According to the Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation Yuri Bubeev, it has been established that altered states of consciousness can affect the metabolic rateMOSCOW, November 11.
/tass/. Russian scientists investigating ways to temporarily immerse the crew of a spacecraft in a state of artificial hibernation for long-term flights into deep space have found that altered states of consciousness can affect the metabolic rate. This was reported to TASS by Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation, Deputy Director of the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IMBP) RAS Yuri Bubeev.
Studies of the influence of meditation on the work of the brain and the human body are conducted in India by a group of specialists of the Institute under the leadership of the chief researcher of the IMBP, Academician Svyatoslav Medvedev, they are scheduled to be completed in 2025. "Now we are at the beginning of the road. But we already know that altered states of consciousness can affect the metabolic rate, both significantly accelerating and slowing it down," Bubeev noted.
According to the expert, scientists of the IMBP RAS have always been interested in the problem of human survival in extreme conditions, including in a long-term space flight. Researchers are looking for ways to help astronauts overcome for many months the factors of weightlessness, radiation, autonomous existence in a very limited space, with a lack of resources.
"A lot of technologies are being studied that could help people with less health losses to get to Mars. One of the possible solutions to the numerous problems associated with manned interplanetary flights is artificial hibernation, first voiced by science fiction writers and justified by S. P. Korolev for a flight to Mars. Academician V. V. Parin, who headed our institute shortly after its creation, designated it with the term "artificial hypobiosis," Bubeev stressed.
The scientist noted that studies by a number of authors indicate that the mechanism of immersion in a state of hypobiosis is present in every person. According to Bubeyev, at the same time, it is blocked according to the universal biological principle "use, or you will lose" and is activated in extreme life-threatening situations, as evidenced by scientifically confirmed episodes of survival in extreme conditions.
"Of great practical interest are the practices of managing the energy exchange of the body - both its sharp strengthening (survival at extremely low temperatures) and inhibition (a dream-like state for long missions) by methods of induction of an altered state of consciousness, which is practiced in a number of psychotechnics, and, most successfully, in Tibetan Buddhism, which has been honing its psychotechnologies for more than 2.5 millennia", - said the scientist.
About the study
Earlier, the IBMP reported that the research will assess the degree of prospects for the use of psychotechnologies in this regard that cause altered states, which are practiced in traditional cultures of Asian peoples. Two permanent Russian-Indian laboratories for the study of meditation and altered states of consciousness have been established in southern India, where seven monasteries are located and about 12 thousand monks live.
The research is carried out within the framework of a state contract with Roscosmos to conduct research work on the development of technologies for space exploration and the improvement of medical and biological support for long-distance space flights.
