RESEARCH PROJECT
Funding Institution
Sleep Consciousness Lab
fMRI Neurophysiological Correlates of the Vibrational State
A 3T fMRI study to localise the brain networks of the Vibrational State using event-locked BOLD mapping informed by prior high-density EEG signatures.
Objectives
Building on SC-LAB’s pilot high-density EEG findings indicating a distinctive delta–gamma signature during the Vibrational State (VS), we are launching a 3-Tesla fMRI investigation to map the VS at the network level and test whether its physiology aligns with established interoceptive and neuromodulatory circuits. The VS has been repeatedly reported at the edge of OBE onset, yet its brain mechanisms remain largely uncharacterised in mainstream neuroimaging; fMRI is the next step to localise the systems-level architecture that EEG alone cannot resolve.
Outcomes
This project aims to deliver the first fMRI characterisation of the Vibrational State (VS) by time-locking BOLD analyses to VS onsets within structured baseline/VS/rest blocks. We aim to generate a quantitative map of the network-level architecture of the VS—and test whether VS engages interoceptive/salience circuitry and other candidate systems implicated in this non-ordinary-state physiology.