a supernatural illness to the victim, who is then forced to exhausting dancing to exorcise the spirit of the spider (De Martino & Zinn, 2005).
Dancing With the Spirits: An Overview of the Spiritual and Cultural Value of Altered States of Consciousness
The spiritual and cultural value of ASCs can be observed in social and cultural phenomena such as ecstatic religions (Lewis, 2002), which embraced a variety of cults and religions that were and are largely diffused around the world. From the cult of Dionysus (Mysteries of Dionysus – commonly spread during ancient Greece and the Roman period) to Haitian Voodoo, passing from Tarantism, Christian mysticism, and Shamanism, common tracts can be seen in the use of ASCs to communicate with the divine (Marie et al., 2024; Randal et al., 2018). Trance-induced possessions have been depicted and used in many religious practices, through the use of chanting, prayers, and dancing (Marie et al., 2024). Trance states have the ritualistic value of a means to induce possession (from benevolent spirits). Conversely, their ritualistic use can also become a mean to exorcise (cast out) the evil spirit from the body of the possessed (Charles, 1953). Though there are some who call themselves Christians who practice what they call Mysticism, BUT there is no such belief or practice within true Christian faith. Christians never seek ecstatic experiences, never seek a trance-like state, NEVER seek to be possessed, NEVER seek to empty their minds or chant or seek an altered state of consciousness. The change that happens within a Christian is brought about by relationship with the Creator who takes away all sin and opens our spiritual eyes and ears so that we can discern truth and the difference between good and evil. All who practice pagan religions are still slaves to sin and subject to demonic spirits.
The idea of spirit possession as the cause of illness and spiritual ruin is central in many communities. As previously discussed, the idea that diseases are caused by evil spirits was common in ancient societies, and it is still largely embraced in several rural communities or specific religious cults. An example of possession as illness which needs to be exorcised through rites of symbolic value, aiming to treat conditions of hysteric origin, can be found in the phenomenon of Tarantism (De Martino & Zinn, 2005). Especially in the 16th and 17th centuries, it was common in Southern Italy (mainly in Puglia) suffer from the “bite of the Tarantula” (the wolf spider), with the poor victims exhibiting hysteric behaviours that needed to be exorcised through music and dance (the “Tarantella” or “Pizzica”) (De Martino & Zinn, 2005). Again, the symbolic value of the tarantula and its bite (probably evolving from real accounts of bites suffers by farmers working in the fields and exposed to the spider during the season of the grain crop), was so strongly shaped by the sociocultural influences of the time that it became the root cause of hysteric manifestations in a crisis that had its origin in the mental turmoil of the victim (De Martino & Zinn, 2005). Similarly, the rite to “exorcise” the “tarantato/a” (the person suffering from tarantism), used symbolic values to allow a safe manifestation of psychomotor symptoms and mitigate the internal turmoil presented by the possessed (De Martino & Zinn, 2005; Lewis, 2002). As highlighted by Lewis (Lewis, 2002) and De Martino (De Martino & Zinn, 2005), the recurrence of the symptoms in concomitance of specific celebrations, could have seen as a socially accepted way for the victim to express their malcontent and rebel to their status (e.g., forced wedding), acknowledging the dissent of the victim by the community while still integrating them in their moral and communal rules.
Even more well-known is the idea of demon possession that is observed in Christianity, with the evil spirit entering the body of the individual, influencing their behaviour and causing physical and spiritual illness. In the 1980s, the Satanic Panic hit the USA, with a multitude of individuals proclaiming to have been victims of allegedly satanic rituals (Cleary, 2022). The following multitude of movies have then increased the spotlight on alleged cases of demonic possession, depicting the role of the Devil in manifesting all sorts of supernatural phenomena (e.g., levitating or psychokinetic powers) surrounding the possessed (Chambers, 2021). These movies have drastically affected the social perception of spirit possession in Western society, leading to an increased report of cases of allegedly demonic possession (Giordan & Possamai, 2016). The hysteric origin (rather than supernatural) of demonic possession (as intended by Christianity) was already observed in the late 18th Century, with the case of Johann Joseph Gassner, famous at the time for his exorcisms and his ability to cure people from the devil (Peter, 2005). It was Franz A. Mesmer (known for his claims on animal magnetism) who in 1775 debunked Gassner’s practice not as a matter of supernatural entity, but as a proof of curative trance (or, accordingly to Mesmer’s ideas, of “animal magnetism”) (Peter, 2005). The people “exorcised” by Gassner were presenting a form of hysteric behaviour (i.e. FNDs) that was manifesting in stereotypical manifestations shaped by the sociocultural background of the “possessed”. The approach to the ritual of exorcism performed by Gassner as integration of the symbolic value of the rite (in line with the sociocultural context of the time) and of early concepts of what we could now consider “psychotherapy”, was successful in reducing the hysteric manifestation of the possessed, exorcising the “devil” within (Peter, 2005).
A more ecstatic approach to spirit possession, where the idea of being possessed is not seen in a negative connotation, but rather as a valuable event necessary to the community, can be seen with the loa spirits of Haitian Voodoo (Desmangles, 2000). During the possession (happening during sacred ceremonies that involve drums, songs, and dancing), the loa (spirits that serves as intermediate between humans and the creator of the universe) enters their human vessel through the head, displacing one of the two halves of the human souls, causing the individual to convulse (Desmangles, 2000). The possession can last from a few hours to several days, and once the loa leaves, the possessed has no memory of what happened during the possession phase (dissociative amnesia) (Desmangles, 2000). The possession facilitates the interaction between loa and humans, allowing the spirits to provide admonishments or offer advice and healing powers (Desmangles, 2000). Another example of positive spirit possession can be observed in Christian mysticism, where individuals seeking unity with God accomplish this through contemplation, purification, and prayer, aiming to reach illumination (James, 1902; Underhill, 2002). Similarly, in Pentecostal Christianity, the union with the supernatural (the divine) is seen as beneficial, with possession by the Holy Spirit (like in the Acts of Apostles 2:1–4) (The Holy Bible: New King James Version., 1982) seen as a source of divine guidance (James, 1902; Robbins, 2004). On the contrary, the possession by unholy spirits (demons), usually due to sinful behaviours, is the cause of spiritual ruin and disease (Robbins, 2004; Russell, 1987). The HOLY SPIRIT does not POSSESS Christians. Christians maintain their own spirit and will, the Holy Spirit reveals truth, comforts the believer, provides guidance, and empowers the believer to overcome the works of the enemy/devil while here on earth. It is NOTHING LIKE POSSESSION where the demonic spirits move in and take control, sometimes in groups or hords. When a person is possessed by a demonic spirit, when that spirit is active, the person possessed is usually not even aware of anything and loses track of time holding no memory of what occurred. They have no will or defense against what the demon is doing. The Holy Spirit NEVER controls a Christian in any way, at any level. He is always a gentleman. The HOLY SPIRIT is actually the SPIRIT OF THE LIVING CREATOR GOD HIMSELF.
Characteristics of the possession behaviour are strictly correlated to the social, religious, and cultural beliefs on how a possessed individual should behave (Bourguignon, 1976; Goodman, 1988). In Christianity, the possessed person may exhibit aversion toward symbols of Christianity (e.g., the sacred cross, or the Bible), also exhibiting changes in the tone of voice, and blasphemous behaviour (Bourguignon, 1976). In other cultural contexts, such as Haitian Voodoo, the possessed individual is the dispenser of prophecies of upcoming events. In Tarantism, the bite from the Tarantula leads to several symptoms, such as hysteric behaviour, restlessness, depressive mood (melancholia), hallucination, and especially the urge to dance violently (De Martino & Zinn, 2005). The dance, its key characteristic, is done accordingly to the specific tone and instrument (among the tambourine, violin, guitar, and accordion) that resonates with the specific tarantula that bit the individual (De Martino & Zinn, 2005). Even the type of dance (either fast or slow-paced) depended on the type of tarantula from which the bite originated (De Martino & Zinn, 2005).
Spirit possession may indeed embrace a large variety of physical and mental diseases, which in the context of the time were defined as of divine or demonic influence. We have seen that in antiquity and still in some rural communities, illness was and is associated with the influence of evil spirits, as a form of divine punishment, or the work of witchcraft (Kirmayer, 2001). We have then a model of spirit possession that is related to any kind of physical and mental illness that an individual may encounter, being the influence of supernatural entities relevant in preserving or disrupting the health of an individual. Common mental health conditions, such as uncontrollable anxiety and depression, have been attributed in the past to supernatural origins, due to difficulties in explaining the origin of the symptoms that did not seem to come from the observation of physical dysfunction (Kirmayer, 2001). Delusions typical of mental illness, such as schizophrenia, may have been seen as a form of spirit possession, with the affected individual complaining of hearing voices in their head, as well as seen things and beings that were invisible to others (Pietkiewicz et al., 2021). Indeed, auditory allucinations can be interpreted dirrefently by the subject experiencing them based on cultural variations (Luhrmann et al., 2015). A specific role takes the episodes of voluntary and involuntary dissociative episodes (either natural or pathological), as these can be seen relevant to explain episodes of allegedly spirit possession that manifest with unusual behaviour, trance manifestation, and also the appearance of alters that can take the role of “spiritual beings” speaking through the mouth of the possessed (Perrotta, 2019). Trance states used as a means to communicate with the divine are essential in ecstatic religious and can be seen as acts that have specific community functions essential for the life of the group in which they happen (Padmanabhan, 2017). In this instance, the trance-state is sought by the individual or is pushed by the group to accomplish specific functions (e.g., seeking guidance from spirits) (Lewis, 2002). In other contexts, where illness is seen as the cause of spiritual influence, the ill assumes the connotation of “being possessed” way before experiencing the trance, which is sought afterwards to cure the disease, casting out the evil spirit from the body (Lewis, 2002). Similarly, the perception of FNDs, with the difficulty in finding a physiological nature of the symptoms, can be seen as a supernatural origin, with the illness being of a demonic nature and thus again needing to be exorcised (Kirmayer & Young, 1998). In all these contexts, the personal beliefs and social expectancy dictate how the possession should manifest and how the possessed should behave (Bourguignon, 1976). Manifestation of one or more distinct personalities (i.e., alters) associated with DID can easily fit the description of a possessed individual, who under a specific stressor or ritualistic occurrence can trigger the insurgence of the alter that takes a behaviour in line with the personal beliefs of the individual and the expectancy dictated by the sociocultural context. Similarly, dissociative episodes typical of FNDs can manifest in the allegedly possessed, in response to triggers of various nature, and that are in line with the internal conflict experienced by the individual (Kirmayer & Young, 1998). People reporting negative spirit possession (demonic possession) have often experienced trauma (Hecker et al., 2016). Trance states can be of therapeutic value for the individual experiencing possession. In these rituals, the individual is encouraged to either manifest the “demon” (the culturally influenced alter) or to fall under a culturally dictated hysterical behaviour where the individual is free to express the internal conflict, emotional distress, or trauma (Charles, 1953).
Exorcising the Mind: The Therapeutic Efficacy of Altered States of Consciousness
The role and significance of ASCs in several cultures have been largely discussed in the literature. When considering the ceremonial and ritualistic procedures that have the function of communicating with the divine, the trance state (divine ecstasy) can be seen as a means to open the door to the spiritual world, allowing spirits to communicate with humans and provide guidance and healing when required (Lewis, 2002). Communication with the spirit can also allow the “possessed” to gain divination powers and dispense prophecy (see the Pythia in ancient Greece) (Johnston, 2008). However, the trance state can also be a way to self-growth, seeking the divine within and becoming one with the Universe, such as in the case of transcendental meditation (Travis & Pearson, 2000). The role of spirit possession can also be seen as a role to provide the oppressed and underrepresented part of a community to actively manifest malcontent and complain about their social situation, leading to a sort of social redemption from the suffering of the unfavourable social status (Lewis, 2002). Personal turmoil and repressed emotion and feelings can be manifested through trance states of symbolic value that provide the stereotyped behaviour dictated by the community to justify the behaviour of the possessed as something out of the control of the possessed (such as in the case of Tarantism or of demonic possessions) (De Martino & Zinn, 2005; Kirmayer & Young, 1998). The externalisation of internal distress on an external agent (the evil spirit, or the tarantula) can be interpreted as a structured framework for the individual to confront and express involuntary or unvoluntary suppressed emotions that cannot be externalised in normal contexts without experiencing moral and social repercussions (De Martino & Zinn, 2005; Kirmayer & Young, 1998). The symbolic nature of the rite induces emotional release and psychological relief, which benefits the individual and allows for their reintegration in the community (Charles, 1953).
In this light, we should look more in detail two distinct roles of the strategies aiming to deal with spirit possession: the exorcism and the adorcism.
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Adorcism Abstract Adorcism refers to a kind of possession or con- tact with the supernatural that is desired by a human practitioner. It is a term borrowed by anthropologist Ioan Myrddin Lewis from the Belgian structuralist Luc de Heusch. Adorcism usually takes the form of possession or shamanic practices. In de Heusch’s typology, the shaman communes with the beyond human world, whereas during the possession, supernatural entities are received into the person. Therefore, shamanism is the practitioner’s ascent toward the spiritual realm, whereas possession is the descent and incarnation of the supernatural in the practitioner. Kathleen Openshaw /Western Sydney University/School of Social Sciences/ Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference Paper › Chapter
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In the sociology of religion, Luc de Heusch coined the term adorcism for practices to placate or accommodate spiritual entities in a possessed person or place. Unlike exorcism, the relationship with the entities is potentially positive. This is sometimes used as initiation into a spirit cult.[1] Jean-Michel Oughourlian defines adorcism as “voluntary, desired, and curative possessions”.[2] Adorcism is found in Afro-American Voodoo,[3] the Zār rites of Northeast Africa and West Asia,[4] the Hausa’s Bori rites,[5] Tunisian Stambali, in parts of Southeast Asia,[6] Moroccan Hamadsha, Egyptian “ghost riders”,[7] and other religious practices. It is generally common among African spiritual traditions, whether adherents are Christians, Muslims, or belong to a traditional religion.[8]
Like the zār spirits, the ghosts in the “ghost rider” tradition sometimes cause illnesses to communicate with the living about their desires. However, their demands often relate to their tombs and the specifics of their mourning, as opposed to the jewelry and clothes of the zār.[7] Some scholars think the general tradition of adorcism and possession-healing practices with music may be thousands of years old, due to how widespread it is. Janzen argues Ngoma, a Bantu healing practice that prominently features the ngoma drum, may be 2,000 years old.[9] |
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| Adorcism – break down
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While the former sees the negative connotation of spirit possession (cause of the mental and physical disease), the latter sees the positive connotation of spirit possession (as guiding spirit who provides healing and guidance) If you want to be guided by evil spirits. (Bourguignon, 1976). Exorcism is the religious practice aiming to expel a malevolent spiritual entity from an individual or a place. Complexity of the ritual may vary between spiritual practices, but do commonly see the exorcist (the religious leader taking the job of expelling the evil spirit) “commanding” the depart of the malevolent entity (often in the name of a divine authority – e.g., God for the Christians, THE ONLY AUTHORITY by which a spirit can be expelled/exorcised/removed. The NAME that is ABOVE ALL NAMES! The Name of the TRUE and LIVING GOD!), often interrogating the demon to obtain information on the possession which may help the ritual (only a fool speaks with demons. They will ONLY LIE that is all they know to do. No True Christian needs any information from a demon to command them to leave. It is GOD who removes them. When Jesus asked the demon to identify himself he did so for the benefit of the people present. They needed to hear what was happening. Christ already knew the man had a LEGION of demons.} (e.g., asking for their name, or the reason for possessing the individual) (Charles, 1953; Goodman, 1988). During this process, the possessed individual does enter in a state of induced trance (due to social expectation, religious beliefs, role-play elements based on the religious background, and by the monotonous repetition of prayers by the exorcist), which leads to the manifestation of the other personality (the evil spirit) or to the manifestation of stereotypical behaviour influenced by the evil spirit, which is uncollaborative and aggressive (Goodman, 1988). At the end of the procedure, often the individual receiving the exorcism lacks memory of what happened during the ritual (dissociative amnesia) (Bourguignon, 1976). The exorcism has the function to cast out the evil spirit (the trauma): it is used when the individual sees the possession as a cause of illness and internal turmoil. NOT TRUE A ALL. Most often when someone is possessed they have no clue they are possessed. They rarely are the ones seeking exorcism. Those around them who witness their state seek assistance. When strongly rooted in personal and social beliefs, the role of exorcism to cast out the evil spirit may take the connotation of therapy (Goodman, 1988) and should not be disregarded as simple beliefs of a superstitious and unscientific mind. Suppose the individual is truly convinced of being possessed by an external entity, then the exorcism gains therapeutic value, which should be seen and administered in support of other forms of therapeutic interventions (such as medical and psychiatric care, when needed) (Testoni et al., 2025). Approaches such as ego-states therapy (Watkins, 1997) or Gestalt therapy (Perls et al., 1951) have been used in psychotherapy for years as a means to help people manifest repressed emotions and inner turmoil through role-play and parts therapy. Exorcism should be seen to the same extent as these approaches, where the role-playing based on the socio-cognitive model is effective in providing therapeutic help to the patient (Goodman, 1988). The dynamic between the exorcist and the possessed individual sees the exorcist assuming an over-functioning role (taking responsibility for the situation, offering guidance, and exerting control), with the possessed individual assuming the under-functioning role (lacking agency and thus requiring intervention) (Joelsson, 2020). Moreover, in the exorcism rituals, the community assigns the role of authority figure to the exorcist, with the possessed becoming the embodiment of communal fears (role suction) (Horwitz, 1983), externalising the tensions internal at the community, helping them alleviate shared psychological distress.
In contrast to exorcism, adorcism refers to the ritualised incorporation of a spirit or entity with the possessed (De Heusch, 1985). In this context, rather than resisting possession, the individual and the community engage with the spirit (seen as a divine guide) (De Heusch, 1985). Interacting with the spirit is often accomplished through trance, dance, chanting, or other ritual performances (Lewis, 2002). The acceptance of the spirit enables the individual and the community to symbolically process collective tensions, facilitating psychological healing by expressing repressed emotions and conflicts within a safe and structured communal setting (Boddy, 1994). The possessed individual is valorised (given value based on perceived “worthiness in manly chivalric qualities, nobility of character or breeding,”) as a vessel to channel communal fears and to embrace divine guidance to overcome them. In this view, trance and spirit possession contribute to the psychological health of the whole community by fostering their sense of identity, integration, and social belonging, especially in cultures where spirit possession is normalised and ritualised (Boddy, 1994; Lewis, 2002).
A final note on the therapeutic value of ASCs is related to the characteristics of ecstatic dance, observed in spiritual possession rituals such as the ones observed in the Tarantism and in the Haitian Voodoo (Bourguignon, 1976; De Martino & Zinn, 2005). Dancing induces relevant physiological changes in endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine levels (Jeong et al., 2005; Salimpoor et al., 2011; Tarr et al., 2014). These changes promote feelings of euphoria, pain relief, and emotional release, which benefit the individual (Jeong et al., 2005; Salimpoor et al., 2011; Tarr et al., 2014). Moreover, the intense physical exertion experienced during the frenzied dancing, together with the synchronicity of the body movements with the rhythm of drums and chanting, facilitates dissociation (Winkelman, 2010). The release of emotional and physical turmoil while in the dance-induced dissociation facilitates the healing and coping process of the possessed individual (Bourguignon, 1976). Dance and movement are still proposed today in modern forms of transformative practices aiming at mental and physical wellbeing (Koch et al., 2014; López-Rodríguez et al., 2017). There is a huge difference between recreational dance and ecstatic, frenzied dance, though probably not in the way young people dance today. Especially at music Festivals. Ecstatic, frenzied dance especially to a pounding rhythm, is designed to put a person into an altered state of consciousness which opens them to spiritual manipulation and possession.
Considerations for Practice
Summarising the point discussed so far, therapeutic applications of ASCs have to account for four major factors: (i) cultural sensitivity, (ii) community and social aspects, (iii) ego dissolution and reorganisation, and (iv) coping mechanisms (Fig. 1). The importance of cultural meaning in the use of ASCs is essential to grasp their therapeutic potential. Personal beliefs and social expectancy are fundamental in establishing a proper patient-therapist connection (Lynn & Rhue, 1991), and understanding the cultural frame from which these beliefs come is something that needs to be evaluated in depth when assessing and planning interventions for mental health. It has been largely argued how Psychiatry tends towards a model where cultural differences are often ignored in the diagnosis of mental conditions (Alarcòn, 2009; Bredström, 2019), without a proper inclusive model that accounts for sociocultural perception of specific mental states seen as normal and healthy when part of a context, while unhealthy in others. Similarly, techniques to induce ASCs, such as focused meditation or Japa meditation (Srinivasan, 2013) cannot be simply deprived of their cultural roots. While the West has tried to integrate Eastern meditative practices in therapeutic contexts (e.g., mindfulness), it is also true that during the process, these practices have been largely deprived of their cultural meaning, often leading to methods that do not often obtain the expected results. Additionally, it is important to note how procedures to induce ASCs have always used indigenous knowledge, such as fasting and intense physical exhaustion to induce ASCs (Anālayo, 2021), which despite they cannot fit nowadays therapeutic standards, it is also true that their removal may lead to incomplete procedures that lose or reduce their ability to induce the desired results. Community and relationship aspects play an important role in making the experience immersive and allow the individual to express their inner turmoil. Again, looking at the case of spirit possession, community rules and roles can be subverted in regulated and accepted rituals that help manifest discontent and internal turmoil without facing harsh consequences (e.g., social judgment) (Lewis, 2002).
Therapeutic value of ASCs also come from ego dissolution (i.e., the temporary reduction or loss of one’s sense of self or identity) which occurs due to a disruption in the brain’s self-modelling processes (which are primarily supported by the DMN) (Letheby & Gerrans, 2017) and that helps in emotional release and catharsis, as well as in breaking rigid thought patterns and thus facilitating psychological flexibility and behavioural changes. ASCs also work as a coping mechanism, with dissociation known to be triggered during traumatic events (DePrince and Freyd, 2007), helping the person to disconnect from intense emotional and physical pain. The same mechanism of disconnection from one’s own emotion can also be relevant in suppressing unwanted thoughts and reducing emotional reactivity (Oathes & Ray, 2008).
Conclusions
Over the centuries, ASCs have been integrated into complex rituals, assuming cultural meaning dependent on the social context. The cultural value of ASCs has to be considered a fundamental aspect of the experience of trance-like states, as its sociocultural component is essential to shape the emotional weight of the experience. Spirit possession, as an example of cultural integration of ASCs in spiritual and religious practices, clearly demonstrates how ASCs can assume different meanings and values based on the community of reference. In the same way, the expression of trauma, emotional distress, and internal turmoil has been regulated by sociocultural norms through the ritualistic use of ASCs, making trance-like states a powerful tool to channelling fears and conflicts of the community, leading to their regulated resolution. The sociocultural component of ASCs is relevant not only on an anthropological or psychological level, but also for a clinical understanding of states of dissociation. Cultural influences strongly dictate the perception of mental states, and dissociation and ASCs cannot be torn apart from their sociocultural elements. Social expectancy and personal beliefs dictate the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions that use ASCs (e.g., hypnosis, mindfulness), making it essential to grasp the cultural and symbolic value these have for the individual. Although understanding the neurophysiological mechanisms of ASCs is an essential part of the study of consciousness, the cultural meaning associated with trance-like states needs to be considered as of the same importance to gain a proper understanding of the whole aspect of human consciousness.
Studies Provide Insights Into the Neural Basis of Consciousness
Jun 30, 2025 · The subjective nature of consciousness has long puzzled and intrigued not just philosophers but also scientists, who have put forth various theories to explain how it may be …
Know your brain: Thalamus – @neurochallenged
Where is the thalamus?The thalami are the orange, oval-shaped shaped structures above.
The thalamus is a large, symmetrical (meaning there is one in each cerebral hemisphere) structure that makes up most of the mass of the diencephalon. A large number of pathways travel through the thalamus, including all of the sensory pathways other than those devoted to olfaction (smell).
What is the thalamus and what does it do?
The thalamus is often described as a relay station. This is because almost all sensory information (with the exception of smell) that proceeds to the cortex first stops in the thalamus before being sent on to its destination. The thalamus is subdivided into a number of nuclei that possess functional specializations for dealing with particular types of information. Sensory information thus travels to the thalamus and is routed to a nucleus tailored to dealing with that type of sensory data. Then, the information is sent from that nucleus to the appropriate area in the cortex where it is further processed.
Thus, the thalamus has a major role as a gatekeeper for information on its way to the cortex, making sure that the information gets sent to the right place. However, to consider the thalamus as just a gatekeeper or relay station is selling this structure a bit short. A significant portion of the incoming fibers to the thalamus come not from sensory systems, but from the cortex itself. There are many connections to the thalamus that are involved in taking information from the cortex, modulating it, and then sending it back to the cortex. This means that the thalamus is an important part of cortical processing in general, and more than just a brief stop for signals on their way to the cortex.
With this in mind, it shouldn’t be that surprising that the thalamus is involved in complex brain processes like sleep and wakefulness. It even is thought to play a crucial role in maintaining consciousness. So, far from just a relay station, the thalamus is an integral area involved in higher-order brain processing of various types.
Reference:
Sherman, S., & Guillery, R. (2002). The role of the thalamus in the flow of information to the cortex Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 357 (1428), 1695-1708 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2002.1161
Scientists Discover the Brain’s Hidden Powerhouse of Abstract Thought
Rule representations for a cognitive task, such as paying attention to an objects’ shape or orientation, do not pre-exist in the cortex, but they emerge first in the thalamus after integrating weak distributed cortical inputs across cortical layers, as new findings show and represented by this image highlighting the thalamus and a description of the task. Credit: Sima Mofakham
For decades, the thalamus has been something of a backstage character in the grand drama of the human brain. Tucked deep in the brain’s center, it was long seen as a relay operator—a passive structure quietly passing signals between sensory inputs and the cerebral cortex. But now, a groundbreaking new study suggests this hidden hub may be far more influential than anyone imagined.
According to a collaborative team of neuroscientists from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Stony Brook University, the thalamus doesn’t just forward messages like a switchboard. Instead, it actively shapes thought itself—selecting behavioral rules, influencing executive decisions, and steering cognitive flexibility. Their findings, published in the journal Neuron, offer a stunning new perspective on how the brain organizes complex mental functions—and could pave the way for new treatments for psychiatric and neurological disorders.
The Brain’s Hidden Strategist
Using a blend of cutting-edge techniques—including precision electrophysiology and computational modeling—the researchers peered into the electrical symphony of a primate’s brain while it completed mentally demanding tasks. Their focus was on higher-order thalamic nuclei—specific subregions of the thalamus that were traditionally overlooked in favor of the more celebrated prefrontal cortex.
But what they saw was unexpected.
Instead of acting as a passive bridge, the thalamus lit up with dynamic, coordinated activity. It wasn’t just echoing messages—it was guiding them, even altering the functional states of the prefrontal cortex. In essence, it was helping the brain decide how to think.
“This discovery offers a breakthrough in understanding how higher-level brain functions work,” said Dr. Sima Mofakham, one of the study’s co-authors and a professor of neurosurgery and engineering at Stony Brook University. “It could lead to new treatments for conditions like schizophrenia, ADHD, and brain injury using targeted brain stimulation.”
A Team Effort Spanning Brain and Machine
At the heart of this revelation was a sophisticated experiment. At the University of Wisconsin–Madison, neuroscientists led by Dr. Jessica Phillips and Dr. Yuri Saalmann conducted MRI-guided electrophysiological recordings as primates performed tasks that demanded attention switching, rule selection, and mental flexibility—the kind of abstract thinking long considered the exclusive domain of the prefrontal cortex.
Meanwhile, across the country at Stony Brook University, Dr. Mofakham and her colleagues—neurosurgeon Dr. Charlies Mikell and Ph.D. student Xi Cheng—built computational models to simulate how the thalamus and cortex interacted. These digital experiments not only mirrored the neural data but provided deeper insight into how the thalamus could modulate executive control.
What emerged was a coherent story: the thalamus doesn’t just relay information—it chooses which rules to apply, when to apply them, and how strongly to influence the decision-making circuitry in the cortex.
In other words, the thalamus may be more than a relay—it may be the brain’s hidden strategist.
Rethinking Brain Hierarchies
This finding challenges one of neuroscience’s most foundational assumptions: that the cortex is where the heavy intellectual lifting happens, while subcortical structures like the thalamus play a supporting role. For over a century, the prefrontal cortex has been heralded as the seat of abstract thought, self-control, and adaptive behavior.
But what if that story has been missing a chapter?
“This changes how we think about the architecture of thought,” said Dr. Mofakham. “We now see that executive control—switching goals, making decisions, applying rules—is a dialogue, not a monologue. The thalamus is an active conversational partner.”
The implications are profound. If the thalamus truly influences the brain’s most complex operations, it becomes a crucial player in disorders that affect cognition and control. And for patients suffering from schizophrenia, traumatic brain injury, or attention disorders, it opens up an entirely new frontier of therapeutic possibilities.
Implications for AI, Interfaces, and the Future of Thought
Beyond the clinic, the findings also raise fascinating questions about the future of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and artificial intelligence.
Most current BCIs focus on signals from the cortex. But if the thalamus is involved in interpreting intention, context, and mental flexibility, future systems might benefit from tapping into its signals directly. For example, AI algorithms or robotic assistants that aim to mimic human thought might need to model not just cortical logic, but thalamic guidance.
“We’re learning that intelligent decision-making isn’t just about logic,” said Dr. Mofakham. “It’s about context, timing, and flexibility—qualities that the thalamus appears to shape. This could inspire the next generation of adaptive machines.”
There’s also hope that deep brain stimulation—already used to treat conditions like Parkinson’s and depression—could one day target thalamic hubs to restore goal-oriented behavior in patients with severe cognitive impairments. By modulating thalamic activity, doctors might be able to reignite the executive spark in a struggling mind.
A New Frontier in Understanding Ourselves
This study does more than identify a new brain function. It invites a rethinking of the very nature of consciousness and decision-making. If a structure like the thalamus—long overshadowed by the cerebral cortex—can shape our most abstract choices, what else might we be missing about the architecture of the mind?
The work also illustrates how interdisciplinary collaboration—between neuroscientists, engineers, modelers, and physicians—can lead to major scientific leaps. It’s a reminder that the brain, for all its complexity, is still revealing its secrets.
As Dr. Mofakham puts it, “We’re only just beginning to understand how the brain makes decisions, and this study shows that some of the most important answers may lie in places we’ve overlooked.”
In the vast orchestra of the brain, it turns out the conductor might have been hiding in plain sight—quietly cueing the crescendos of thought, waiting for us to finally listen.
Reference: Jessica M. Phillips et al, Primate thalamic nuclei select abstract rules and shape prefrontal dynamics, Neuron (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.03.021
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OK… so by now you have seen that they not only KNOW exactly how to enter any part of your brain. They have IDENTIFIED exactly which part of your brain CONTROLS not only your consciousness and your dreams but EVERYTHING that enters your mind and how it is received, processed and acted upon. THAT SHOULD BE SCARY ENOUGH!! But, hold on… take a look at the following article and YOU SHOULD BE TERRIFIED!
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Controlling nerve cells with light opened new ways to study the brain
A method called optogenetics offers insights into memory, perception and addiction
Optogenetics turns nerve cells into light-controlled puppets.SEBASTIAN KAULITZKI/Science Photo Library/Getty Images, adapted by E. Otwell
Some big scientific discoveries aren’t actually discovered. They are borrowed. That’s what happened when scientists enlisted proteins from an unlikely lender: green algae.
Cells of the algal species Chlamydomonas reinhardtii are decorated with proteins that can sense light. That ability, first noticed in 2002, quickly caught the attention of brain scientists. A light-sensing protein promised the power to control neurons — the brain’s nerve cells — by providing a way to turn them on and off, in exactly the right place and time.
AbstractChlamydomonas reinhardtii (C. reinhardtii) is one of the most well-studied microalgae organisms that revealed important information for the photosynthetic and metabolic processes of plants and eukaryotes. Numerous extensive studies have also underpinned its great potential as a biochemical factory, capable of producing various highly desired molecules with a direct impact on human health and longevity. Polysaccharides, lipids, functional proteins, pigments, hormones, vaccines, and antibodies are among the valuable biomolecules that are produced spontaneously or under well-defined conditions by C. reinhardtii and can be directly linked to human nutrition and diet. The aim of this review is to highlight the recent advances in the field focusing on the most relevant applications related to the production of important biomolecules for human health that are also linked with human nutrition and diet. The limitations and challenges are critically discussed along with the potential future applications of C. reinhardtii biomass and processed products in the field of nutraceuticals and food supplements. The increasing need for high-value and low-cost biomolecules produced in an environmentally and economy sustainable manner also underline the important role of C. reinhardtii. |
 Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a unicellular green alga that serves as a vital modelorganism in biological research, particularly in genetics and photosynthesis studies. Biological CharacteristicsEcological SignificanceResearch ApplicationsGenetic Characteristics
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Nerve cells genetically engineered to produce the algal proteins become light-controlled puppets. A flash of light could induce a quiet neuron to fire off signals or force an active neuron to fall silent.
“This molecule is the light sensor that we needed,” says vision neuroscientist Zhuo-Hua Pan, who had been searching for a way to control vision cells in mice’s retinas.
The method enabled by these loaner proteins is now called optogenetics, for its combination of light (opto) and genes. In less than two decades, optogenetics has led to big insights into how memories are stored, what creates perceptions and what goes wrong in the brain during depression and addiction.
LIGHT is LIFE – But They Are Using it to KILL US! This post is about light and how our lives are currently being impacted by light in ways about which we are totally unaware. We should not be surprised as just about every issue we are facing is in some way connected with ENERGY. LIGHT is probably the biggest source of energy that exists. Those of … Click Here to Read More |
Using light to drive the activity of certain nerve cells, scientists have toyed with mouse hallucinations: Mice have seen lines that aren’t there and have remembered a room they had never been inside. Scientists have used optogenetics to make mice fight, mate and eat, and even given blind mice sight. In a big first, optogenetics recently restored aspects of a blind man’s vision.
An early clue to the potential of optogenetics came around 1 a.m. on August 4, 2004. Neuroscientist Ed Boyden was in a lab at Stanford, checking on a dish of neurons that possessed a gene for one of the algal light sensors, called channelrhodopsin-2. Boyden was going to flash blue light on the cells and see if they fired signals. To his amazement, the very first cell he checked responded to the light with a burst of action, Boyden wrote in a 2011 account. The possibilities raised by that little spark of activity, described in a 2005 technical report by Boyden, Karl Deisseroth of Stanford University and colleagues, quickly became realities.
In Pan’s lab, light-responsive proteins restored vision in mice with damaged retinas, a finding that has now led to a clinical trial in people. Optogenetics’ promise wasn’t a given in those early days, as scientists were first learning how to use these proteins in neurons. “At that time, no one anticipated that this optogenetic work would have such a huge impact,” Pan says.
Since those early discoveries, the algae’s light sensors have been adopted for use in numerous brain research arenas. Neuroscientist Talia Lerner of Northwestern University in Chicago, for example, uses optogenetics to study connections between cells in the mouse brain. The method allows her to tease apart the relationships between cells that produce and respond to dopamine, a chemical messenger involved in movement and reward. Those cellular links, illuminated by optogenetics, might help reveal details about motivation and learning. “My research really wouldn’t be possible in its current form without optogenetics,” she says.
Optogenetics is also indispensable for Jeanne Paz of the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. She and her colleagues have been hunting for the cells that can stop seizures from spreading across the brain. By giving her a way to control distinct groups of neurons, optogenetics is crucial to her search. “We really could not ask these questions with any other tool,” Paz says.
Her optogenetics-aided search led Paz to a brain structure called the thalamus, a way station for many neural networks in the brain. “I remember the goose bumps I experienced the first time I shined the light into the thalamus and it stopped the seizure,” she says.
So far, optogenetics research has taken place mostly in mice. But insights into more complex brains, including those of primates, may soon be found, says Yasmine El-Shamayleh of Columbia University. In 2009, Boyden and colleagues described optogenetics in a macaque. El-Shamayleh and others are pushing this line of research, hard. “We are definitely on the cusp” of revealing some fascinating principles of the primate brain, such as how the brain transforms signals from the eyes into perceptions, she says.
Optogenetics has evolved quickly. Scientists have engineered and optimized new light sensors and new ways of combining them with other techniques. An important reason for today’s widespread innovation, says Lerner, was the early spirit of sharing by optogenetics pioneers. At Stanford, Deisseroth would regularly run workshops to train other scientists on the technique. “In some ways, that’s as important as inventing it,” Lerner says.
So it’s worth taking a minute to appreciate the original sharers. No matter what happens next in this swiftly moving field, one thing is certain: Brain scientists will be forever in the algae’s debt.
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Scientists suggest the brain may work best with 7 senses, not just 5
- Date:
- October 8, 2025
- Source:
- Skoltech
- Summary:
- Scientists at Skoltech developed a new mathematical model of memory that explores how information is encoded and stored. Their analysis suggests that memory works best in a seven-dimensional conceptual space — equivalent to having seven senses. The finding implies that both humans and AI might benefit from broader sensory inputs to optimize learning and recall.
Humans Might Work Better With 7 Senses
Scientists have uncovered a mathematical link between memory, senses, and intelligence, revealing that seven may be the magic number. Credit: AI/ScienceDaily.com
Researchers at Skoltech have developed a mathematical model that explores how memory functions. When they analyzed this model, they discovered intriguing results that could help improve robotic systems, artificial intelligence, and our understanding of how the human mind stores information. The findings, published in Scientific Reports, suggest there might be an ideal number of senses—and if that’s true, our five senses might not be enough!
“Our conclusion is of course highly speculative in application to human senses, although you never know: It could be that humans of the future would evolve a sense of radiation or magnetic field. But in any case, our findings may be of practical importance for robotics and the theory of artificial intelligence,” said study co-author Professor Nikolay Brilliantov of Skoltech AI. “It appears that when each concept retained in memory is characterized in terms of seven features—as opposed to, say, five or eight—the number of distinct objects held in memory is maximized.”
Following a research tradition that began in the early 20th century, the team focused on modeling the basic units of memory known as “engrams.” An engram can be thought of as a sparse collection of neurons in different brain regions that fire together. Each engram represents a concept, described through a set of features. For humans, these features correspond to sensory experiences—for example, the concept of a banana includes its appearance, smell, taste, and other sensory qualities. In this framework, the banana becomes a five-dimensional object within a mental space containing all the other memories stored in the brain.
Engrams evolve over time, becoming sharper or more diffuse depending on how often they are triggered by sensory input from the outside world. This process represents how we learn and forget as we interact with our environment.
“We have mathematically demonstrated that the engrams in the conceptual space tend to evolve toward a steady state, which means that after some transient period, a ‘mature’ distribution of engrams emerges, which then persists in time,” Brilliantov commented. “As we consider the ultimate capacity of a conceptual space of a given number of dimensions, we somewhat surprisingly find that the number of distinct engrams stored in memory in the steady state is the greatest for a concept space of seven dimensions. Hence the seven senses claim.”
In other words, let the objects that exist out there in the world be described by a finite number of features corresponding to the dimensions of some conceptual space. Suppose that we want to maximize the capacity of the conceptual space expressed as the number of distinct concepts associated with these objects. The greater the capacity of the conceptual space, the deeper the overall understanding of the world. It turns out that the maximum is attained when the dimension of the conceptual space is seven. From this the researchers conclude that seven is the optimal number of senses.
According to the researchers, this number does not depend on the details of the model — the properties of the conceptual space and the stimuli providing the sense impressions. The number seven appears to be a robust and persistent feature of memory engrams as such. One caveat is that multiple engrams of differing sizes existing around a common center are deemed to represent similar concepts and are therefore treated as one when calculating memory capacity.
The memory of humans and other living beings is an enigmatic phenomenon tied to the property of consciousness, among other things. Advancing the theoretical models of memory will be instrumental to gaining new insights into the human mind and recreating humanlike memory in AI agents.
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editorial
. 2019 Mar 22;6:17. doi: 10.3389/frobt.2019.00017
Building a conscious robot is a grand scientific and technological challenge. Debates about the possibility of conscious robots and the related positive outcomes and hazards for human beings are today no longer confined to philosophical circles.
The attentional mechanisms, theory of mind, and the role of emotions are all critical aspects in the study of the mechanisms underlying consciousness in humans and in robots. In this context, Graziano proposes a theory based on the attention schema as a starting point to build a conscious robot. The attention schema theory may explain how an entity lays claim to possess subjective awareness. According to Graziano, it is possible to create a robot with a rich internal model of consciousness that attributes consciousness to itself and to the people it interacts with, and that uses this attribution to predict human behavior.
Winfield proposes an artificial theory of mind that would provide robots with new capabilities related to social intelligence for human-robot interaction. The author suggests that a simulation-based internal model may offer a new basis for the artificial theory of mind. Internal models equip the robot with a model of itself and the environment, including other agents, so that the robot can test its possible actions and anticipate the consequences for itself and the other agents.
Conclusions
In summary, the advent of a conscious robot would be a tremendous scientific and technological leap.
The main message from this e-book is the need for tight relationships between scientific and technological research on robot consciousness and understanding of the processes related to biological consciousness. In fact, understanding the underlying aspects of biological consciousness would greatly help to build a new generation of conscious robots, which, in turn, would contribute to a better understanding of biological consciousness.
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Finding the path to consciousness for robots
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Scientists Say They Discovered the Gateway to Consciousness in the Brain
Often the things you don’t know are things your brain has chosen to ignore.
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Seeing Is Believing: the Role of Imagery in Sports Injury Rehabilitation
Dr Adam Gledhill and Dr Dale Forsdyke
As is well established, injuries, particularly severe or recurrent injuries, can have significant negative consequences for the injured athlete, including changing for the worse the ways that an athlete thinks, feels and acts (Forsdyke et al., 2016; Ruddock-Hudson et al., 2014; Tracey, 2003). It stands to reason, therefore, that there is growing interest and appreciation in the role of psychological interventions within the injury rehabilitation process; arguably chief amongst these has been the role of imagery (e.g. Driediger et al., 2006; Slimani et al., 2016; Zach et al., 2018).
This chapter will (1) define imagery and its potential benefits within sports injury rehabilitation; (2) highlight some of the main theories of imagery use; (3) discuss some of the proposed psychophysiological, neurobiological and neurocognitive underpinnings for the proposed benefits of imagery; (4) discuss suggestions for applied practice whilst also highlighting some of the research limitations and (5) present an applied case study.
IMAGERY IN INJURY REHABILITATION
Imagery is the polysensorial creation of recreation of an experience in the mind (Vealey & Forlenza, 2015) and is part of a series of psychological skills that, whilst still relatively under-utilized by injured athletes (Arvinen-Barrow et al., 2015), are valuable to those who do engage with them as part of injury rehabilitation (Arvinen-Barrow et al., 2015; Clement et al., 2013; Schwab Reese et al., 2012; Zach et al., 2018). There are many proposed benefits of imagery for injured athletes, each of which is linked to some of the negative responses associated with injury. For example, imagery is shown to increase confidence (e.g. Callow et al., 2001), improve self-efficacy (e.g. Cupal & Brewer, 2001; Zach et al., 2018), improved knee laxity (e.g. Maddison et al., 2012), functional mobility (e.g. Zach et al., 2018), perceived pain (Zach et al., 2018), healing-related neurobiological factors (Maddison et al., 2012), manage unfamiliar situations (e.g. Munroe et al., 2000), reduced re-injury anxiety (e.g. Cupal & Brewer, 2001), skill acquisition (Ingram
Image- Probably the most important word in your life! Part 1 – How Photography Changed Our World Photo Credit: Idolatry is the worship of anything or anyone other than God. Celebrity Nature Family Self Wisdom Deities spacer Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the … Click Here to Read More |
| 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 1 Peter 5:8
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 10:5 30 Powerful Bible Verses About Keeping Your Mind On God (Full Commentary) |
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The thalamus: gateway to the mind – University of British …
The thalamus: gateway to the mind
Lawrence M. Ward∗ WIREs Cogn Sci 2013. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1256
| The thalamus of the brain is far more than the simple sensory relay it was long thought to be. From its location at the top of the brain stem it interacts directly with nearly every part of the brain. Its dense loops into and out of cortex render it functionally a seventh cortical layer. Moreover, it receives and sends connections to most subcortical areas as well. Of course it does function as a very sophisticated sensory relay and thus is of vital importance to perception. But also it functions critically in all mental operations, including attention, memory, and consciousness, likely in different ways for different processes, as indicated by the consequences of damage to its various nuclei as well as by invasive studies in nonhuman animals. It plays a critical role also in the arousal system of the brain, in emotion, in movement, and in coordinating cortical computations. Given these important functional roles, and the dearth of knowledge about the details of its non-sensory nuclei, it is an attractive target for intensive study in the future, particularly in regard to its role in healthy and impaired cognitive functioning. /©2013JohnWiley&Sons,Ltd. |
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INTRODUCTION
Open nearly any textbook of neuroscience or sensation and perception and you will find the thalamus described as a ‘sensory relay’. Five of its roughly 50 nuclei in particular, the lateral (vision) and medial (hearing) geniculate nuclei, and various parts of the ventral-posterior nucleus (touch, pain, taste), do indeed function as relays, receiving inputs from sensory receptors and sending the information contained therein on to primary sensory cortices. The other 45 nuclei, however, receive the bulk of their input from the cortex and subcortex, and thus participate in complex cortical and subcortical networks, and have no primary sensory inputs whatsoever. These latter thalamic nuclei evolved along with the evolving neocortex as vertebrates’ brains became more complicated over millions of years.1 The precise functions of these nuclei have been elusive, although it is clear that they must be very important given the dire consequences of damage to them. To destroy the thalamus is to kill; a person cannot live without a thalamus although people ∗Correspondence to: lward@psych.ubc.ca Department of Psychology and Brain Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada Conflict of interest: The author has declared no conflicts of interest for this article. and other animals can do quite well without major chunks of cortex. Indeed, decorticate rats behave very similarly to normal rats in many ways,2 whereas de-thalamate rats die. Even a bit of damage to the thalamus can have dire consequences for perception, cognition, emotion, action, and even consciousness. The thalamus is a critical locus for anesthetics in rendering us unconscious, and participates in a critical cortical arousal system and in many if not all cortical networks. The thalamus has been proposed to be the ‘brain’s highest mechanism’,3 and indeed it has figured prominently in many theories of mental function for many years. And yet, in spite of all of this interest, and much evidence of critical functions, it remains one of the least well-understood regions of the brain. Its best understood part, the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), is marvelous indeed, and plays a sophisticated and critical role in the visual system. But generalizations from this nucleus, as useful as they seem to be, have not prepared us for the complications that have recently been revealed, especially in regard to the non-sensory nuclei that form the bulk of the dorsal thalamus. This article provides an overview both of what we know and of what we are beginning to suspect about how the thalamus helps to integrate and regulate cortical and subcortical activity, and helps provide us humans with the delights and sorrows of our complex mental life.
Overview
A SEVENTH LAYER OF CORTEX
The thalamus has been characterized as a central, convergent, compact ‘miniature map’ of the rest of the brain. Thus, it is well-positioned to integrate a wide variety of cortical computations with sensory inputs and to integrate both of these with limbic activity from the hypothalamus, amygdala, and other subcortical regions. The human thalamus is comprised of about 50 nuclei and subnuclei, which do not connect directly with each other. Rather, each nucleus tends to connect reciprocally with one or more specific cortical areas, as well as with the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) that surrounds the dorsal thalamus.4,5 Figure 1 shows the relatively larger projection from each cortical area to a specific dorsal thalamic nucleus (indicated by the thick lines on the left side) as compared to the much smaller thalamocortical reciprocal projection (thin lines on the right side) in the human brain.7 This pattern of connection circuitry is common among mammals. The so-called ‘higher’ mammals have more cortical areas and thus more thalamic nuclei connected in this way. It seems that each new cortical area that evolved was accompanied by the addition of another nucleus in the dorsal thalamus.1 The relationship between the dorsal thalamic nuclei and their reciprocally connected cortical areas is so close that some researchers have argued that the dorsal thalamic nuclei comprise a seventh layer of the cortex. The thalamus also has a reciprocal relationship with many subcortical areas, such as the basal ganglia, the striatum, the amygdala, the hypothalamus, the cerebellum, and so on. Thus, the thalamus interacts directly with, or is a target for, nearly every other part of the brain. It is likely that it plays a role in the integration of the outputs of, and communication between, all of the functional areas of both hemispheres of the brain: sensory, cognitive, limbic, and motor.
FIGURE 1| Corticothalamic (left side) and thalamocortical (right side) connections. (Reprinted with permission from Ref 6. Copyright 2011 Elsevier.) © 2013JohnWiley &Sons, Ltd.
The dorsal thalamic nuclei (excluding TRN) are comprised of about 70% glutamatergic excitatory neurons and about 30% GABA-ergic inhibitory interneurons. The interneurons form reciprocal connections with nearby excitatory neurons only within a particular nucleus. The dorsal thalamic excitatory neurons are very different from cortical pyramidal neurons (Figure 2). The thalamic neurons are larger and have more extensive dendritic trees, where they receive cholinergic, noradrenergic, and serotonergic inputs from other subcortical areas, excitatory synapses from the cortex, and inhibitory synapses from nearby interneurons and from the TRN.9 The neurons of the TRN (Figure 2) are similar to cortical interneurons, and are all GABA-ergic inhibitory neurons. The TRN is also parcellated into sectors that interact with specific thalamic nuclei and receive collaterals from the corresponding cortical areas, although the parcellation is not as well-defined for the nonsensory nuclei.
The Sensory Nuclei
Sherman and Guillery called the relay nuclei that innervate the primary sensory projection areas ‘first order’ relay nuclei.10 In humans, these are the lateral geniculate (visual), medial geniculate (auditory), ventrolateral (tactile), posterior ventromedial (pain, temperature),11 and ventrocaudal (taste and other somatic sensations) nuclei.12 Some of these are shown with their projections to cortex in Figure 3. Their primary function has been thought to simply relay basic afferent information from the peripheral receptors to the cortex for sophisticated processing. This is far from a complete description of their role, however. Cortical feedback has been shown to locally enhance or suppress activity in sensory thalamic nuclei.13 In turn, sensory thalamic bursts potently activate cortical circuits.14 The TRN gates the relay of sensory information to cortex by fine-tuning of gain in feedback inhibition circuits between TRN and sensory relay nuclei: high gain in those circuits disconnects the relay from cortex whereas low gain enhances transmission from the relay to cortex.15 It is becoming clear that considerable processing of sensory information takes place in these nuclei, partly because of feedback from cortex, as in vision, and partly because of that feedback combined with sophisticated processing in even more peripheral nuclei of the brain stem, as in hearing.
We know most about the function of the LGN.16 It precisely maintains the spatial topography of the retina, while at the same time separating magno- and parvocellular retinal inputs into interleaved layers for input into specific sublayers of layer IV of cortical area V1. This means that it might be possible to create a prosthetic for vision by stimulating the LGN directly, and this possibility is confirmed by the fact that phosphenes (phantom visual sensations) can be generated by electrical micro stimulation there.17 With modulatory inputs from V1, TRN and several subcortical areas, LGN is a site of early modulation of visual information arriving from the retina. It leads the cortex in the detection of oddball visual targets, and presumably enhances the cortical response to them.18 The LGN improves the coding efficiency of retinal signals by preferentially relaying spikes that arrive after short inter spike intervals. The LGN is also a locus of attention enhancement and suppression via the TRN (see section Attention). Some of this is apparently accomplished via modulation of synchronization of oscillatory responses between LGN and cortex.19
The medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) receives already highly processed afferent input from the top of a chain of other brain stem auditory nuclei, comprised of the inferior colliculus, the superior olive, and the cochlear nucleus. These early nuclei maintain the tonotopic sound frequency mapping created by the cochlea and also contain localization neurons sensitive to sound timing and intensity differences between the two ears. The MGN sends all this information to the primary auditory cortex and receives modulatory inputs similar to the LGN, and thus most likely is a site of attentional gating of auditory stimuli. Neurons in the auditory TRN adapt very quickly to repeated stimuli, and thus function very sensitively as deviance detectors.20 They also modulate the responses of the MGNto the deviant stimuli. The auditory TRN also receives visual and tactile afferents so that it might be involved in cross-modal modulation as well.21,22 Behavioral experiments have demonstrated that visual cues can affect thalamic responses to auditory stimuli, consistent with such a role.20,23 The MGN is also connected to the spatial maps of the superior colliculus. It is likely that the spatial information extracted by the brain stem auditory nuclei, rather than being directed to the auditory cortex (which contains no spatial maps), is sent to the spatial maps comprised of multimodal neurons found in deep layers of the superior colliculus.
The other sensory nuclei apparently function similarly to the LGN and MGN but also likely display modality-specific differences. For example, stimulation of ventrolateral nucleus generates phantom limb sensation in amputees,25 much like the phosphenes from the LGN. Phantom pain can also be elicited by © 2013JohnWiley &Sons, Ltd.wires.wiley.com/cogsci Overview pathology of the pain nuclei, or other nearby nuclei, associated with diabetes.26 Activation of the ventral posterolateral nucleus has been implicated in causing the head pain inmigraine.27 Thalamocortical circuitry that would enhance processing of information from rodent vibrissae has been described,28 and some specifics of this function have now been demonstrated. Adaptation to stimulation decreases synchrony in tactile thalamus, reducing the ability of barrel cortex to detect stimuli but enhancing its ability to discriminate them based on vibrissae movements.29 Thalamic activity is necessary for the desynchronized cortical state that prevails during whisking (moving whiskers to detect and discriminate tactile stimuli) in mice and optogenetic stimulation of tactile thalamus produces a similar state in cortex to the desynchronized whisking state.30
Drivers and Modulators
As described in the previous section, some parts of the thalamus do function as sophisticated sensory relays or gates. Most thalamic nuclei, however, called ‘higher order’ by Sherman and Guillery,10 receive the vast majority of their input from the cortical area(s) to which they are reciprocally connected. Guillery and Sherman argued that these higher-order nuclei function exactly as do the first-order relay nuclei: they relay information.10,31 In other words, Sherman and Guillery extended the classical notion of the thalamus as a sensory relay from sensory Cortical interneuron (stellate) nuclei such as the lateral geniculate and the medial geniculate, to all thalamic nuclei. They did add a twist, however, based on their observation that cortico-thalamic inputs originating in layer V of the cortex also branch to motor areas (at least in the visual and somato-sensory systems). Moreover, those inputs from cortical layer V do not return to the thalamic nucleus associated with the same cortical area, but rather to other, higher-order thalamic nuclei (at least for vision) associated with a later cortical area. Finally, they are of the ‘driver’ type of inputs (fast, ionotropic synapses, large axons and large synaptic boutons). On the basis of these facts, Sherman and Guillery proposed that the higher-order thalamic nuclei functioned to relay motor information from one cortical area to another, effectively an efference copy of action-related information sent by the cortex to motor areas, such as the superior colliculus (which controls eye movements), brain stem, and spinal cord, from these perceptual areas. Information transmission via this cortico thalamocortical pathway has been demonstrated for spatial vision stability relating to eye movements32,33 and for the somatosensory system.34
Sherman and Guillery also observed that many, if not most, of the corticothalamic inputs that originate in layer VI of the cortex terminate in the thalamic relay nuclei in slow, metabotropic synapses, which have small fiber and synaptic bouton size and require cascades of intracellular processes to open ion channels.10 They classified such terminals as ‘modulators’, which do not transmit information but only change the way that their targets respond to driving inputs. Importantly, though, it seems that both ionotropic and metabotropic synapses can perform either function. This is because, rather than by type of synapse, gain modulation is better characterized functionally as arising from balanced excitatory and inhibitory background synaptic input, whereas driving input arises from unbalanced input.35 Thus, while it is possible that the higher-order nuclei function as information relays, it is not clear that this is their only function or even their primary function.
FIGURE 2| Thalamic neurons compared with cortical neurons. (Reprinted with permission from Ref 6. Copyright 2011 Elsevier.)
FIGURE 3| Connections between thalamic sensory nuclei and the cortex. (a) Tactile system—ventrolateral nucleus; (b) auditory system—medial geniculate nucleus; (c) visual system—lateral geniculate nucleus. (Reprinted with permission from Ref 9. Copyright 2002 Royal Society Publishing.)
The Core and the Matrix
Another important distinction between the first and higher-order thalamic nuclei arises from the discovery by E.G. Jones of two different types of excitatory thalamic neurons.36 They are distinguished both chemically and anatomically: the ‘core’ neurons express a calcium-binding protein called parvalbumin and are found mostly in the first-order and motor nuclei, whereas the ‘matrix’ neurons express a different calcium-binding protein called calbindin and are found throughout the dorsal thalamus with a higher concentration in the higher-order nuclei (Figure 3). The core neurons project to interneurons in layer IV and to pyramidal neurons in layers III, V, and VI in sensory- or motor-specific cortical areas. The matrix neurons, however, project diffusely to interneurons in layers I and II of several related cortical areas, mostly from non-sensory nuclei and especially to frontal areas. Both core and matrix neurons receive projections from cortical layer V pyramidal neurons and the core neurons also receive back projections from layer VI pyramidal neurons.
Jones proposed that core neurons relay information within specific sensory and motor pathways, whereas matrix neurons bind together the activities of thalamus and cortex.36,37 He proposed these distinct roles in the context of the two major modes of action in the thalamocortical circuitry: burst mode inducing drowsiness and sleep and tonic mode inducing wakeful consciousness and action. In burst mode the brain stem arousal system is inactive and core and matrix neurons are inhibited by the TRN.38 In tonic mode the brain stem arousal system is active and inhibition from TRN is weak. In tonic mode, thalamocortical and cortico-cortical synchronization are both enhanced by the binding influence of matrix neurons, and sensory information is efficiently relayed to the cortex by the core. In this scheme, the TRN and the brain stem arousal system together determine whether the thalamus will facilitate thalamocortical synchronization at 40Hz (conscious wakefulness) or at much lower frequencies, in the delta (2–3Hz) range (sleep).
AROUSAL AND SLEEP
It is generally agreed that the thalamus plays a critical role in the sleep–wakefulness cycle of the brain, although it is only part of the necessary machinery. Figure 4 abbreviates the complex neural circuitry involved in the circadian sleep–wake cycle.39 The special role of the thalamus was first described in detail in the early 1990s.40 It involves the generation of regular slow rhythms in the thalamocortical system during sleep and irregular faster rhythms during wakefulness. The isolated TRN generates sleep spindle oscillations, thus indicating that it is probably the origin of the slow rhythms.40 When the TRN is inhibited the slow rhythms disappear and the faster rhythms of the waking (and rapid-eye-movement sleep) state recur.
FIGURE 4| Important brain areas and connections in the sleep and arousal networks. Source: Pace-Schott and Hobson39
The intralaminar and midline nuclei of the thalamus are important parts of the forebrain arousal system.41 These nuclei have a high density of matrix neurons that project diffusely to frontal cortex as well as to the striatum and the basal ganglia (responsible for actions).9,36,37 One study showed that the intralaminar nuclei and the brain stem reticular system were both activated when human subjects went from a relaxed awake state to one that required focusing on an attention-demanding reaction-time task.42 Although there are other pathways from the reticular activating system to cortex, the forebrain system is especially important in enabling the ‘higher’ brain functions of the frontal cortex. It is likely that the role of the midline nuclei of the thalamus in arousal directed specifically toward frontal cortex is the reason that infarctions of the intralaminar nuclei initially have the dramatic effect they seem to on consciousness.43 Merker argued, however, that lesions of the intralaminar nuclei cause effects on the sleep–wakefulness axis rather than on consciousness per se, relaxing the subject to a somnolent state that, although debilitating and suggestive of unconsciousness, is very different from, e.g., the awake but unconscious state displayed in absence epilepsy.44 Thus, nonspecific generalized arousal from the reticular activating system might be sufficient to bring the brain to a state of ‘relaxed’ wakefulness but not to provide the ideal, alert, focused wakefulness demanded by coordinated thought or action, particularly that mediated by activity in frontal regions of the cortex.
The consequences of disabling the midline thalamic arousal system can be seen in some brain-damaged patients who persist in a minimally conscious state. Such patients can only briefly sustain attention on an object or movement, and show disordered speech and behavior and little evidence of thinking. In one such patient, stimulation by electrodes implanted in the intralaminar and midline nuclei resulted in a dramatic improvement in his behavior, including the ability to speak coherently and to eat by himself.45 Discontinuation of the stimulation caused an immediate return to the minimally-conscious state. In general, electrical stimulation of the central thalamus may enhance cognitive performance through neocortical and hippocampal neuronal activation and also through specific regulation of gene expression.46
More evidence for a role of the midline-thalamic arousal system in providing optimal conditions for cognitive functioning is provided by a study of connectivity in thalamocortical loops involving the intralaminar nuclei, frontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex in one vegetative state patient. Connectivity in these loops was significantly reduced during the vegetative state in comparison to healthy controls but was roughly normal after that patient had recovered consciousness.47 Moreover, anterior thalamic nuclei also appear to drive high metabolic activity in posterior midline cortical areas such as precuneus, posterior cingulate, and retro splenial cortices.48 These cortical areas are associated with self awareness and self-reflection, have the highest cortical glucose metabolism in the adult human brain, and are significantly depressed during absence epilepsy, sleep, and anesthesia. Interestingly, vegetative patients can be differentiated from minimally conscious ones by a difference in glucose metabolism in these regions,48 and these regions are the first to show increases in glucose metabolism during the recovery trajectory from coma though vegetative state to minimal or full consciousness.49
ATTENTION
In Posner and colleagues’ influential model of attention orienting,50 the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus is responsible for (re-)engaging attention at a particular locus in visual space; the posterior parietal cortex disengages attention from that locus and the superior colliculus shifts it to a new locus where the pulvinar again engages attention. Consistent with this interpretation, Laberge argued that the pulvinar is where the attention ‘filter’ is implemented.51 Earlier Laberge and Buchsbaum had found that the pulvinar is especially active when attention must be focused on a particular region of the visual field while excluding other regions.52 In contrast, Crick emphasized the role of the TRN in selective attention.53 It is likely that both are important in selecting sensory/perceptual information on which to concentrate processing and in updating the contents of consciousness.6
The Pulvinar
Nucleus The pulvinar nucleus is comprised of subnuclei that interact with several different cortical and subcortical regions. The inferior and ventral parts of the lateral subnucleus make extensive reciprocal connections to the visual cortex and receive input from superficial superior colliculus. In contrast, the medial and dorsal parts of this subnucleus seem to be more related to attentional focusing. They make connections to orbitofrontal, parietal, temporal, and cingulate cortex and to the amygdala, and receive input from intermediate layers of the superior colliculus.54 The oral pulvinar is a polysensory section, making connections to parietal and temporal cortices as well as to visual cortices. The pulvinar nucleus is thus a prime locus for a salience map that could coordinate sensory (visual, auditory, and touch) and motor activity directed toward particular locations in space.55 The pulvinar also is thought to integrate bottom-up orienting, either through sensory systems or from subcortical inputs such as the amygdala that would signal danger, with top-down orienting, driven by goals and context associated with frontal and other association cortex activity.6,16
The TRN
Crick suggested that the TRN is the locus of an ‘attention spotlight’ implemented by TRN modulation of thalamic relay neuron activity.53 This general idea (but not Crick’s suggested mechanism) is now widely accepted.10 Attention gating involving the TRN has been confirmed both during classical conditioning56 and in visual perception of simple patterns.57
The neurons of the TRN make inhibitory connections to all of the nuclei of the dorsal thalamus. The TRN neurons in turn receive excitatory input from both cortex and dorsal thalamus, and they also make exclusively inhibitory connections with each other. The TRN is parcellated in much the same way as the dorsal thalamus is, so that particular parts of TRN, cortex, and dorsal thalamic nuclei all serve the same function(s).58 The sensory sectors contain similar topographic maps and form open loops with their associated thalamic sensory nuclei, allowing them to regulate firing in those nuclei. In turn their own activity is modulated by the associated cortical and thalamic regions. These parts of TRN probably influence only the nearby neurons by enhancing transmission of salient information.59
We know less about the non-sensory parts of the TRN. They lack the specificity of the sensory sectors, and so probably exert more global effects on activity in their associated nuclei. One important non=sensory circuit, however, has been elucidated recently in monkeys. The amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex project very broadly to the TRN, including even to the sensory parts, as does the mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus.60 It has been argued that these areas, along with the anterior cingulate cortex, regulate behavior relative to the emotional state of the organism and provide an efficient way of focusing attention on emotionally salient information through activation of the TRN, which in turn would inhibit irrelevant sensory and cognitive processing by shutting down parts of the thalamocortical pathways.
Reciprocal inhibition between TRN neurons is important in creating the sleep state.61 Moreover, the thalamocortical system as a whole can recruit the entire TRN through either cortical or thalamic input.61 Importantly, focal stimuli initiate TRN oscillations that persist for some time, so that intrareticular inhibition could be responsible for keeping those stimuli in the attention spotlight.62 Even the strictly parcellated sensory-specific relay nuclei can interact because they all connect to the TRN.63 Such interactions could allow thalamic sensory relay neurons responding to a salient stimulus to influence the activity of higher order neurons in the same modality, or those in a multimodal salience map in the pulvinar, thus helping to implement bottom-up attention orienting.
EMOTION
The thalamus is sometimes considered to be part of the ‘limbic brain’—deeply involved in creating emotional experiences. Indeed some early speculations attributed to it the affective tone of all perceptions and cognitions, including the moral emotions,64 and its role in the moral emotions has since been confirmed.65 As mentioned above it is connected to many emotion associated areas, including the amygdala and the insula, and to various parts of the frontal cortex, as well as to the hippocampus, from whence come emotional memories. According to some studies the thalamus is rather nonspecific regarding emotion, being activated by a wide range of positive and negative emotion-generating stimuli.66
There do seem to be some very specific functions of the thalamusine motion, however. For example, the © 2013JohnWiley &Sons, Ltd.wires.wiley.com/cogsci Overview posterior thalamus codes reward value.67 Thalamic projections to nucleus accumbens seem to be especially important in reward processing.68 Moreover, some neurons in the intralaminar nucleus, connected to the striatum, respond preferentially to the smaller of two rewards rather than simply firing more the bigger the reward.69 The cortex and the thalamus together primetheamygdalainfearconditioning,70 and reward devaluation effects71 and fear extinction72 are both modulated by activity in the mediodorsal nucleus. In general, circuits made with the basal ganglia and the striatum are likely involved in integrating emotion, motivation, and perceptual information with memory to select appropriate behaviors.73
CONSCIOUSNESS
Clearly, given its dominant roles in all of perception, cognition, emotion, and action, thalamic function is critical in every aspect of human life, including even the ineffable and mysterious experience of conscious awareness. Some theories of consciousness emphasize cortical processing,74 whereas others promote corticothalamic interactions.75 But for many years the thalamus itself has been implicated more directly.3,76 Most recently, it has been proposed that conscious awareness arises from the synchronized activity of neurons in some higher-order nuclei of the thalamus, mediated by the lateral inhibitory interactions of neurons in the TRN.6 Four specific bodies of evidence support this latter proposition. First, phenomenal and access consciousness are restricted to the results of cortical computations only, with little or no experience of or access to the computational processes themselves. Second, the thalamus is the most likely common brain locus of brain injury resulting in vegetative state and of the effects of general anesthetics on consciousness (see next section). Third, the anatomy and physiology of the thalamus and its relationship to the cerebral cortex imply that corticothalamic loops play a key role in consciousness and attention, consistent with the position of Llin´as et al.75 Finally, neural synchronization is a strong neural correlate of consciousness, consistent with the cortical dynamic core proposed by Tononi and Edelman.77 As most scientific theories, this one is probably not the whole story, and many of its competitors also undoubtedly contain elements of a more complete theory. But whatever the final theory, it seems that the thalamus will be a central player.
Anesthetics
Anesthesiologists are used to turning consciousness on and off with impunity but they still do not know exactly how they manage to do this. An important body of evidence indicates a key role of the thalamus in this process.78 Several studies have indicated that the thalamus is one of only two brain regions that are suppressed by all general anesthetics tested so far;79–81 the other is the brain stem reticular activating system, which is implicated in the sleep–wake cycle as indicated earlier. Importantly, sensory cortex remains responsive to stimuli even under large doses of anesthetics.82 Of course, several critical cortical regions are also involved in the return of consciousness,83 as is the flow of information between thalamus and cortex.84 Closely related to the role of midline nuclei in vegetative and minimally conscious states, blockade of potassium channels in the central medial thalamic nucleus of rats reverses desflurane anesthesia.85 Moreover, propofol, a much-used general anesthetic, preferentially depresses functional connectivity in non-specific (matrix) thalamocortical systems.86 Thus, it is likely that any explanation of the mechanism by which anesthetics abolish consciousness will centrally involve the thalamus, and likely the non-sensory nuclei in particular.
THALAMIC BRAIN DAMAGE AND COGNITION
Much of what we know about thalamic function, and thalamic participation in brain networks, in humans comes from reports of the effects of thalamic lesions on perception, cognition, and behavior. Clearly lesions in the primary sensory nuclei dramatically affect the specific sensory–perceptual system involved, often in very specific ways, depending on the particular thalamic area involved.87 But thalamic lesions, often caused by vascular incidents involving the blood supply to specific nuclei, can also affect every other aspect of brain function. Thalamic lesions can cause all sorts of disordered cognition, including delirium, aphasias, confusion, hallucinations, disordered speech, somnolence, and loss of consciousness. Moreover, damage to other parts of the brain can cause reversible thalamic malfunction via diaschisis (depression of blood flow and/or metabolism in one area by damage to a distant area), and often eventually results in permanent thalamic damage because of retrograde degeneration. Thus, because the thalamus is so connected to the rest of the brain, brain damage of any sort impacts thalamic function and damage to the thalamus impacts the function of associated brain networks.
Effects on Cognition
Because we know so little about the higher-order nuclei, information gained from lesions in those nuclei is particularly valuable. Infarcts (dead tissue caused by loss of blood supply) occur in the thalamus, and the nuclei in which they occur are thereby rendered dysfunctional, either temporarily or permanently. Four major systems of blood vessels supply the thalamus, each bringing oxygen and nutrients to a different subset of nuclei, leading to four general infarct syndromes.87 Neuroimaging studies, while still not ideal, have revealed that these syndromes can be complex, involving most cognitive and behavioral functions.
The tuber thalamic artery supplies a large number of ventral and medial nuclei, including especially the mammillothalamic tract (to hippocampus), the TRN, and the ventral part of the mediodorsal nucleus. Blood clots or leakage affecting these nuclei lead to a host of memory problems, personality changes, executive dysfunction, language problems (if on left), and hemispatial neglect (if on right).87–89 Some of these can be subtle, as when a left lateral posterior nucleus infarct caused a semantic paralexia, in which a reader substituted content-related words for words seen,90 as well as other lexical-semantic deficits.91 Also, certain lesions of the mammillothalamic tract can lead to specific long-term episodic memory impairment.89 Importantly, intense electrical stimulation of these nuclei results in similar types of deficits, confirming their role in language and memory in particular,92 whereas minimal electrical stimulation can actually enhance memory performance.93 Blood flow interruptions in the paramedian artery affect the midline and intralaminar nuclei, the mediodorsal nucleus, and parts of the pulvinar, leading to a similar set of problems, but including in addition attention89 and arousal problems, and coma if bilateral.87 The inferolateral and posterior choroidal arteries supply the sensory and motor nuclei and the pulvinar, and their interruptions result in various sensory and motor disorders, including paralysis.87
Effects on Consciousness
One of the most devastating possible effects of thalamic brain damage is a disorder of consciousness. Such disorders can range from coma through vegetative state and minimal consciousness to more or less normal consciousness accompanied by more or less severe cognitive deficits that compromise normal living. After severe brain damage, either by trauma or from oxygen deprivation leading to infarcts, the normal progression is from coma (no response to stimulation), to vegetative state (sleep–wake cycle but no response to stimulation), to minimal consciousness (some inconsistent response to stimulation), to partial or full recovery. Death, of course, can happen at any stage before recovery. A classic case of massive thalamic damage from hypoxia is that of Karen Ann Quinlan. She emerged from coma into a vegetative state after a cardiopulmonary arrest and persisted for 10years in that state before dying of systemic infection. An autopsy of her brain revealed that her cortex and inferior brain stem were largely intact but her thalamus was massively damaged. Kinney et al. concluded that ‘…the disproportionately severe and bilateral damage in the thalamus as compared with the damage in the cerebral cortex supports the hypothesis that the thalamus is critical for cognition and awareness and may be less critical for arousal.’ (p. 1474).94 Several studies of the brains of vegetative state patients have since confirmed that severe thalamic damage is invariably associated with vegetative state.95–98 Damage to the mediodorsal nucleus, in particular, seems to be especially disruptive to consciousness.99 Finally, thalamocortical connectivity, both specific and nonspecific, is dramatically reduced by various forms of brain damage that lead to the vegetative state, including both traumatic and nontraumatic (e.g., hypoxia) damage.100
Mental Illness
Given its extensive connections with the rest of the brain, it should not be surprising to find that thalamic dysfunction has been associated directly with mental illness, particularly with the various manifestations of schizophrenia. It has been proposed that disruption of connectivity between prefrontal regions, their associated thalamic nuclei, and the cerebellum produces ‘cognitive dysmetria,’ which is characterized by difficulty in prioritizing, processing, coordinating, and responding to information.101 These dysfunctions in turn are prominent in schizophrenia and can account for its broad diversity of symptoms. It is also known that thalamic connectivity to the lateral prefrontal cortex is sparser, and the associated thalamic regions smaller, in schizophrenia, correlating with working memory deficits in that condition.102 It is possible also that abnormalities in the TRN might explain the altered slow-wave sleep patterns and loss of self-reference in schizophrenia.103
Schizophrenia is not the only mental illness associated with thalamic dysfunction. Bipolar disorder has been associated with disruptions in striatum thalamus and thalamus-pre-frontal connectivity.104 © 2013JohnWiley &Sons, Ltd.wires.wiley.com/cogsci Overview And, using a monkey model, it has been shown that over-activation of the ventral anterior and mediodorsal nuclei of the thalamus provokes the compulsive-like behaviors and the neurovegetative manifestations usually associated with the feeling of anxiety in obsessive–compulsive disorder.105 It is likely that in the future even more mental disorders will come to be seen to closely align with subtle damage to thalamic mechanisms.
Therapy by Stimulation
The thalamus plays a major role in movement through a variety of complex pathways involving the motor cortex, cerebellum, and various subcortical regions. When some part of this complex circuitry is compromised a movement disorder can result. For example, Parkinson’s disease is associated with death of the dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra, which eventually results in dysregulation of other parts of the motor circuitry, including the intralaminar and other nuclei of the thalamus.106 Because the thalamus acts as a gate for movement, combining information from subcortical areas to feed back into the motor cortex, dysregulation of these thalamic nuclei compounds the disorder. Although medication is somewhat effective in alleviating symptoms such as tremor and rigidity, electrical stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus to block some of the aberrant signals into the thalamus is even more effective.107 Thalamic stimulation of other nuclei is also effective in alleviating symptoms of other disorders, e.g., essential tremor,108 Tourette’s syndrome,109 epilepsy,110 and even obsessive–compulsive disorder, although deep brain stimulation of targets other than the thalamus seems to be more effective in the latter case.109,111 Moreover, it has recently been shown that optogenetic inhibition of thalamocortical neurons can control epileptic seizures resulting from cortical strokes because thalamichy perexcit ability is required to sustain the seizure.112
CONCLUSION
The thalamus is centrally located and densely connected with nearly all of the rest of the brain. Given its anatomy, physiology, demonstrated functional interactions with cortical and subcortical systems, and its influence on perception, cognition, emotion, and behavior, more intensive study is surely warranted. Some parts, such as the LGN, are understood in detail, although even there recent investigations are uncovering evidence of ever-more-sophisticated interactions with cortex and other brain areas. The study of the higher-order nuclei should repay intense study even more richly, with the promise of uncovering some of the central mysteries of higher cognition and consciousness, as well as forming a useful locus for therapeutic intervention.
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Psalm 139:14
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
We were each created, individually. Since we know we were created, that means THERE IS A CREATOR! AND THERE IS. Since He created us, He knows us better than anyone can, so why would you go anywhere else for advice or for solutions, or for healing, or for comfort? NO ONE will ever love you like GOD LOVES YOU!
Our Heavenly Father loves us all more than we can imagine. He loves each and every one of us as individuals. When we take the time to really understand our bodies, we quickly learn that we are miraculously wonderfully designed. Every single bit of our bodies were designed and created with purpose. Every single bit of our bodies works together as a whole, perfectly. Designed to be self-sustaining and self-healing with a fully functioning security system designed to protect us from any and all INVADERS!
Every cell in our body has a security system that is part of our larger IMUNE SYSTEM. EVERY CELL in our body has a GATEWAY!
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Understanding The Plasma Membrane: The Boundary And Gateway Of Cells
The plasma membrane, also known as the cell membrane, plasmalemma, or cytoplasmic membrane, forms the outermost boundary of cells. Composed of a phospholipid bilayer and proteins, it regulates the passage of materials into and out of the cell. These terms are interchangeable, highlighting the membrane’s function in defining the cell’s boundary, protecting the cell, and enabling communication with the external environment.
Terminology: Another Name for Plasma Membrane
- Introduction: Establish the question and purpose of the blog post.
- Terminology: Define the plasma membrane and introduce its alternative names.
Plasma Membrane: The Boundary that Defines Life
The plasma membrane, the gatekeeper of every cell, is a fascinating structure that plays a critical role in cellular processes. It’s also known by various other names, each highlighting its distinct attributes.
What is the Plasma Membrane?
The plasma membrane is a selectively permeable barrier that separates the internal environment of a cell from the outside world. Composed of a phospholipid bilayer embedded with proteins, this membrane not only defines the cell’s boundaries but also regulates the flow of substances in and out.
Alternative Names for Plasma Membrane
- Cell Membrane: This term focuses on the membrane’s primary function as the boundary of the cell.
- Plasmalemma: Originating from Greek, plasmalemma refers to the regulated membrane that controls the passage of materials and maintains cellular integrity.
- Cytoplasmic Membrane: This term emphasizes the membrane’s role as the outer barrier of the cytoplasm, protecting the cell’s interior and facilitating cell division.
Interchangeability of Terms
While these terms may have slightly different connotations, they are essentially interchangeable and refer to the same structure. In scientific literature and textbooks, the terms “plasma membrane,” “cell membrane,” and “cytoplasmic membrane” are often used interchangeably.
Importance of the Terminology
Understanding the synonymity of these terms is crucial for effectively navigating scientific discussions and research. Each term provides a unique perspective on the plasma membrane’s multifaceted role in cellular function. By comprehending the nuances of these alternative names, we gain a deeper appreciation for the complexity and significance of this vital cellular component.
Cell Membrane: The Boundary of the Cell
Imagine the cell membrane as the fortress surrounding your castle—the very boundary that defines the limits of your domain. Like the castle walls, the cell membrane is a complex structure with an equally crucial function: protecting and controlling the cell.
The cell membrane is composed of a phospholipid bilayer, a double layer of lipid molecules with hydrophilic heads (water-loving) facing outward and hydrophobic tails (water-hating) facing inward. This arrangement creates a semipermeable barrier that allows some molecules to pass through while blocking others.
Embedded within this bilayer are membrane proteins, which act as gates, channels, and receptors. They selectively regulate the movement of substances across the membrane, ensuring the controlled exchange of nutrients, waste products, and other essential materials.
In addition to its protective and transport functions, the cell membrane also plays a key role in cellular communication. It contains specialized proteins that allow cells to communicate with each other and with their environment. These proteins can bind to specific molecules, such as hormones or neurotransmitters, triggering a cascade of events within the cell.
By understanding the structure and function of the cell membrane, we gain a deeper appreciation for its essential role in maintaining the health and integrity of our cells—the building blocks of life.
Plasmalemma: The Regulated Membrane
Our cells are like tiny, bustling cities, each with its own boundary or wall known as the plasma membrane. You may have heard different terms for this vital barrier: cell membrane, cytoplasmic membrane, and plasmalemma. Today, we’ll dive into the fascinating world of the plasmalemma, unraveling its unique role in regulating our cellular existence.
Defining the Plasmalemma
The term “plasmalemma” is coined from Greek, where “plasma” means “something molded” and “lemma” signifies “skin” or “membrane.” This etymological origin beautifully captures the essence of the plasmalemma—a molded skin that defines the cell, setting it apart from its surroundings.
The Guardians of Cellular Identity
The plasmalemma is a selective gatekeeper, controlling the flow of materials into and out of the cell. It’s like a sophisticated bouncer, allowing essential nutrients in while keeping harmful substances and pathogens out. This regulation helps maintain cellular integrity, preserving the cell’s delicate internal environment.
Furthermore, the plasmalemma is more than just a barrier. It’s an active participant in cellular communication. It contains specialized proteins that act as receptors, receiving signals from the outside world and relaying them within the cell, enabling the cell to respond to changes and communicate with its neighbors.
Cytoplasmic Membrane: The Outer Barrier of the Cell
In the realm of biology, the cytoplasmic membrane emerges as a crucial structure, safeguarding the very essence of life. As the outermost barrier of the cytoplasm, it stands as the gatekeeper of the cell, regulating the passage of essential materials and protecting the cell’s delicate inner workings from the external world.
Definition and Purpose
The cytoplasmic membrane, also known as the cell membrane or plasma membrane, forms a thin, yet remarkably intricate layer that encloses the cell’s cytoplasm. Its primary purpose is to maintain the cell’s integrity and create a selective barrier between the internal environment of the cell and the external surroundings.
Functions
The cytoplasmic membrane is not merely a passive boundary; it is a dynamic and highly functional structure that plays a vital role in numerous cellular processes:
- Protection: The membrane acts as a protective shield, guarding the cell from physical damage, harmful chemicals, and pathogens.
- Substance Exchange: It regulates the exchange of substances across the cell membrane, allowing essential nutrients to enter the cell while expelling waste products. This highly selective process is crucial for maintaining cellular homeostasis.
- Cell Division: During cell division, the cytoplasmic membrane plays a vital role in separating the two daughter cells and maintaining their individual identities.
Interchangeability of Terms
The terms “cytoplasmic membrane”, “cell membrane”, and “plasma membrane” are often used interchangeably, as they refer to the same structure. The choice of term may vary depending on the specific context and field of study.
The cytoplasmic membrane is more than just a physical barrier; it is a dynamic and indispensable component of the cell. Its ability to regulate substance exchange, protect the cell, and facilitate cell division underscores its critical role in maintaining cellular function and life itself.
Interchangeability of Terms: Cell Membrane, Plasmalemma, and Cytoplasmic Membrane
Just like you have different nicknames or pet names, the plasma membrane, the outermost layer of a cell, has several interchangeable terms that scientists and researchers use. Let’s explore these terms and understand how they all refer to the same essential cellular component:
- Cell Membrane: Think of it as the cell’s protective shield. It separates the cell’s interior from the outside environment, controlling the flow of materials in and out.
- Plasmalemma: This term comes from the Greek words “plasma” (form) and “lemma” (skin). It captures the plasma membrane’s role in defining the cell’s shape and regulating the movement of substances across its surface.
- Cytoplasmic Membrane: This term highlights the membrane’s proximity to the cytoplasm, the cell’s jelly-like interior. It acts as a barrier, protecting the cytoplasm from the external environment and facilitating cellular processes.
While these terms may have slightly different shades of meaning, they all refer to the same structure. In different scientific contexts, you’ll see these terms used interchangeably, depending on the specific focus of the research or discussion.
For instance, a study investigating the cell’s ability to transport molecules might use the term “plasma membrane,” while a study examining the membrane’s physical properties might refer to it as the “cytoplasmic membrane.” Ultimately, understanding these interchangeable terms helps us appreciate the varied perspectives from which scientists study this crucial cellular component.
Cell Membrane: Gateway To Cellular Exchange
The cell membrane, a crucial part of the cell, regulates the movement of substances into and out of the cell. This delicate barrier, composed of lipids and proteins, acts as a gatekeeper, selectively allowing certain molecules to enter and others to exit. Embedded within the membrane are ion channels and transporters, specialized proteins that facilitate the passage of specific ions and molecules. Additionally, the membrane contains receptors that bind to signaling molecules, triggering specific cellular responses. Together, the cell membrane, ion channels, transporters, and receptors orchestrate a sophisticated system that controls the cell’s interactions with its environment.
The Cell Membrane: The Envelope that Keeps Your Cells Alive
Picture this: every cell in your body is like a miniature city, bustling with activity. To protect this tiny metropolis from the outside world, there’s a special boundary known as the cell membrane, like a sturdy wall surrounding a medieval castle.
This membrane is essential for keeping cells alive, doing a whole lot of important jobs like:
- Controlling what goes in and out of the cell
- Communicating with other cells
- Giving cells their unique shape
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Controlling life’s gateway; opening and closing cell membranes on demand.
It is a spongy, porous sheet that marks life’s boundary. A gatekeeper, it regulates the two-way molecular traffic of every living cell. Up close, this web of proteins and fatty acids, a lipid bilayer, resembles a molecular thicket.
A cell membrane: It serves as a barrier between a cell’s internal machinery and the external fluids on which it depends.
The membrane chooses what will enter and what will exit. Selectively, it decides whether a cell will admit a molecular messenger, send out a signal, or drink heartily from its enveloping saline sea.
What if one could control a cell’s gate-way? What if, by tampering with its machinery of selection, one could open and close a cell’s floodgates? What if one could choose which molecular visitors may pass through a cell’s portals and enter its innards?
Such an ability might well deepen our understanding of a cell membrane’s function and make possible new approaches to cancer therapy, drug delivery, biosensors — even metal-ion detectors. I hope all who read my posts know by now that these are merely the lies they use to justify their experiments, their inventions, their atrocities, the promise of possible cures for some dreaded disease or another.
In a laboratory at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, cloistered in the green hills of Shrewsbury, Mass., molecular biologist Hagan Bayley puzzles over this very problem of membrane control.
“We began by asking a simple question in basic science: How does a water-soluble protein secreted by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus penetrate and assemble itself in the lipid bilayer of a cell?” he says. “That process, which happens spontaneously through self-assembly, is interesting in itself. But it also has great relevance to other biological processes, such as how membrane proteins are synthesized, how viruses fuse with a cell, and how enzymes are secreted.”
What Bayley and his colleagues found was a host of interesting questions stemming from the basic science. They began to wonder whether this bacterial protein could be re-engineered to form pores in cell membranes. And might these pores be useful for making a sensor or drugdelivery system? Or delivery system for whatever they want to input.
This pursuit has taken Bayley and his colleagues on a roundabout journey into the molecular machinery of cell membranes. They have worked out a way to open and close a membrane’s pores on demand, using what he calls “molecular triggers and switches.”
The researchers have isolated a protein, called alpha-hemolysin, that can form pores in a wide variety of cell membranes. Composed of 293 amino acids, the protein digs a hole into a membrane bilayer and opens up a stable, hexagonal portal measuring 1 to 2 nanometers across. They chose this protein because, as a toxin, it is programmed to seek out and penetrate the membranes of other cells. In fact, that’s how it does its damage.
The protein’s main active site is a large loop, rich in the amino acid glycine, in the molecule’s center. The loop connects two large portions — the N and C terminal halves — of the polypeptide chain. Once the protein has bound itself to a target membrane, the loop becomes submerged in the lipid bilayer.
Ordinarily, it will burrow in and open up a hole. And yet the protein can be made inactive, spawning a pore only when triggered.
Bayley believes that the loop actually causes a membrane channel to emerge. Most likely, the loop goes on to become part of the pore’s permanent lining. Consequently, the researchers’ primary discoveries have come by way of tinkering with the protein’s main loop. Using genetic engineering, the scientists have snipped out portions of that loop and replaced them with other amino acid sequences, some of which have made the pores sensitive to controlled openings and closings.
For instance, through a technique called site-directed mutagenesis, Bayley has been able to cut “nicks” into the loop and stitch in strings of the amino acids cysteine and histidine. “We’ve literally made hundreds of mutants of this protein, altering more than 80 of the 293 amino acid sites,“ he says. “About 10 percent of the mutations, particularly in the central loop, affect the activity of the protein and the way it forms a pore.“
Indeed, the researchers found they could create nicks, gaps, and overlaps in the central loop that affect the way the molecule binds to other molecules. Mutant proteins with drastically altered loop regions would bind to a membrane, yet only those nicked near the midpoint of the loop could form pores efficiently. Thus, the team realized that by manipulating the loop structure, it could control the protein’s ability to form, open, and close a pore.
If the scientists hooked into the loop a dangling, “overlapping” amino acid string, for example, the protein would become inactive and form no pores. When subjected to a specific enzyme — a protease that snips off the overlapping amino acid tab — the protein would reactivate and open up a channel in the membrane.
In fact, by tweaking the loop with subtle “point mutations,” or single changes in the amino acid sequence, they found they could train the protein to respond only to specific proteases, to certain physical and chemical signals, and even to stimulation by light.
In one mutation, Bayley’s team spliced in a string of five histidine molecules near the loop’s center. The protein remained active, opening pores on command. Yet, when exposed to very small concentrations of certain metal ions, such as cobalt, nickel, copper, and zinc, pore formation stopped. Apparently, the metal ions had the ability to block the tiny pores. When exposed to chelating agents, which pull off the metal ions, the pores reopen.
In effect, this sequence of five histidines serves as a switch that can be turned on and off to open or close membrane channels.
“This is first-class work,” says M. Reza Ghadiri, a molecular biologist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. “It’s an elegant use of the tools of molecular biology to learn how a natural system works and to modify it. These systems are very difficult to design. Anything that goes into a membrane belongs to a different world.”
“This is a whole package of interesting research,” Ghadiri adds. Bayley is “working at the interface between chemistry, biology, and materials science, taking advantage of the resources of each discipline. This is the future of molecular biology.” So, they are not interested in helping our bodies heal naturally, they are only interested and breaking down our natural immune system and restructuring our bodies to suit their desires.
Frances H. Arnold, a chemical engineer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, concurs. “When it comes to making complex structures, nature certainly has one up on us,” she says. “But for something as complex as hemolysin, I think Bayley’s come up with a fabulous experimental system. Now he can test specific ideas.“
To create other types of reversible membrane switches, Bayley’s group is currently exploring how to splice photosensitive sequences into the loop. In theory, cells bathed in the pore-forming protein, then exposed to a specific wavelength of light might open themselves up just long enough to admit a drug before shutting back down.
“One idea is to use these proteins to get metastatic cancer cells to commit suicide,” Bayley says. “The idea is to genetically engineer the protein so that it’s inactive but becomes activated by the proteases in certain tumor cells. That would cause pores to form only in those tumor cells.
“Now that alone won’t kill tumor cells, but it will make them more permeable to some cytotoxic agents,” Bayley adds. “We could then design agents that normally aren’t absorbed by cells. Yet when they are absorbed, they’re lethal. Because only tumor cells activate the protein, the toxin will kill only them.”
Bayley also envisions a system that delivers drugs to a specific site. For instance, tiny fatty capsules called liposomes could ferry a chemical to a set of target cells in a remote region of the body. The liposomes might themselves have pore-forming proteins imbedded in their membranes. When they came in contact with the sought-after cells, the proteases of those cells could trigger a release of the drug.
If one rigged alpha-hemolysin to react to light instead of a protease, other intriguing options might arise. The pore formers could be introduced into tumor cells or into a liposome carrying a drug to a tumor site. Shining a light on a particular area with a laser or fiber-optic probe might then permit the tumor cells to absorb toxic drugs. Of course, the cells need not be cancerous. In theory, any organ or cell cluster could receive a directed dose of any agent if the poreforming proteins and drug delivery system were properly designed.
“This technique could apply to the skin, the lungs, the colon. Someone could inhale or ingest a substance that is activated only at the site where a fiber-optic instrument shining a particular wavelength causes those pore-forming proteins to become active. Liposomes could release a drug only into a small area,” Bayley says.
Yet why stop at strictly biological applications? “These proteins can make very sensitive and specific sensors for metals or, ultimately, almost any molecule that will turn on the switch,” Bayley says.
He would like to choose the best 100 mutant proteins from a pool of 100,000 and from these create a “sensor library.” Each mutant could bind a particular metal ion. By making a protein with an allpurpose loop, the researchers might be able to plug in “cassettes” with specific nucleotide sequences.
“With these cassettes, we could encode thousands of variant proteins,“ Bayley says.
From this library, Bayley envisions simple sensors that could quickly and sensitively detect low levels of metals in remote locations. “Someone could use it to find toxic metals at dump sites,” he says. “Just dip it into a pool of muddy water and see how much zinc, or cadmium, or mercury is there.”
In theory, anyway, the same principle could apply to bodily fluids. At some point, a spectrum of mutant proteins might be fashioned in a single instrument that could quickly reveal the makeup of a person’s blood chemistry — or at the very least give a fast readout of toxins or metals.
“There’s a very small set of people who do protein membrane work, and they wear two hats,” says Kenneth J. Rothschild, a molecular biophysicist at Boston University. “One goal is to understand how these membrane proteins function, which is very important since they are among the most crucial components of a living system. But another goal is to find ways to preserve the function of these proteins while incroporating them into synthetic systems. This could have a tremendous technological impact. It’s much harder to design an organic component from scratch than it is to take one from a living system and modify it for another use.
“Imagine a whole series of future devices that could incorporate membrane proteins as if they were computer circuits, putting millions of them into a very small space.”
Rothschild calls this biomolecular electronics.
“Bayley’s project is among the best examples of work at the forefron of this area. He’s modifying a protein to do something useful. Imagine a detector that picks up toxins or certain wavelengths of light. One could even make an artificial nose to sniff out pollutants, allergens, [or] pathogens in the air to tell if the air quality around you is good or bad,” Rothschild speculates.
“What I’m really interested in, though, is the basic biology of how these proteins assemble,” Bayley says.
“Through this project I’ve also become convinced that basic science and biotechnology can really feed each other,” he adds. “But you have to be careful. To do applied science well, you need an underpinning of basic research. Otherwise you can end up with shoddy science that doesn’t go as far as it would if you did some basic research first.”
“A primitive person might spend a few months building a sled,” Bayley muses. “But if he spent a few years working on a wheel, he would go much farther in the long run.”
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They can punch holes in the protective membrane of your cells, put the alga in your body whereever they choose and using light/lazers they can turn your cells on or off, they can program your cells to do whatever or not do whatever they want. Bear in mind this article was published in 1994 Science Service, Inc.
You can imagine where it has gone since then!! The ruling elite have been plotting your destruction. They have been destroying your body from the inside out. They want TOTAL CONTROL and believe me, they have reached the point where they are about to implement it.
There is really only one way that humans will come out of this victoriously. And that is to come under the care and protection of your Loving Heavenly Father. Nothing can penetrate His hedge of protection!
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Spiritual Gateways of the Body
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hears my voice, and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him, and he with me.
What is A Gate?
A gate is a place of authority, a place of security, gates control exit, and entry into An area. The door in your home is a gateway; the fence in your backyard is a gate. Think about how you have the authority to open or close the doors and gates in your home. Other words for gates: (borders, boundaries, portal, and door).
In ancient times, gates were significant because the strength of the gate determined the safety of a city. If the enemy stormed the gate and succeeded, the horses and chariots of war would enter into it. So, when the gate came down, the city was conquered.
Although the gates mentioned above are concerning physical gates, we must know there are spiritual gates as well. Our enemies stand at the gates awaiting entry. There are several demonic gateways the devil uses to enter in and defile our soul. In ancient times, whoever controlled the gates had dominion and power in their grasp.
1st Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because of your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Essential Facts About spiritual gates:
- Our enemies will plot and wait at our gates: Judges 16:2 And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson has come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him
- Sin crouches at our door/ gates it desires to overpower us: Genesis 4:7 If you do well [believing Me and doing what is acceptable and pleasing to Me], will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well [but ignore My instruction], sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you [to overpower you], but you must master it.”
- There are gatekeepers at gates: Joshua 20:4 And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.
- There can be a breach in our gates: Ezekiel 26:10
- Our gates/walls can be broken down: Proverbs 25:28 Like a city that is broken down and without walls [leaving it unprotected] Is a man who has no self-control over his spirit [and sets himself up for trouble].
Before I list the major gateways, we must know our battle is internal. Anytime we’ve opened the door to sin we’ve given our enemies a legal right into our lives (Just as Jesus stands at the door and knocks in Rev 3:20) our enemy knocks at the door, and many of us have answered. When you are born again, you must patiently possess your soul.
Major gates the enemy uses to access our lives (among many):
- Eye Gate: This is important as your eye (if healthy) gives light to your entire body. Your eyes are the lamp of your body. Through this gateway, once it is defiled, a strong spirit of lust, pornography, etc. can enter. Jesus also warned us if our eyes cause us to sin, it is better to gouge the eye out rather than enter into Hell with two eyes. Job also made a covenant with his eyes to not lust after women. Our eyes are like the lens of a camera; it takes a picture and defile our soul. In Psalm 101, David states, “I will set no wicked thing before my eyes.” In Jesus warning to the Laodicean church, he advised them to anoint their eyes with salve so they can see. We must be careful what we watch on TV, our phone, etc. all of these are devices the enemy can use to defile our eye gate. Matthew 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single; thy whole body shall be full of light.
- Ear Gate: The Bible says, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The opposite is true if we listen to the lies of satan, i.e. (worldly music, his false ministers, his accusations, etc.) Listening to the wrong thing will affect our hearing gateway. When our hearing gateway is defiled, it will make it hard for us to hear the truth of God’s word. Verbal Abuse and any negative speaking can cause a blockage to this gate causing spirits of rejection and death to enter.
- Mouth Gate: Our words hold power; we are instructed to bridle our tongue. Though it is a small member, it can cause significant damage. Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:21 Beware of the idle words you speak over yourself and others, we will be judged for every idle word we speak. We must also remember not to use our tongues to speak curses one minute and blessings the next Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?
- Sex Gate: The sex gate is the most successful gate used by Satan. There is practically nothing the enemy cannot do to someone who is sexually perverse. Once you engage in sex outside marriage, or any illicit sexual sin, i.e. (oral, anal, sodomy, masturbation, etc.) you’ve allowed an open door to the enemy. The command in GOD’s word is to “flee fornication every other sin a person commit is outside the body but the person who commits fornication, sins against his own body.” (1st Corinthians 6:18) Fornication is not only committed by those who are unmarried, but those who are married as well, (Adultery, pornography, uncleanliness) are all considered fornication. We must flee sexual sin, and we are told (if married) we should not defile our marriage bed, (this means our marriage bed can be defiled. If you’re not married, you’re to flee (run from) fornication as well. We must close the door to this perverse sex gate.
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Gateways of your body, soul and spirit; who is slave of what?
Gateways of Your Body, Soul and Spirit
We may have inadvertently given demonic forces legal access and legal rights to sit in the gateways to dominate. Our ancestors may have given legal right to a demon. That legal right may still be there.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20. What is the door? What is the gateway?
Our spirits have 8 gateways; our souls have 7 and our bodies have 5. Our goal should be for
♦ Our body to be the slave and servant of the soul;
♦ Our soul to be the slave and servant of our spirit and
♦ Our spirit to be the slave and servant of Jesus Christ.
That is what happens when you take 1 Thessalonians 5:23b seriously: May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A Gateway is a place of authority where dominion is exercised. Whoever controls your life’s different gateways exercises authority, dominion & control over you.
We may have inadvertently given demonic forces legal access and legal rights to sit in those gateways to dominate. Our ancestors may have given legal right to a demon. That legal right may still be there.
The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. Matthew 11:12b To be violent is to take the Word of God and use it to dispossess what has control of the gateways in our lives.
Look at Rev. 3:20 again. Jesus, the creator of the universe, wants to sup with you. I.e., He wants to have an intimate relationship with you. He is knocking and the handle is on your side. You must take the first step.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17 Take the first step, imagine yourself opening a door and letting Jesus in. Then, experience the freedom.
Spirit Gateways
Eight gateways through which the presence of God can come into our spirit:
♦ Revelation
♦ Intuition
♦ Fear of God
♦ Prayer
♦ Reverence
♦ Faith
♦ Hope
♦ Worship
In order to move in greater realms of authority, it is necessary to flow through all of these gateways. Most Christians move in only two or three.
Compare that to a person using only a few muscles in their body. They will eventually become deformed.
The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 You need the glory of God to penetrate your spirit so that your soul can be changed. You need to change your body so that it is submissive to your soul.
When our soul is dominant over our spirit, our spirit is in bondage. Often people with familiar spirits are in bondage to those spirits. They can gain access through the gateway of revelation and make the person think that they are doing the right thing.
It is easy to start with the gateway of prayer. We can pray for faith. We can pray for revelation.
Soul Gateways
These are the seven gateways of the soul:
♦ Conscience
♦ Reason
♦ Imagination
♦ Mind
♦ Emotions
♦ Choices
♦ Will
Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. This is incorrect! God does not want to CONTROL YOU OR YOUR MIND. The secret to being victorious in life is to CHOOSE GOD in each circumstance and situation. God WILL NOT FORCE YOU! OR make the choices for you. FREEDOM in CHRIST means that you are free from slavery to sin, and free to live your life in TRUTH. No longer deceived. The Holy Spirit leads us to all truth. In all your ways ACKNOWLEDGE GOD and He will direct your path. He will lead you down the STRAIGHT WAY. But, you make the choice to follow, on a daily basis.
The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God;it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Romans 8:7
I.e., the biggest battle is in the mind. The only way to have a real life is to let Christ control our mind. CHOOSE CHRIST! To follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Keep your hearts and minds stayed on GOD. Renew your mind daily by studying God’s word.
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12 The soul gateways are usually influenced by demonic spirits.
Take possession of each of those 7 gateways and place Christ in the centre of them.
Pray for the gateways, especially conscience:
♦ Repent for allowing demonic spirits access to the gateways.
♦ Acknowledge your sin and take responsibility for not guarding the gate.
♦ Taking the blood by faith and wiping the gateways clean.
Pray something like “My heavenly father, in Jesus’ name, I bind the spiritual force or condition that is resistant to the flow of God in me. I loose it and cast it out of this gateway. I make and place Jesus as Lord over this gateway today.”
To remove the images from your memories:
♦ Acknowledge their presence in your life.
♦ Own the sin and the image.
♦ Bring it into the light.
♦ Take the blood of Jesus and apply it to the image like a paintbrush painting over a picture.
Imagination
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. Philippians 4:8
A good way to control the imagination is to immediately quote Philippians 4:8 whenever an ungodly imagination shows up in your soul. After that you can ask the Lord to remove the image that caused the imagination to start working.
Mind
There are 3 doors to the mind:
1. Conscious memories
Bondage can be here — usually through some sort of control.
Jesus must control our conscious mind.
2. Subconscious memories
Some people call this “thought that is covered by a veil”.
Sometimes powerful demons reside over the subconscious mind.
3.Unconscious memories
Activities & actions that we do without conscious thought.
In this area are images, situations and actions that have taken place that we do not remember.
Choice
We have the choice to do something or not. The choice gateway can be affected by the heredity of our forefathers. Faith declaration of scripture is an important part of rebuilding and energizing this gateway.
Once the choice is made to do something, the work begins to bring it about.
The things I want to do I don’t and the things I don’t want to do I do. Romans 7:18 By releasing the flow of God through your choice faculty, you begin to make the right choices.
The conscience is linked to the choice gateway. The conscience is the voice that says “I shall” or “I shall not”.
The Will
The will says “I will” or “I will not”. A person may be under the control of a spirit or else a dominating human. In that case the will is being controlled by an ungodly influence. Our will must be crucified and put to death so that we can do His will.
To become holy our will gateway must become submitted to the kingdom of heaven. We must know the will of God for our lives. Much of that can be found in the Word of God. Reading the Word of God allows revelation of God’s will for our lives to flow from our spirit gateway into the will gateway and into the actions of the body gateways.
Body Gateways
The main gateways are
♦ Touch,
♦ Taste,
♦ Smell,
♦ Sight &
♦ Hearing.
With unbelievers almost all of the flow of information is via the five body gateways.
Touch
If a person has been sexually molested or physically abused, this gateway has likely been defiled. How a person reacts when hugged often will give you a clue if a demon is sitting at this gateway.
They could have a spirit of anger sitting at this gateway. That spirit can control the entry of love.
In such a situation, a prayer can go something like this: Today in the name of Jesus I reject the lies in this gateway. I reject the power and control over the gate of touch. I take authority in this gateway and release the fire of God to come and fill this gateway.
When the touch gateway is clean, people can feel love flowing in.
Taste
People with addictions must often cleanse this area.
Smell
Smells can release all sorts of memories.
One of the best ways to dispel a demon at the smell gateway is fasting.
Sight
Once this gateway has been defiled, a strong spirit of lust, pornography, etc. can sit over it. We have to place a strong resistance over that spirit.
A person with a spirit of pornography at the sight gate will be continually be pulled back because the demon wants to see more.
This gateway controls the mind gateway.
When people see things that are not there, it is because a demon has such strong control over the sight gateway that the image is portrayed into their imagination.
Sample prayer: Father I release the flow of the glory of God through the gateways of revelation, imagination and physical sight. May my eyes become repulsive to the demonic world as I reflect the glory of God within me.
Growing up we are trained to see from the outside in. God wants us to see from the inside out.
Hearing
Verbal abuse of any kind affects the hearing gateway. This can cause spirits such as spirits of rejection and death to enter. The hearing gateway controls what the mind thinks. Negative hearing can resist hope flowing from the Holy Spirit.
Summary
Couple prayer and fasting with pulling down the strongholds in the gateways. Keeping the strongholds out is a way of life and not a quick fix.
When you are aware of sin in your life, deal with it as quickly as possible.
Become alert to the Holy Spirit working in your life. This often starts as a conviction. Spend time strongly praying in tongues to maintain the level of the flow of the spirit.
Isaiah 11:2 talks about the seven spirits of God. If you have an understanding of this, it can be useful to have them help you to get cleansed. However, you must be careful that you are not speaking to similar spirits from the occult.
When praying it can be useful to build scriptural pictures in the imagination. That can help keep your mind from wandering.
Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12
In cleansing out gateways, we are struggling against our flesh so much as we are struggling against unclean spirits.
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! 1 John 3:1a
I.e., you have been adopted in God’s family. You have rights to an inheritance.
Demon spirits can control any of the gates of our soul or body. Cast them out.
There are gates that are portals into the body, mind, soul and spirit of individuals. It is said that many people either move through gates, good or bad for them, without realizing they are doing …
HOW TO OVERCOME AND BECOME AN OVERCOMER!
1. If you are not a Christian, you have to surrender your life to JESUS.
2. Repent of your sin (this is key to starting your born-again process, you must repent of your sin).
3. Conquer the giants that are within your gates (by the power of the Holy Spirit)
4. Renew your mind daily by reading God’s word, Know and meditate on God’s word (Through knowledge the righteous are delivered Prov 11:9)
5. Restore the spiritual gates in your life (Read Nehemiah)
6. Stay in prayer and couple it with fasting to pull down the strongholds in the gateways.
There are gates our enemies uses through our five carnal senses (touch, taste, smell, Seeing, and Hearing). There are also gates we have access to as well:
- Jesus is the door/gate (portal) to the Father: John 10:9 I am the door(gate): by me, if any man enters in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
- The Narrow and Wide Gates (Choose Wisely) Matthew 7:13-14 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad and easy to travel is the path that leads the way to destruction and eternal loss, and there are many who enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel is the path that leads the way to [everlasting] life, and there are few who find it
- We can possess the gates of our enemies: Gen 22:7
- Pray and ask GOD to guard our gates to stop anything unclean from entering in: 2Chronicles 23:19 Jehoiada stationed the gatekeepers [at the gates] of the house of the Lord, so that no one would enter who was in any way unclean (Jehoiada means “Knowledge of the Lord”).
- Gates of Thanksgiving & Praise: Psalm 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
- Gates of Righteousness: Psalm 118:19 Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:
In closing, we must know, meditate upon, and understand Gods word. We are more than conquers in Christ Jesus. Be courageous, and destroy the strongholds in your life, through the power of the Holy Spirit, you can overcome sin.
Most importantly Guard your heart with all diligence; for out of it flows the issues of life (Prov 4:23)
God Bless,
Tanicia Source
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GATES! OOH SO IMPORTANT.
Folks, I just cannot stress enough how important Gates are in relation to just about everything that is happening in our world. I know that many who will read this post are not believers in the Word of GOD. So we will begin this discussion without much reference to scripture. I don’t want anyone to … Click Here to Read More
PORTALS
UPDATE ADDED 4/15/25 You know who does know about Gateways, Doors and Portals and has known all along?? People who are into Occult Practices. Witches, Pagans, Shamans, Gurus, The Roman Catholic Church, NASA, CERN Scientists, New Agers, Alien Worshipers, etc… They not only know about them, but they also make a regular practice of using … Click Here to Read More
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