Form constant

An example of a form constant.

Aform constantis one of severalgeometric patternswhich are recurringly observed duringhypnagogia,hallucinationsandaltered states of consciousness.

History

Klüver's four form constants

In 1926,Heinrich Klüversystematically studied the effects ofmescaline(peyote) on thesubjective experiencesof its users. In addition to producing hallucinations characterized by bright, "highlysaturated"colors and vivid imagery, Klüver noticed that mescaline produced recurringgeometric patternsin different users. He called these patterns "form constants" and categorized four types:lattices(includinghoneycombs,checkerboards,andtriangles),cobwebs,tunnels, andspirals.

In 1988David Lewis-Williamsand T.A. Dowson incorporated the form constant into hisThree 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 innear-death experiencesand sensory experiences of those withsynesthesia.Other triggers includepsychological stress,threshold consciousness (hypnagogia),insulin hypoglycemia,the delirium offever,epilepsy,psychotic episodes,advancedsyphilis,sensory deprivation,photostimulation,electrical stimulation,crystal gazing,migraine headaches,dizzinessand a variety ofdrug-inducedintoxications.These shapes may appear on their own or with eyes shut in the form ofphosphenes,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 theretinaand the columnar organization of theprimary visual cortex.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.

AuthorMichael Moorcockonce observed in print that the shapes he had seen during hismigraine headachesresembled exactly the form offractals.The diversity of conditions that provoke such patterns suggests that form constants reflect some fundamental property ofvisual perception.

Cultural significance

Form constants have a relationship to some forms ofabstract art,especially thevisual musictradition, asWilliam Weesnoted in his bookLight Moving in Timeabout 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:

[Klüver’s] analysis of hallucinatory phenomena appearing chiefly during the first stages of mescaline intoxication yielded the following form constants: [emphasis original] (a) grating, lattice, fretwork, filigree, honeycomb, or chessboard; (b) cobweb; (c) tunnel, funnel, alley, cone or vessel; (d) spiral. Many phenomena are, on close examination, nothing but modifications and transformations of these basic forms. The tendency towards "geometrization," as expressed in these form constants, is also apparent in the following two ways: (a) the forms are frequently repeated, combined, or elaborated into ornamental designs and mosaics of various kinds; (b) the elements constituting these forms, such as squares in the chessboard design, often have boundaries consisting of geometric forms.

These form-constants provide links between abstraction, visual music and synaesthesia. The cultural significance of form constants, as Wees notes inLight Moving in Timeis part of the history of abstract film and video.

The practice of the ancient art ofdivinationmay suggest a deliberate practice of cultivating form constant imagery and usingintuitionand/or imagination to derive some meaning from transient visual phenomena.

Psychedelic art,inspired at least in part by experiences with psychedelic substances, frequently includes repetitive abstract forms and patterns such astessellation,Moiré patternsor patterns similar to those created bypaper marbling,and, in later years,fractals.Theop artgenre of visual art created art using bold imagery very like that of form constants.

Inelectroacoustic music,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.

See also

• Biosemiotics
• Closed-eye hallucination– Class of hallucination
• Entoptic phenomenon– Visual effect whose source is within the eye itself
• Hypnagogia– State of consciousness leading into sleep
• Kaleidoscope– Optical instrument to view patterns due to repeated reflection
• Mandala– Spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism
• Paisley (design)– Textile design with a teardrop motif
• Pattern recognition– Automated recognition of patterns and regularities in data
• Psychophysics– Branch of knowledge relating physical stimuli and psychological perception
• Qualia– Instances of subjective experience
• Religion and drugs– Attitude towards the use of drugs in several religions
• Visual cortex– Region of the brain that processes visual information
• Visual snow– Class of hallucinationPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Visual system– Body parts responsible for vision
• Uniform tilings in hyperbolic plane– Symmetric subdivision in hyperbolic geometry

Sources

• Blackmore, Susan.Dying to Live: Near-Death Experiences. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1993.
• Cytowic, Richard E.,The Man Who Tasted Shapes.
• 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"