Peak Experiences at the Push of a Button: My tFUS Experiment
I am an entrepreneur and investor focused on making mental fitness as important as physical fitness in our society. Over recent years, I have explored hundreds of cutting-edge mental fitness technologies, a journey many have expressed interest in learning more about. In response, I decided to experiment with a mental fitness tech blog. In this first article, I share my experience with one of the most exciting technologies in the space — ultrasound stimulation (tFUS).
I begin with a bit of context as to why I am so excited about the potential of this technology. If you are curious only about my experience and takeaways — feel free to jump directly to the second section. This article is written for those fascinated by the future of mental fitness and the potential of technology to induce higher states of consciousness on a large scale. Any feedback is welcome and highly appreciated as I decide whether to continue this blog series.
I am obsessed with the motivation gap in mental fitness. Why have over a billion people tried to meditate but no longer meditate? Why do people spend hours on their physical fitness every week, yet struggle to prioritize 10-minutes for a daily mental fitness practice? Why is it that people persist in activities proven to be harmful to their mental state? Despite increased awareness of the value of mental fitness, many are still metaphorically feasting on ‘mental junk food’ and continuously indulging in habits that are as detrimental to mental fitness as excessive sugar is to physical health.
Cracking the motivation challenge is the holy grail for any behavior change. As a society, we have moved the needle in motivating people to live physically healthier over the past 20–30 years. Does everyone work out, eat well, and get enough sleep — no. But more people than ever are investing time and money into their physical wellness. Awareness is growing, new tools and biometrics are being adopted and the physical wellness infrastructure is growing like rapid fire across the globe (gyms, yoga studios, healthy restaurants).
Unfortunately, cracking the motivation gap in mental fitness may be even harder. Unlike physical fitness, it is hard for us to objectively measure mental fitness — an important component for goal setting, tracking progress and activating the dopamine motivation pathway. Nor can we “see” our minds to get feedback on how we are doing. How many people would care about their physical fitness without mirrors or scales? Moreover, peak physical fitness role models like LeBron James are ubiquitous in our society. Mental Olympians are harder to access. And unless we receive direct transmission from masters, we can’t fully relate to their felt experience, even if we read their books or listen to their wisdom.
Whenever I meet someone committed to their mental fitness, I dive into the source of their motivation. In almost all cases the motivation stems from one of three places:
(1) A downside awareness event that shook them to the core and led them to proactively seek new ways to live a fulfilling life. Examples of these events include a death of a loved one, severe burnout, or a debilitating depression (unfortunately the most common).
(2) An upside awareness event where they were able to step out of their day-to-day consciousnesses and experience a non-ordinary state of mind. While this state is different for every person, it is typically associated with a deep sense of inner peace, open heartedness & connectivity that brings a deeper joy than a person has ever experienced before.
(3) Early exposure to mental fitness as a way of life, usually by a parent who was a deep mental fitness practitioner. This archetype is the least common in the West, but will hopefully grow quickly in the next few generations.
For most people, simply reducing negative states (e.g., stress) or increasing positive states (e.g., calm) often isn’t enough to maintain a deep, consistent mental fitness practice beyond knick-knack meditation or a weekly yoga class. Yet even a single moment of non-ordinary consciousness (peak experience) can inspire a lifetime of motivation. By expanding the potential states of the human experience beyond mere stress reduction, these events can change the mental calculus — it becomes less about reducing stress, but rater about opening up and ultimately stabilizing a completely different existence. For some, their first peak experience may occur spontaneously in everyday life, but for the majority, it arises during an extended meditation retreat (lasting 7–10 days) or a psychedelic ceremony. Committing to a lengthy meditation retreat demands considerable motivation (a catch-22), and although interest in psychedelics is growing, many are still hesitant due to moral objections or fears of adverse experiences. A big theme of my entrepreneurial pursuits and investments is to broaden the range of scalable tools available for individuals to experience an upside awareness event.
This is why I eagerly jumped on the opportunity to try out the Ultrasound stimulation (tFUS) technology on myself. My interest in tFUS was sparked by the book “Spirit Tech,” which is a must-read for anyone fascinated by the intersection of spirituality and technology. This book highlights preliminary findings from the SEMA lab, indicating that ultrasound stimulation could induce a level of meditation depth comparable to that achieved after an intensive week-long meditation retreat. Put simply, targeted ultrasound stimulation could rapidly facilitate a non-ordinary, egoless state akin to the profound meditation levels usually reached through thousands of hours of practice. After years of fascination, I finally had the opportunity to experience tFUS myself as part of a study conducted by the wonderful team at the Institute of Advanced Consciousness Studies (IACS).
The Experience
The study involved four one-hour meditation sessions held on consecutive days, during which three distinct areas of my brain — the Posterior Cingulate Cortex (PCC), the head of the Caudate, and the Ventral Anterior Insula — were stimulated to test different hypotheses. One session was a placebo (sham) treatment. The study was double blind, so I did not know which area of my brain was stimulated until after all sessions were completed. The study assessed the experiences along two main dimensions: intensity (the degree of deviation from my regular waking state) and depth (the quality of my meditation compared to an average meditation session). Given my keen interest in investigating whether this technology could facilitate a peak experience, I will share my observations related to the intensity aspect of the sessions.
The third session in which the activity in my PCC was downregulated was one of the most beautiful meditations of my life. The PCC is one of the central nodes of the default mode network which is typically associated with our sense of self. Expert meditators and monks typically have lower natural activity levels in their PCC. The activation of the ultrasound brought an immediate sense of ego dissolution, and I found myself in a state of calm, expansive awareness without any effort. I had experienced this state before — both in meditation and in psychedelic sessions — but never this quickly. Insights on the nature of reality flooded in, surpassing the depth of my usual morning meditations. After the session, I felt a sense of peace, playfulness, and a deep connection to everything around me, reminiscent of the aftereffects of a lengthy meditation or psychedelic retreat.
The fourth session in which my Caudate was downregulated came with the highest peak intensity. The Caudate plays a role in motivation, and impairments in its function can lead to a state where pain is perceived without the accompanying mental narratives or reactions that usually prompt action. While this can be dangerous (our pain feedback system is important to keep us safe), this condition reflects deeply on Buddhist and spiritual teachings, echoing the sentiment that “pain is inevitable, suffering is a choice.” The theory behind downregulating the Caudate is that it might lessen mind wandering and the mental stories we attach to our physical sensations. During the session’s most intense moments, I experienced a profound burst of sensations, including some I had never felt before. I believe that the diminished mental judgment of these sensations expanded my awareness, allowing me to perceive my sensations in a new and more profound way. The overall quality of the meditation was much lower compared to my PCC session with only a few of these peak moments so lingering effects of the meditation were not as strong. Despite the peak intensity, I would not describe my Caudate session as a peak experience.
My placebo session was a profoundly deep meditation as well. After all the sessions were completed, I incorrectly guessed which was a sham. During the second half of the meditation, I drifted into an open awareness state similar to a meditation retreat I did the prior week. The placebo effect for mental health interventions is well documented and highlights the power of intention and belief on outcomes. Yet it also brings up questions on how much of the experience can be attributed to ultrasound stimulation and what should be attributed to my desire to feel something despite how objective I tried to be.
There is nothing meaningful to share about the session where my Insula was upregulated. The Insula is associated with interoceptive awareness and typically has higher activity in Vipassana meditators. It was my first session and I found it challenging to meditate as my mind was getting used to a new and uncomfortable environment. Outside of a few strange physical distortions, it felt similar to a regular morning meditation.
Three takeaways from the experience
(1) Ultrasound has the potential to trigger psychedelic-like peak state experiences, especially for experienced meditators.
I have tried many different stimulation products and have done over 20 personalized neurofeedback sessions. These sessions increased my calm and clarity, but none triggered a peak experience as powerful as ultrasound stimulation. The data from the study — both subjective and physiological (HRV, HR) — suggests a meaningful and statistically significant difference in the quality of my meditation. These results are consistent across the entire study group of experienced meditators (n=33). The full results will be published by IACS soon.
Despite the constraints of the current technology and study design, I still managed to achieve a peak experience during my PCC session. The setup was uncomfortable, and I had to evaluate my experience every four minutes. Most importantly, the stimulation power used was relatively conservative and could be safely increased by 3–5x, although the maximum safe limit has not yet been established. This suggests that my experience only touched the tip of the iceberg regarding the potential depth of experiences that ultrasound stimulation can unlock.
My experience confirmed my belief that ultrasound stimulation (tFUS) has the potential to induce profound peak experiences. However, numerous questions remain unanswered that will require further research in the years ahead to fully substantiate my hypothesis.
Effectiveness Across Meditation Experience Levels: It is unclear what level of meditation experience is necessary for tFUS to induce a peak experience. IACS is currently studying whether tFUS can induce these experiences in novice meditators, which could vastly expand the potential impact (and market size) for the technology.
Deeper Exploration of Target Areas and Intensity Levels: What other brain areas can be targeted to induce a peak state experience? What are the upper limits of the stimulation intensity that will be safe? In case anyone is interested in donating towards this research, IACS is raising crowd funding to run the first ever study on the impact of tFUS on the pineal gland, which is often linked to our natural production of DMT (often referred to as the spirit molecule).
Placebo Effect: Distinguishing the actual effects of tFUS from the placebo effect is challenging, as many participants, including myself, couldn’t identify the sham session. This is a result of a strong study design, yet also brings into question how much of the results can be attributed to the mind believing that something should be happening and therefore opening to the possibility of a deeper experience. The ‘placebo effect’ is a recurring challenge in almost every study where we work with the mind, limiting beliefs and the power of intention. It will be important to do further research on the placebo effect of tFUS to develop a scalable and effective tool.
Given the potential of the technology, I am surprised more groups are not studying the mental fitness applications of tFUS with urgency. Hopefully after the initial research is published by IACS in the coming months more science labs will get interested and the pace of research will accelerate.
(2) We are likely at least 3–5 years away from consumer tFUS products
We will sadly need to wait a few years for the technology to mature before we can use it from the comfort of our homes. tFUS has incredible potential because of the precision of the stimulation compared to magnetic (TMS) or direct stimulation (tDCS). The downside is that this level of precision requires comprehensive MRI brain imaging, sophisticated software, copious amounts of liquid gel for better ultrasound penetration, and a perfectly still subject. Even slight movements of 3–5 millimeters can significantly affect the outcomes. Each of these represents a challenge for consumer scale that will require innovation. The biggest current blocker for consumer applications is the need for an MRI which is expensive, time consuming and not scalable. Fortunately, start-ups are already building closed feedback mechanisms using other imaging tools (e.g., EEG) to map out brain structures to circumvent the need for a MRI.
Estimating the exact timeline for when we overcome these technological gaps is challenging. My hope is that we don’t need to wait for more than 3–5 years. I’m optimistic that once these challenges are surmounted, tFUS wearables will emerge as the fastest-growing products in the neurotech space, eventually crossing over from early adopters to the mass market and becoming the first neurostimulation products to achieve widespread adoption.
(3) tFUS has many exciting use cases beyond meditation
While this article has primarily explored how tFUS can enhance meditation and induce peak experiences, its potential applications extend far beyond. A particularly promising area is using tFUS to address the mental health crisis. Magnetic stimulation (TMS) has already become increasingly popular for treating depression, and tFUS, with its added precision, promises to offer even more effective treatments. As precision neuroscience advances and allows us to identify specific subtypes of major mental disorders by their neuro signatures (not all depressions are the same), tFUS stands out as a powerful non-pharmaceutical tool to deliver highly targeted interventions.
Several startups are actively seeking early FDA approval to use tFUS for treating depression and other conditions. The obstacles previously mentioned, such as the need for an MRI or dealing with gel in one’s hair, are minor compared to the benefits for those battling severe mental health issues, making tFUS a viable medical treatment option potentially within just 1–2 years.
On the consumer side, one of the most exciting use cases of tFUS I have come across is to induce and stabilize Lucid dreaming. Dreams offer a profound window into our deeper selves, and dream yoga is an important practice in many spiritual traditions. Not to mention that Lucid dreaming can be a lot of fun too — what would you do if the rules of physics and society no longer apply? Prophetic, one of the most innovative start-ups I have come across in the past few years, is using tFUS to help people stabilize lucid dreams.
If you are a (technical) entrepreneur interested in mental fitness or mental health, I would strongly consider to start exploring use cases for the tFUS technology. The potentialities are endless.
To conclude, my experience validated my excitement about the potential of the tFUS technology to induce peak experiences and help overcome the motivation gap in mental fitness. There is still a lot of work to be done to validate the science and the safety of tFUS, to mature the technology and to develop use cases and applications. I believe the effort will be worth the while, and in 5–10 years, ultrasound brain stimulation will be a meaningful tool to support millions on their mental fitness journeys. If you are a tFUS entrepreneur or are interested in exploring more, please reach out — I am excited to support either as an early investor or a fellow builder.
