Catecholamines and opioid peptides increase in plasma in humans during possession trances.
Naturally induced possession trances have been observed in healthy people of many societies. The neurophysiological basis of this phenomenon remains unknown, however, because of the difficulty in accessing subjects in trances due to their sacred context. In the present study, we measured the plasma levels of several neuroactive substances from subjects exhibiting or lacking possession trance characteristics during Balinese dedicatory dramas under natural conditions. The trance group exhibited significant increases in plasma concentrations of noradrenaline, dopamine and beta-endorphin, compared with controls who performed the same actions as the trance group. The present finding suggests that catecholamines and opioid peptides are involved in possession trances.
Kawai
N
N
Doctoral Program in Medical Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8575, Japan.
Honda
M
M
Nakamura
S
S
Samatra
P
P
Sukardika
K
K
Nakatani
Y
Y
Shimojo
N
N
Oohashi
T
T
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000097:blood*; D003243:Consciousness; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000097:blood; D018847:Opioid Peptides / Q000097:blood*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D001615:beta-Endorphin / Q000097:blood
D002395:Catecholamines; D018847:Opioid Peptides; D001615:beta-Endorphin; D004298:Dopamine; D009638:Norepinephrine