Title : Neuroendocrine dynamics during QUINTESSENCE Method: Implications for emotional stabilization, mental health, and rehabilitation
Abstract:
Introduction: The QUINTESSENCE method is described as a state associated with pronounced changes in subjective experience, emotional state, bodily sensations, and autonomic regulation. During the observed session, the participant experienced a pronounced body-emotional process manifested through spontaneous motor responses, changes in muscle tone, and emotional expression, accompanied by a subjective experience of emotional release and catharsis. From psychological and body-oriented perspectives, such an experience may be understood as increased contact with previously insufficiently conscious or suppressed components of emotional and bodily experience.
Aim: To assess neuroendocrine and neurophysiological dynamics associated with the QUINTESSENCE method, with particular attention to stress-related biomarkers, BDNF, and changes in resting-state EEG/QEEG organization potentially related to emotional regulation and stabilization.
Methods: A longitudinal psychophysiological observation was conducted using repeated laboratory measurements and comparative pre- and post-state EEG/QEEG assessment. Neuroendocrine, neurophysiological, and subjective changes were evaluated throughout the observation period.
Results: The most pronounced endocrine dynamics were observed in stress-related parameters. Cortisol progressively decreased by 17.1% between the first and second measurements and by an additional 28.3% between the second and subsequent measurements, corresponding to an overall reduction of 40.5% from baseline. Prolactin decreased by 24.4% between the first and second measurements and by a further 28.3%, resulting in an overall reduction of 45.8%. ACTH remained relatively stable (+1.8%), while DHEAS showed a small decrease (−2.3%). BDNF demonstrated a nonlinear trajectory, initially increasing by 18.4% at the intermediate stage and subsequently decreasing, resulting in an overall change of −46.4% from baseline.
Subjectively, the participant described pronounced emotional release accompanied by a cathartic experience, changes in bodily sensations, and a subsequent subjective sense of greater emotional calm and stabilization. These subjective changes occurred in parallel with the observed endocrine and neurophysiological dynamics. QEEG demonstrated frequency- and region-specific reorganization of resting-state cortical dynamics. The most prominent spectral finding was a redistribution of activity in posterior regions within the alpha range, characterized by decreased Alpha1 activity and increased Alpha2 activity in occipital and posterior regions. Theta power also increased predominantly in central-posterior regions, while Beta1 and Beta2 demonstrated more moderate regional redistribution. Source-level analysis revealed selective remodeling of functional connectivity, particularly within the Alpha2 and Beta2 networks, with altered frontotemporal and frontoparietal interactions. Within the Default Mode Network, Alpha2 and Beta2 connectivity demonstrated reorganized coupling, whereas connectivity in the Theta, Beta3, and gamma ranges showed predominantly reduced or reorganized interactions.
Conclusions: The findings demonstrate multimodal individual dynamics in neuroendocrine and neurophysiological parameters during the period associated with the QUINTESSENCE method. The endocrine profile was characterized by substantial reductions in cortisol (40.5%) and prolactin (45.8%), relative stability of ACTH and DHEAS, and a nonlinear BDNF trajectory. Concurrently, QEEG demonstrated frequency-specific reorganization characterized by a posterior redistribution from lower-alpha (Alpha1) toward upper-alpha (Alpha2), increased theta activity, and selective remodeling of large-scale functional connectivity, particularly within the Alpha2 and Beta2 networks and the Default Mode Network. These objective changes occurred alongside a self-reported emotional release followed by a subjective sense of greater emotional calm and stabilization. One possible interpretation is that the observed body-emotional process was accompanied by a transition from a state of pronounced emotional activation toward subsequent physiological regulation. The concurrent reduction in cortisol may be consistent with decreased activity of stress-related neuroendocrine mechanisms, while the change in prolactin may reflect alterations in hypothalamic neuroendocrine regulation. At the neurophysiological level, the observed redistribution of apha activity and remodeling of large-scale functional connectivity may reflect changes in the coordination of networks involved in internal information processing, emotional regulation, and integration of subjective experience.
