Scientists have tested the impact on people wearing a sports helmet with non-working wires attached. It turned out that the "experimental" as a result experienced "extraordinary experiences", especially those who consider themselves "spiritual people". Moreover, the dose of alcohol taken did not have any significant effect on the experience. An article with the results was published in the journal Religion, Brain & Behavior.
It is well known that some psychedelic substances can induce trance or mystical experiences, but the possible similar effects that alcohol causes have been much less studied. However, there is evidence of shamans and others participating in the rituals of some traditional cultures who took alcohol.
In a new study, 193 attendees at the Lowlands Netherlands music and arts festival were asked to wear a helmet that scientists say will stimulate the brain with electrical impulses that will trigger spiritual experiences. In fact, this counterfeit "Helmet of God", as the mystical research apparatus is sometimes called, did nothing. Participants in the experiment also took a blood alcohol test and filled out a questionnaire in which they described their degree of spirituality and religiosity. They were then blindfolded, wearing a helmet, and playing white noise through headphones for 15 minutes. If the participants experienced something unusual, then they had to press a special button.
Most of the subjects reported this kind of "unusual" experiences, the most frequent of which was a weak bodily sensation - 78.5% reported it. 3 out of 10 reported strong bodily sensation. Also called a variety of hallucinations, distortions of perception of time and space, levitation over a chair, out-of-body experiences and involuntary movements. 30% felt nothing special. 73.2% of the participants drank alcohol that day, 16.8% did it together with drugs, 7.4% did not take any psychoactive substances, 2.6% took drugs, but did not take alcohol.
The authors conclude that such brain placebo stimulation caused a wide range of reactions, and the degree of their "mysticism" strongly correlated with the "spirituality" indicated in the questionnaire, but not with religiosity or the dose of alcohol taken.