The phrase altered state of consciousness was coined in the 1970s and describes induced changes in one's mental state, almost always temporary. A synonymous phrase is "altered states of awareness".
Consciousness is a quality of the mind generally regarded to comprise qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and one's environment.
In common parlance, consciousness denotes being awake and responsive to one's environment; this contrasts with being asleep or being in a coma.
Modern investigations into and discoveries about consciousness are based on psychological statistical studies and case studies of consciousnessstates and the deficits caused by lesions, stroke, injury, or surgery that disrupt the normal functioning of human senses and cognition.
An alteredstate of consciousness is any state which is significantly different from a normative waking beta wavestate.
An alteredstate of consciousness can come about accidentally through fever, sleep deprivation, starvation, oxygen deprivation, nitrogen narcosis (deep diving), or a traumatic accident.
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