Differential executive functioning in the topology of Spirit possession or dissociative disorders: an explorative cultural study

Abstract

BackgroundIn Oman, anecdotal and impressionistic observation have helped parse and categorize various manifestations of spirit possession into two broad and distinct categories: intermittent dissociative phenomenon and transitory dissociative phenomenon. The primary aim of the present study was to compare the performance of participants on neuropsychological tests among different grades of possession. Other correlates were also sought.MethodsAssessment criteria for the two groups included measures examining executive functioning: controlled oral word association test Verbal Fluency, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (Perseverative error and the number of categories achieved), Trail Making Test and the Tower of London Test (number of correctly solved problems). Sociodemographic variables and the history of trauma were also sought.ResultAmong 84 participants, one third of them presented the intermittent possession type and two thirds, the transitory possession type. Their mean age was 34.17 ± 11.82 and 56% of them were female. Nearly 35% of them endorsed a history of a traumatic experience. Both the multivariate models showed statistical significance (F (5, 78) = 5.57, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.22), F (5, 78) = 11.38, p < 0.001, R2 = 0.39) with an independent predictor of intermittent dissociative phenomenon (β = − 3.408, p < 0.001), (β = 63.88, p < 0.001) for Verbal Fluency and Trail Making Test, respectively. The history of the traumatic event was also statistically significant with the results of the Trail Making Test (β = − 26.01, p < 0.041. Furthermore, the subtype of Pathogenic Possession turned out to be an independent predictor across all models: Wisconsin Card Sorting Test perseverative error, Wisconsin card sorting test categories achieved and the number of problems solved in the Tower of London Test (OR = 3.70, 95% C.I. 2.97–4.61; p < 0.001), (OR = 0.57, 95% C.I.0.39–0.84; p = 0.004) and (OR = 0.80, 95% C.I. 0.65–0.99; p < 0.037) respectively.ConclusionsThis study suggests that typology of spirit possession found in Oman tends to differ on indices of executive function. Those with ‘diagnosis’ of intermittent possession showed impairment in many indices of executive functioning. Despite its wide prevalence, spirit possession has not been examined in terms of its neuropsychological functioning. We believe that this study will be instrumental in laying the groundwork for a more robust methodology.

Cognitive Health and Differential Cortical Functioning in Dissociative Trance: An Explorative Study About Mediumship

“…This study has strong points: Provides insight that may help understand cognitive skills in practitioners of mediumistic trance. Contradicts previous findings from Al-Adawi et al (2019) because an executive dysfunction was highly prevalent in practitioners of possession, and seeks to support future studies to define the risk of cognitive impairment in practitioners of mediumistic trance.…”

“…Another study suggested that performance on the verbal fluency test was significantly different among participants with intermittent dissociative phenomena when compared to transient dissociative phenomena ( Al-Adawi et al, 2019 ). Such a finding did not corroborate the current study’s outcomes.…”

“…However, a below-average performance only on the FAS test—which was not observed in the digit span test and in all FDT subtests—makes executive dysfunction unlikely, even when stratifying the groups into MEG and LEG. It is hypothesized that the cognitive impairment observed in the study by Al-Adawi et al (2019) may be related to the thought content experienced during possession phenomena.…”

“…Analysis of cognitive performance, associated with dissociative experiences, is scarce in the literature. There is only one publication that has demonstrated neuropsychological findings, focusing on the evaluation of cognitive functions in people with altered states of consciousness ( Al-Adawi et al, 2019 ). This study revealed executive dysfunction in so-called “spirit possession” among practitioners of only one type of trance mediumship.…”

Psychiatric, cognitive functioning and socio-cultural views of menstrual psychosis in Oman: an idiographic approach

“…We assessed different cognitive domains of attention and concentration (Digit Span) [23], learning and remembering (California Verbal Learning Test) [24], executive function (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test [25], processing speed (Digit Symbol) [26] and speech and language [27]. For brevity, performance on each test has been expressed in percentile scores as detailed elsewhere [28] based on normative data from Omani populations [25,27].…”