Make it make sense: How humans process the extraordinary
Across cultures and religions, we’re not that different after all
PLOS
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One-fourth of people who undergo an extraordinary experience report immediate discomfort, but more than half claim the experience caused positive long-term effects, per study results.
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One-fourth of people who undergo an extraordinary experience report immediate discomfort, but more than half claim the experience caused positive long-term effects, according to a study published August 5, 2026 in the open access journal PLOS One by Ronald Fischer Instituto D'Or de Pesquisa e Ensino São Paulo, Brazil, and colleagues.
Unlikely coincidences. Out-of-body experiences. Extrasensory perception. Intrinsic to the human condition are extraordinary experiences like these. But nonordinary events can be interpreted in myriad ways: Perhaps Person A finds religion in a near-death experience, while Person B dismisses the occurrence as random chance. In some cultures, nonordinary experiences (like hearing voices) are perceived as supernatural; in others, as a symptom of psychosis.
Whether nonordinary experiences are framed as religious, spiritual, paranormal or pathological, those affected may flourish or languish in the aftermath. This study explored how individuals interpret nonordinary experiences, and which appraisals are associated with the best outcomes.
Fischer and colleagues first validated the Inventory of Nonordinary Experiences, which assesses the universal, cultural and religious dimensions of nonordinary experiences. The researchers asked 160 Brazilian adults to rate the understandability of each query, noting issues like vague language or missing response options. Participants evaluated the assessment’s 38 core questions alongside nine new additions, all of which were modified until an understanding rate of at least 80% was achieved.
The researchers administered all 47 validated questions to 5,117 people representing the general population. Responses suggest that nonordinary experiences are generally interpreted within the same set of beliefs. Specifics include:
- 20% of respondents reported a negative impact from their nonordinary experience, and 25% reported suffering or discomfort.
- 51% of participants said their nonordinary experience promoted positive long-term effects.
- About 39% of participants reported being alone during their experience. About 57% reported being awake and alert.
- Most participants implicated random chance for their nonordinary experience.
- Most participants reported having some degree of control over their experience.
These descriptive results highlight the complexities inherent to processing nonordinary experiences. The researchers hope this information can be used to promote wellbeing and mental health.
Ronald Fischer adds: “Experiences like sensing a presence, having a vision, or feeling as though you are observing yourself from outside your own body are far more common in the general population than clinical diagnosis rates would suggest. We observed that most people in our sample of over 5000 participants who report them are not unwell, and most describe them as neutral or positive — both at the time they occur and also when looking back and reflecting on that experience.”
“Previous research has often failed to differentiate the experience and how people make sense of such diverse and challenging experiences. Our work stands out in that we squarely focus on where and when these experiences happened and how people tried to make sense of them. By clearly separating the context, the experience and the meaning-making processes, the patterns we observe challenge various assumptions that have guided previous theory, research but also clinical practice.”
“For many people such experiences can be meaningful and lead to personal growth and insight. Highlighting these possible positive outcomes is important to help people make sense of them and help to normalize them. Importantly, we hope our work can help to remove stigma by focusing on the diverse ways that people experience and make sense of them. However, we would also stress that if people feel that these experiences interfere with their daily activities, then they should talk to a professional or seek help from somebody that they trust.”
Pedro Fortes adds: “What struck us was the mismatch. These experiences share features with symptoms used to define psychosis and dissociation yet are frequently observed in a general-population sample. Our prevalence study suggests they most often arrive in entirely ordinary moments, when we're awake, alert and by ourselves, and are commonly remembered as meaningful rather than frightening.”
Jorge Moll adds: “Our findings suggest that how a person interprets an unusual experience matters more than the experience itself in determining whether it becomes a source of distress or of meaning. That has direct consequences for how clinicians and families respond when someone describes something extraordinary.”
In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/4fDT7Am
Citation: Fortes P, Tavares L, Granjeiro G, Bortolini G, Maraldi E, Bortolini T, et al. (2026) Making sense of the extraordinary – An investigation of the content and prevalence of appraisals of nonordinary experiences. PLoS One 21(8): e0353126. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0353126
Author countries: Brazil.
Funding: The work was supported by an external grant from the John Templeton Foundation (Grant ID: 62651), an external grant by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnologico (Process: 309085/2023-3) to the last author and internal funding from the Pioneer Science Initiative of the D’Or Institute for Research and Education, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This work was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. There was no additional external funding received for this study.
Journal
PLOS One
Method of Research
Observational study
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Making sense of the extraordinary – An investigation of the content and prevalence of appraisals of nonordinary experiences
Article Publication Date
5-Aug-2026
Why do people’s pupils dilate when they’re surprised? Brown researchers explain
Spikes in physical alertness are a sign that the brain is hitting the “refresh” button to help it better process new and unexpected information, according to a new study.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — When people encounter new information that challenges their expectations, their pupils are likely to dilate. This physiological response is a sign that something is happening in the brain to help the person adapt to the new situation, according to a study led by Brown University researchers.
“Pupil dilation signals a spike in arousal, and our findings support the idea that these rapid fluctuations in arousal are doing something useful in the brain,” said study author Matt Nassar, an associate professor of neuroscience and of cognitive and psychological sciences at Brown. “They’re enabling us to deal with a world that often changes from one context to another context.”
Nassar is part of a research team at Brown’s Carney Institute for Brain Science that studied the function and purpose of spikes in physical alertness. Their findings, published in Nature Human Behaviour, show that the spikes are a signal of the brain’s transition into a new mode, instantly changing how the person perceives and learns from what is happening around them.
Surprising events elicit activity in the part of the brain known as the locus coeruleus, which is the primary source of norepinephrine, the chemical messenger that drives the body’s flight-or-flight stress response. This activity is correlated with a change in pupil diameter as well as with specific brain waves measured by electroencephalography (EEG). Despite many studies showing spikes in norepinephrine and other markers of arousal in response to surprising events, the function of these physical signals and how they might shape behavior has been unclear, Nassar said.
The team designed an experiment, involving colored squares on a screen, during which participants repeatedly make predictions about what they are about to see. Then participants are shown a new set of squares, report what they see and make new predictions about what they’d see next. During this time, the researchers collect physiological data including changes in pupil diameter as well as EEG signals.
“We wanted to capture the phenomenon associated with two overarching ideas about how the arousal system affects behavior,” said study co-author Harrison Marble, who earned a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Brown in 2023 and is now a research assistant and manager in Nassar’s lab. “One of them is related to learning, and the other is related to perceptual bias.”
The experiment included 63 participants, which resulted in 57 EEG datasets and 60 pupil measurement datasets.
The researchers found that surprising colors — those that didn’t match predictions — elicited pupil dilation and amplified certain brain waves. They also found that these measurements related to reductions in bias and adjustment in learning: When images looked like what the participants thought they were going to see, participants were biased toward their expectations. Yet pupil and brain measurements showed that participants were also able to learn from unexpected results and adjust their subsequent prediction accordingly.
In surprising situations, the researchers found, the norepinephrine spike is almost like a refresh mechanism — it’s a sign the brain is adjusting to new information that changes expectations.
“The brain holds on to some mental context, and then when it recognizes that you’re in a new situation, you replace that context,” Nassar said. “Changes in pupil diameter, as well as specific EEG readings, are external markers of the brain that shows it’s loading that new context. This both limits the effect that the previous context had on perception and also provides a clean slate, unencumbered by previous expectations, thereby allowing one to learn faster.”
Other Brown researchers involved in this research include co Tiantian Li, Timothy Chen and Niloufar Razmi. Funding for was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH126971).
Journal
Nature Human Behaviour
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Fluctuations in arousal reflect latent state transitions that facilitate behavioural optimization.
Article Publication Date
5-Aug-2026
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