ALIUS is an international and interdisciplinary research group dedicated to the investigation of all aspects of consciousness, with a specific focus on non-ordinary or understudied conscious states traditionally classified as altered states of consciousness.
In Latin, alius means “different”. This lexical choice reflects the group’s mission to study the diversity of consciousness in a systematic manner. ALIUS puts a particular stress on the need for a naturalistic approach to all aspects of consciousness, including states and experiences which have long been unduly associated to parapsychology and pseudoscientific hypotheses.
To this end, it fosters a unique interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers, involving neuroscientists, psychologists, philosophers of mind, psychiatrists and anthropologists, towards the development of a systematic and scientific model of consciousness supported by both theoretical work and experimental studies. This collaboration may take the form of joint articles, blog posts, editorial work on special issues, thematic workshops and international conferences.
Aside from the activity of its research members, ALIUS publishes an annual Bulletin containing interviews with prominent researchers and scientists working on specific states of consciousness, including non-ordinary states induced by meditation, dreaming, psychosis, psychotropic drugs, hypnosis and rituals.