Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 22h

I would also like to thank all of my coworkers, family and friends for their support and assistance on this day and the four years leading up to it.
@gestaltrevision.bsky.social
@kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social

2

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 22h

A special thank you to the members of my examination committee, Francesca Bacci, @aennebrielmann.bsky.social , Roland Fleming and Bram Vervliet for the insightful questions, engaging discussions, and for making this day truly memorable.

1 3

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 22h

A huge thank you to my mentor and promotor Johan Wagemans for his unwavering support and guidance, and to my co-promotors @biekezaman.bsky.social and Koen Brosens for their interest and insightful advice.

2 3

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 22h

I am delighted to share that on October 6 I successfully defended my PhD thesis titled “Inside-out dynamics of multisensory perception: A mixed-methods approach from laboratory to art contexts” and obtained the degree: Doctor of Psychology!

1 12

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 13d

This study aimed to examine whether and when multimodal integration of visual and auditory components occurs in the multimodal Ganzfeld (visual and auditory homogeneous stimulation).

1

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 13d

@gestaltrevision.bsky.social @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social
@pec-ipe.bsky.social
#VisionScience #VisualPerception #Ganzfeld

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 13d

This work highlights visual dominance in Ganzfeld settings as well as how sensory input and more specifically, suggestive elements like sound and color may influence multisensory percept formation under Ganzfeld stimulation.

1 1

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 13d

* The “wave” phenomenon: Water-like sounds were the only consistent category of auditory hallucination across studies, potentially because the low frequencies of brown noise resemble ocean waves. These were often paired with blue visual fields.

1 1

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 13d

* Noise seems suggestive (especially brown noise): Auditory hallucinations that did occur seemed influenced by the sound characteristics; brown noise, with its low-frequency profile, produced more hallucinations than white noise or no noise.

1 1

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 13d

* Unimodal focus: Over half (53%) maintained focus on visual experience, while noise often “faded into the background” (24%).

1

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 13d

* Multisensory integration is scarce: Only 4–13% of participants reported congruent multimodal experiences (e.g., matching visual and auditory content).

1

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 13d

Key findings:

* Visual perception dominates: Even under multimodal stimulation, 89–96% of participants reported visual hallucinations, while auditory experiences were rare (18–26%).

1 1

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 13d

Using a multi-method approach across three experiments, we combined quantitative measures with qualitative interviews to explore how auditory conditions (no-noise, white-noise, brown-noise) interact with visual Ganzfeld stimulation in both laboratory and art installation settings.

2 2

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 13d

A special thanks to my co-authors Liv Smets and Johan Wagemans for this wonderful collaboration!

1 2

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · 13d

I’m thrilled that our latest paper, “Wave after wave: The suggestibility of noise in the experience of multisensory hallucinations under multimodal Ganzfeld stimulation”, has just been published in i-Perception and received the Early Career Best Paper Prize!
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

1 1 7

Reposted by Eleftheria Pistolas

ECVP 2025 @ecvp.bsky.social · Aug 27

#ECVP2025 In addition to yesterday's Illusion Night we would like to mention the contribution of @elinevg.bsky.social and @lisa-kossmann.bsky.social about Open-Source Toolboxes for aesthetics and perception.

5 14

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · Aug 19

A special thank you to product designer Kamiel Ceyssens for all of his help in constructing the custom-made curved translucent screen of our Ganzfeld lab!
@gestaltrevision.bsky.social @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social al @nconsc.bsky.social
#VisionScience #VisualPerception #Ganzfeld

1

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · Aug 19

We combined a quantitative measure of experienced phenomena with in-depth interviews, offering a richer understanding of the perceptual experience. To this end, we created our own Ganzfeld lab.

1 2

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · Aug 19

In this particular paper, we set out to clarify both the terminology used in past literature, as well as the phenomenology of Ganzfeld experiences, supplemented with our own findings using a mixed-methods approach.

1 1

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · Aug 19

A huge thank you to my PhD advisor Johan Wagemans for his enthusiasm and guidance in tackling this research area together.

1

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · Aug 19

This paper laid the foundation for my Ganzfeld project, where we investigated what perceptual experiences emerge or decay in the Ganzfeld, a homogeneous visual field, known to induce peculiar perceptual experiences.

1

Eleftheria Pistolas @eleftheriapistolas.bsky.social · Aug 19

Excited to share that the first paper of my PhD ‘And then there was light in the Ganzfeld: clarifying the methods, experiences, and modulating factors of hallucinations and decays’ has now been published in Neuroscience of Consciousness!
academic.oup.com/nc/article/2...

1 9

Reposted by Eleftheria Pistolas

GestaltReVision @gestaltrevision.bsky.social · Aug 19

The GestaltReVision Lab is excited to be part of this years @vsac-social.bsky.social!

We will be present all three days; come find us at the talks and posters to connect! 💬

Details on our contributions in the comments below ⬇️
#VSAC2025

1 4 5