Do altered states change body awareness?
Short Answer
Altered states significantly modify body awareness through changes in interoception, proprioception, and the brain's body schema representation, often creating sensations of expansion, dissolution, or disconnection.
Why This Matters
Body awareness depends on integrated neural networks processing signals from internal organs, muscles, and spatial position. Altered states disrupt this integration because they affect key brain regions like the insula, somatosensory cortex, and parietal lobe that construct our sense of embodiment. This disruption demonstrates how consciousness actively constructs our experience of having and being a body, rather than simply receiving passive sensory data.
Where This Changes
The degree of body awareness change varies with the type and intensity of the altered state. Light meditative states may enhance body sensitivity, while deep psychedelic experiences can produce complete ego dissolution and loss of body boundaries.