A form constant is one of several

geometric pattern A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated l ...

s which are recurringly observed during

hypnagogia Hypnagogia is the experience of the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep: the ''hypnagogic'' state of consciousness, during the onset of sleep. Its opposite state is described as the transitional state from sleep into wakefulness. Mental ...

hallucination A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...

s and

altered states of consciousness An altered state of consciousness (ASC), also called altered state of mind or mind alteration, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking state. By 1892, the expression was in use in relation to hypnosis, though there ...

History

In 1926,

Heinrich Klüver Heinrich Klüver (; May 25, 1897 – February 8, 1979) was a German-American biological psychologist and philosopher born in Holstein. After having served in the Imperial German Army during World War I, he studied at both the University of Hambur ...

systematically studied the effects of

mescaline Mescaline or mescalin (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine) is a naturally occurring psychedelic protoalkaloid of the substituted phenethylamine class, known for its hallucinogenic effects comparable to those of LSD and psilocybin. Biological sou ...

(

peyote The peyote (; ''Lophophora williamsii'' ) is a small, spineless cactus which contains psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. ''Peyote'' is a Spanish word derived from the Nahuatl (), meaning "caterpillar cocoon", from a root , "to gl ...

) on the

subjective experience In philosophy of mind, qualia ( or ; singular form: quale) are defined as individual instances of subjective, conscious experience. The term ''qualia'' derives from the Latin neuter plural form (''qualia'') of the Latin adjective '' quālis'' () ...

s of its users. In addition to producing hallucinations characterized by bright, "highly

saturated Saturation, saturated, unsaturation or unsaturated may refer to: Chemistry * Saturation, a property of organic compounds referring to carbon-carbon bonds ** Saturated and unsaturated compounds **Degree of unsaturation ** Saturated fat or fatty ac ...

" colors and vivid imagery, Klüver noticed that mescaline produced recurring

s in different users. He called these patterns "form constants" and categorized four types: lattices (including

honeycomb A honeycomb is a mass of Triangular prismatic honeycomb#Hexagonal prismatic honeycomb, hexagonal prismatic Beeswax, wax cells built by honey bees in their beehive, nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen. beekeeping, Beekee ...

checkerboard A checkerboard (American English) or chequerboard (British English; see spelling differences) is a board of checkered pattern on which checkers (also known as English draughts) is played. Most commonly, it consists of 64 squares (8×8) of altern ...

s, and

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

s),

cobweb A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web, or cobweb (from the archaic word '' coppe'', meaning "spider") is a structure created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey. Spi ...

s, tunnels, and

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are: In 1988

David Lewis-Williams James David Lewis-Williams (born 1934) is a South African archaeologist. He is best known for his research on southern African San (Bushmen) rock art, of which it can be said that he found a 'Rosetta Stone'. He is the founder and previous direct ...

and T.A. Dowson incorporated the form constant into his Three Stages of Trance model, the geometric shapes comprising the visuals observed in the model's first stage.

Precipitants

Klüver's form constants have appeared in other drug-induced and naturally occurring hallucinations, suggesting a similar physiological process underlying hallucinations with different triggers. Klüver's form constants also appear in

near-death experience A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death which researchers claim share similar characteristics. When positive, such experiences may encompass a variety of sensations including detac ...

s and sensory experiences of those with

synesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who re ...

. Other triggers include

psychological stress In psychology, stress is a feeling of emotional strain and pressure. Stress is a type of psychological pain. Small amounts of stress may be beneficial, as it can improve athletic performance, motivation and reaction to the environment. Exces ...

, threshold consciousness (hypnagogia),

insulin hypoglycemia Hypoglycemia, also called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's triad is used to properly identify hypoglycemic episodes. It is defined as blood glucose belo ...

, the delirium of

fever Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a body temperature, temperature above the human body temperature, normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, set point. There is not a single ...

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

psychotic episodes Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior ...

, advanced

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

sensory deprivation Sensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing, while more complex devices can al ...

photostimulation Photostimulation is the use of light to artificially activate biological compounds, cells, tissues, or even whole organisms. Photostimulation can be used to noninvasively probe various relationships between different biological processes, using on ...

electrical stimulation Functional electrical stimulation (FES) is a technique that uses low-energy electrical pulses to artificially generate body movements in individuals who have been paralyzed due to injury to the central nervous system. More specifically, FES can ...

crystal gazing Crystal-gazing (also known as crystal-seeing, crystallism, crystallomancy, and spheromancy) is a method for seeing visions achieved through trance induction by means of gazing at a crystal. Traditionally, it has been seen as a form of divination ...

, migraine headaches,

dizziness Dizziness is an imprecise term that can refer to a sense of disorientation in space, vertigo, or lightheadedness. It can also refer to disequilibrium or a non-specific feeling, such as giddiness or foolishness. Dizziness is a common medical c ...

and a variety of

drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

-induced

intoxication Intoxication — or poisoning, especially by an alcoholic or narcotic substance — may refer to: * Substance intoxication: ** Alcohol intoxication ** LSD intoxication ** Toxidrome ** Tobacco intoxication ** Cannabis intoxication ** Cocaine i ...

s. These shapes may appear on their own or with eyes shut in the form of

phosphene A phosphene is the phenomenon of seeing light without light entering the eye. The word ''phosphene'' comes from the Greek words ''phos'' (light) and ''phainein'' (to show). Phosphenes that are induced by movement or sound may be associated wit ...

s, especially when exerting pressure against the closed eyelid. It is believed that the reason why these form constants appear has to do with the way the visual system is organized, and in particular in the mapping between patterns on the

retina The retina (from la, rete "net") is the innermost, light-sensitive layer of tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focused two-dimensional image of the visual world on the retina, which then ...

and the columnar organization of the

primary visual cortex The visual cortex of the brain is the area of the cerebral cortex that processes visual information. It is located in the occipital lobe. Sensory input originating from the eyes travels through the lateral geniculate nucleus in the thalamus and ...

. Concentric circles in the retina are mapped into parallel lines in the visual cortex. Spirals, tunnels, lattices and cobwebs map into lines in different directions. This means that if activation spreads in straight lines within the visual cortex, the experience is equivalent to looking at actual form constants. Author

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has work ...

once observed in print that the shapes he had seen during his

migraine headache Migraine (, ) is a common neurological disorder characterized by recurrent headaches. Typically, the associated headache affects one side of the head, is pulsating in nature, may be moderate to severe in intensity, and could last from a few hou ...

s resembled exactly the form of

fractal In mathematics, a fractal is a geometric shape containing detailed structure at arbitrarily small scales, usually having a fractal dimension strictly exceeding the topological dimension. Many fractals appear similar at various scales, as illu ...

s. The diversity of conditions that provoke such patterns suggests that form constants reflect some fundamental property of

visual perception Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment through photopic vision (daytime vision), color vision, scotopic vision (night vision), and mesopic vision (twilight vision), using light in the visible spectrum reflecte ...

Cultural significance

Form constants have a relationship to some forms of

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th ...

, especially the

visual music Visual music, sometimes called colour music, refers to the creation of a visual analogue to musical form by adapting musical structures for visual composition, which can also include silent films or silent Lumia work. It also refers to methods o ...

tradition, as William Wees noted in his book ''Light Moving in Time'' about research done by German psychologist Heinrich Klüver on the form constants resulting from mescaline intoxication. The visual and synaesthetic hallucinations this drug produced resembles, as Wees noted, a listing of visual forms employed in visual music: These form-constants provide links between abstraction, visual music and synaesthesia. The cultural significance of form constants, as Wees notes in ''Light Moving in Time'' is part of the history of abstract film and video. The practice of the ancient art of

divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...

may suggest a deliberate practice of cultivating form constant imagery and using

intuition Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning. Different fields use the word "intuition" in very different ways, including but not limited to: direct access to unconscious knowledge; unconscious cognition; ...

and/or imagination to derive some meaning from transient visual phenomena.

Psychedelic art Psychedelic art (also known as psychedelia) is art, graphics or visual displays related to or inspired by psychedelic experiences and hallucinations known to follow the ingestion of psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, and DMT. The word "p ...

, inspired at least in part by experiences with psychedelic substances, frequently includes repetitive abstract forms and patterns such as

tessellation A tessellation or tiling is the covering of a surface, often a plane (mathematics), plane, using one or more geometric shapes, called ''tiles'', with no overlaps and no gaps. In mathematics, tessellation can be generalized to high-dimensional ...

Moiré pattern In mathematics, physics, and art, moiré patterns ( , , ) or moiré fringes are large-scale interference patterns that can be produced when an opaque ruled pattern with transparent gaps is overlaid on another similar pattern. For the moiré ...

s or patterns similar to those created by

paper marbling Paper marbling is a method of aqueous surface design, which can produce patterns similar to smooth marble or other kinds of stone. The patterns are the result of color floated on either plain water or a viscous solution known as size, and then ca ...

, and, in later years,

s. The

op art Op art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses optical illusions. Op artworks are abstract, with many better-known pieces created in black and white. Typically, they give the viewer the impression of movement, hidden images ...

genre of visual art created art using bold imagery very like that of form constants. In

electroacoustic music Electroacoustic music is a genre of popular and Western art music in which composers use technology to manipulate the timbres of acoustic sounds, sometimes by using audio signal processing, such as reverb or harmonizing, on acoustical instrumen ...

, Jon Weinel has explored the use of altered states of consciousness as a basis for the design of musical compositions. His work bases the design of sonic materials on typical features of hallucinatory states, and organises them according to hallucinatory narratives. As part of this work, form constants feature prominently as a basis for the design of psychedelic sonic and visual material.Weinel, J
"Visual patterns of hallucination as a basis for sonic arts composition"
''Proceedings of Audio Mostly 2013''.

References

Sources

* Blackmore, Susan. Dying to Live: Near-Death Experiences. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1993. * Cytowic, Richard E.,

The Man Who Tasted Shapes ''The Man Who Tasted Shapes'' is a book by neurologist Richard Cytowic about synesthesia. Summary The book is divided into two parts. In the first part, Cytowic describes his chance encounter during a dinner party on February 10, 1980 with MW, ...

. *Ermentrout, G.B. and Cowan, J.D., "A mathematical theory of visual hallucination patterns." ''Biol. Cybernet.'' 34 (1979), no. 3, 137–150.

External links

Text from "Hallucinogens and Creativity" page by Susan Opar"Spontaneous pattern formation in large scale brain activity: what visual migraines and hallucinations tell us about the brain"; online video of lecture by Jack Cowan"Spontaneous pattern formation in the primary visual cortex"

free version of "What Geometric Visual Hallucinations Tell Us about the Visual Cortex"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Form Constant Hallucinations Symptoms and signs of mental disorders Psychedelia Divination Visual motifs Psychedelic drug research Vision