BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies
November 6, 2025
Helena Hruby, Marc Wittmann, Stefan Schmidt et al.
This micro-phenomenological study examines altered states of consciousness (ASC) during Floatation-REST, a sensory isolation method where individuals lie in a tank filled with Epsom salt-saturated water in complete silence and darkness. Salubrious effects of Floatation-REST have been shown in persons suffering from mental health conditions; these positive outcomes might be related to the...
Mindfulness
August 1, 2024
Aviva Berkovich-Ohana, Kirk Warren Brown, Shaun Gallagher et al.
22 citations
Abstract For many centuries, scholars and philosophers from wisdom traditions in different cultures have reported and discussed non-self states of consciousness. These states can be both short-term (state, transitory) and long-term (trait, lasting) conditions. However, in psychology, the importance of a healthy self is usually emphasized, and some theorists have dismissed the idea of “selfless”...
Mindfulness
August 1, 2024
Stefan Schmidt, Prisca R. Bauer, Fynn-Mathis Trautwein
4 citations
AbstractIn this conceptual contribution, we argue that experimental investigations of phenomena in the cognitive sciences and consciousness research may benefit from a thorough integration of data acquired from the first-person perspective. We present a line of research from our lab applying this approach to the Libet task on voluntary action. In this well-known experimental paradigm,...
Psychoactives
April 16, 2024
Daniel Meling, Rebecca Ehrenkranz, Sandeep M. Nayak et al.
26 citations
Rationale: Psychedelic research re-emerged from a period of suppression into the so-called psychedelic renaissance. In parallel, most media reporting has shifted from the overstatement of the risks of psychedelics to overly positive hype. As the empirical evidence is more equivocal than frequently portrayed, the conclusions about the effectiveness of psychedelics should be considered...
December 30, 2023
Stefano Poletti, Prisca R. Bauer, Antoine Lutz
preprint
Objective: Worldviews (WVs) are the set of beliefs that underlie the way we conceive of reality and selfhood. Buddhist meditation allegedly leads to long-lasting changes in WVs and trait-like neurophysiological and behavioral differences between novice and expert meditators support this possibility. Yet, this claim has not yet been fully tested and there is still no qualitative evidence. The...
Mindfulness
April 11, 2023
Shaun Gallagher, Antonino Raffone, Aviva Berkovich-Ohana et al.
49 citations
Abstract In this paper, we address core insights from Buddhist psychology about mind-body phenomena and the self, and we relate such insights to the notion of the self-pattern developed in the pattern theory of self. We emphasize the dynamic, temporal and enactive characteristics of the self-pattern, consistent with the core Buddhist notion of non-self. Although there is no one-to-one mapping...
International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHP
2023
Fabio Giommi, Prisca R. Bauer, Aviva Berkovich-Ohana et al.
70 citations
Clinical and neuroscientific evidence indicates that transdiagnostic processes contribute to the generation and maintenance of psychopathological symptoms and disorders. Rigidity (inflexibility) appears a core feature of most transdiagnostic pathological processes. Decreasing rigidity may prove important to restore and maintain mental health. One of the primary domains in which rigidity and...
Trends in Cognitive Sciences
December 22, 2022
Christopher Timmermann, Prisca R. Bauer, Olivia Gosseries et al.
145 citations
No contemporary unifying framework has been provided for the study of non-ordinary states of consciousness (NSCs) despite increased interest in hypnosis, meditation, and psychedelics. NSCs induce shifts in experiential contents (what appears to the experiencer) and/or structure (how it appears). This can allow the investigation of the plastic and dynamic nature of experience from a multiscale...
Neuroscience Letters
November 1, 2021
Prisca R. Bauer, C. Sabourdy, Benoit Chatard et al.
PURPOSE Intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) offers a unique window on brain dynamics with excellent temporal and spatial resolution and is less prone to recording artefacts than surface EEG. This study used a within-subject design to explore the feasibility to compare iEEG data during mind wandering, mindfulness meditation and hypnosis. RESULTS Three patients who had iEEG for clinical...