Part of
New Horizons in the Neuroscience of ConsciousnessEdited by Elaine K. Perry, Daniel Collerton, Fiona E.N. LeBeau and Heather Ashton
[Advances in Consciousness Research 79] 2010
► pp. 289–300
Consciousness can be altered willfully. There are different methods to induce altered state of consciousness including psychological means. While some such induced states are pathological many others are not. Indian and other eastern concepts emphasize one can induce "higher states of consciousness" oneself. Physiological changes are observed in these altered states of consciousness that point to a neural basis.