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Altered States of Consciousness Induced by Exogenous Audio Signals

Rhythm deeply permeates the environment and is perceived by nearly all sensory modalities. There is a developing trend in cognitive science to look to neural rhythms at varying scales as the source of subjective experience. This approach, which looks to the oscillatory correlates of consciousness—electromagnetic field oscillations generated by the brain—as a quantifiable measure of consciousness, provides a novel avenue for bridging the subjective-objective divide. Oscillatory rhythms in the brain can originate endogenously or exogenously and can have varying impacts on subjective experience. Some exogenous rhythms, including audio rhythms, can have surprisingly strong impacts, sufficient to label these induced states “altered states of consciousness.” This piece examines the role of external auditory rhythms (speech, binaural beats, and music) in influencing conscious states of affected individuals at individual and interpersonal scales. This new methodology expands the scope by which cognitive science can be practically applied in studying the subjective experience.