Neural and Experiential Dynamics of High-Ventilation Breathwork Mirror Psychedelic States

In 25 experienced high-ventilation breathwork practitioners, HVB EEG shows psychedelic-like neural signatures—broadband desynchronization, increased complexity, and reduced Alpha (8–13 Hz) power—linked to subjective depth.

• Why it matters: The field lacks clarity on how neural dynamics and moment-to-moment subjective experience evolve together during an HVB session, despite known physiological and neural changes in altered states.
• What they did: Participants completed a naturalistic HVB session with interleaved resting-state periods while 64-channel EEG tracked temporal and spatial neural structure, alongside minute-resolution ratings of experience depth and content.
• The result: Neural changes correlated with subjective depth at minute resolution and were not explained by isolated factors like music listening or active interoception, suggesting a shared cortical basis for psychedelic-like ASCs via non-pharmacological induction.

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