Cyril Costines, studied Philosophy-Neuroscience-Cognition at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. Doctoral student at the Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the University Medical Center Freiburg. Since 2024 Research Fellow at IGPP.
Professional career
Fields of work / research interests
Fields of work: Empirical and theoretical consciousness research using qualitative and quantitative methods; cultural studies of consciousness.
Current research interests: Phenomenology and neurophysiology of minimal phenomenal experiences (MPE) with special emphasis on altered states of consciousness induced by meditation, psychedelics and Floatation-REST; phenomenological assessment of the phenomenal state space (Phenomenomics); phenomenology of exceptional experiences (ExE).
Publications
Journal articles
Fort, L. D., Costines, C., Wittmann, M., Demertzi, A., & Schmidt, T. T. (2025). Classification schemes of altered states of consciousness. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 175, 106178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2025.106178
Egan, M. K., Costines, C., D’Esposito, M., & Sadaghiani, S. (2024). Endogenous preparatory control is associated with increased interaction between default mode and dorsal attention networks. Imaging Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1162/imag_a_00124
Schmidt, T.T., Costines, C., Tagliazucchi, E., Millière, R., Garrido, J.M., & Cuiule, J.I. (2023). The Altered Xperience Project (AXP): Quantitative and Qualitative Data from a Citizen Science Initiative on the Subjective Experience of Altered States of Consciousness [Preprint]. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/45z7w
Prugger, J., Derdiyok, E., Dinkelacker, J., Costines, C., & Schmidt, T. T. (2022). The Altered States Database: Psychometric data from a systematic literature review. Scientific Data, 9(1), 720. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01822-4
Costines, C., Borghardt, T. L., & Wittmann, M. (2021). The Phenomenology of “Pure” Consciousness as Reported by an Experienced Meditator of the Tibetan Buddhist Karma Kagyu Tradition. Analysis of Interview Content Concerning Different Meditative States. Philosophies, 6(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/philosophies6020050
Book contributions
Costines, C. & Schmidt, T. T. (2024). Phenomenology of psychedelic experiences and psychedelic-associated distressing effects: Quantifying subjective experiences. In: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2024_562.
Other contributions
Costines, C. (2025, May). Floating: Schwebend in die Stille [Newspaper article], Die Furche, 22, 4.
Costines, C. (2024, Dec.). Ein Ort für das Bewusstsein: Schwerelos in körperwarmem Salzwasser schweben, umgeben von völliger Dunkelheit und Geräuschlosigkeit. Ein Bewusstseinsforscher erklärt, warum Floating das neue Meditieren sein könnte. [Article], Ursache\Wirkung Magazin, 130, 58–59.
Costines, C. (2023, Sep.). Gehirn, Geist, Gedanken und Emotionen [Interview], Ursache\Wirkung Magazin, 125, 42–45.
Costines, C. (2023, Mar.). [Buchbesprechung zu Bewusstseinskultur. Spiritualität, intellektuelle Redlichkeit und die planetare Krise von Thomas Metzinger], Tattva Viveka, 94, 105–106.
Costines, C. (2022, Aug.). Was ist ein guter Bewusstseinszustand? [Interview], Ursache\Wirkung Magazin, 121, 82–85.
Memberships
- Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC)
- International Society for Contemplative Research (ISCR)
- Society for Mind-Matter Research (SMMR)
