Alex Gómez-Marín is a Spanish physicist and neuroscientist with research interests in parapsychology.
Contents
Career
Àlex Gómez-Marín was awarded a bachelor’s degree in physics and a PhD in theoretical physics at the University of Barcelona. This was followed by a postdoctoral position at the EMBL-CRG Genome Regulation Center in Lisbon. Since 2016 he has led the Behaviour of Organisms Laboratory at the Instituto de Neurociencias in Alicante as an associate professor of the Spanish Research Council. His research has been diverse, from studying time’s arrow in physical systems to action-perception neurobiology across multiple species.
His current focus is ‘the edges of consciousness’. As director of the Pari Center he advocates an expanded scientific approach that integrates rigorous data and theory with attention to the socio-political contexts of science, bringing together the sciences, arts and sacred perspectives.
He was awarded the first Linda G O’Bryant Noetic Research Prize for his ‘Seeing without Eyes’ research proposal and was included in OOOM Magazine’s top 100 list of ‘inspiring people’.
Integrated Information Theory
Together with leading neuroscientist Anil Seth, Gómez-Marín examined the recent controversy regarding Integrated Information Theory (IIT) of consciousness. (In this model, consciousness emerges when a system integrates information in a way that creates more than the sum of its parts.) The pair addressed recent accusations that the theory is pseudoscience since its core claims are untestable, arguing that, despite its complexity, it allows for empirically testable predictions, with adversarial collaborations like COGITATE and INTREPID testing specific IIT predictions. They pointed to a false dichotomy being made between computational functionalism and IIT, warning against scientific excommunication by authority and advocating instead for metaphysical pluralism and epistemic humility.1Gómez-Marín & Seth (date).
Seeing Without Eyes
The Linda G O’Bryant Noetic Research Prize was launched by the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 2023, soliciting experimental proposals for testing the conjecture that the mind does not equal the brain. Gómez-Marín was involved in the joint-winning entry, a proposal for researching ‘extra-ocular’ vision (seeing without eyes). This outlined experiments with talented blind individuals like ‘Vicente’, who showed remarkable abilities in preliminary tests, building on Romains’ ‘Eyeless Sight’ and Jacobo Grinberg’s research. The proposed methodology envisaged moving from simple colour discriminations to complex image descriptions, with rigorous controls against peeking, tactile perception, and unconscious sensory leakage and the use of specialized blindfolds, randomization and multi-camera documentation.2Gómez-Marín (date).
Visual Perception
In a 2023 publication, Gómez-Marín, together with biologist Rupert Sheldrake examined the conflict between representationalist theories (minds confined to brains) and extended mind theories of visual perception that posit consciousness fields extending outside of the brain.. An implicit belief in ‘extramission’ – that something leaves the eyes during vision and connects with the observed environment – is widely held, with research showing that people can react unconsciously to a person’s gaze. Visual attention is processed as directional flow, an experienced confirmed by brain imaging. The authors proposed investigating perceptual fields extending beyond brains, empirical research that might help resolve a centuries-old debate.3Gómez-Marín & Sheldrake (2025).
Transmaterial Science
In another 2023 publication, Gómez-Marín reflects on his near-death experience and its implications for a materialist perspective of consciousness. His encounter with a ‘tunnel of light’ joins evidence from cardiac arrest survivors who often report similar experiences, with flat EEGs occurring during clinical death. Gómez-Marín speculates on the cultural universality of such experiences, drawing attention to the possibility that the brain does not produce consciousness but rather enables its transmission. He goes on to describe the phenomenon of ‘terminal lucidity – the mental clarity that sometimes returns very briefly before death in cognitively impaired patients. He urges serious scientific inquiry into what happens to consciousness when the brain dies, rather than either dismissing such experiences as hallucinations or accepting supernatural explanations.4Gómez-Marín (2023).
A published exchange between Gómez-Marín and cosmologist Bernard Carr explores how science might encompass matter, mind and spirit, venturing beyond conventional scientific boundaries. The discussion points towards consciousness as fundamental rather than incidental to the universe.5Gómez-Marín & Carr (2023). A recorded version can be found here.
A Taxonomy of Altered States
With Etzel Cardeña and colleagues, Gómez-Marín developed a consensus taxonomy of altered states of consciousness based primarily on phenomenological features. A modified Delphi methodology was used with a multidisciplinary, international group of experts. Eight distinct phenomenological and behavioral states were identified – some with subcategories. These include proto and transitional states, delirium, minimal to no awareness, experiential detachment, enhanced physicality, altered identity, imaginary/fantasy/visionary states, and unity/mystical experiences.
The taxonomy was developed to provide conceptual clarity and stimulate research integration across different specializations. States are categorized by their central phenomenological features rather than by their triggers or inductions. The authors hope this framework will reveal what is common and different across various triggers of altered states, encouraging phenomenological, psychological, cultural, and neuroscientific understanding. A nuanced discussion of different states should pave the way for an integrated understanding of different modalities of experiencing.6Cardeña et al (2025).
Michael Duggan
Literature
Cardeña, E., Berkovich-Ohana, A., Valli, K., Barttfeld, P., Gómez-Marín, A., Greyson, B., Kumar, V. K., Laureys, S., Luhrmann, T. M., Newberg, A., Preller, K. H., Putnam, F. W., Tagliazucchi, E., Walsh, R., Carter, O., & Yaden, D. (2025). A consensus taxonomy of altered (nonordinary) states of consciousness: Bringing order to disarray. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice. Advance online publication.
Carr, B., Gómez-Marín, A. (2023). Towards a trans-materialist science of the sacred. Pari Perspectives 15: 52-61.
Gómez-Marín (2023a). Seeing Without Eyes Climbing up the impossibility ladder with controlled experiments in talented individuals. Proposal for The Linda G Bryant Science Research Prize.
Gómez-Marín (2023b). What happens with the mind when the brain dies? Organisms: Journal of Biological Sciences 6/1, 51-53.
Gómez-Marín, A, Seth, A. (2025). A science of consciousness beyond pseudo-science and pseudo-consciousness. Nature Neuroscience 28/4, 703-706.
Gómez-Marín, A., Sheldrake, R. (2023). The nature of visual perception: Could a longstanding debate be resolved empirically? Journal of Mind and Behaviour 44/1-2, 1-14.
Romains, J. (1924). Eyeless Sight: A study of extra-retinal vision and the paroptic sense. Putnam’s Sons