March 2, 2026
Andrea Grabovac, Nickolas Grabovac, Winson F.z. Yang et al.
preprint
This paper presents the Insight Development Process (IDP), a theoretical framework of propositional insight development to facilitate its scientific investigation. This framework formulates three empirically-testable propositions: transience, self-lessness, and incongruence, each defined as a perceptual mode that individuals report during advanced insight meditation. These propositions parallel...
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
March 1, 2026
Hagar Tal, Malcolm Wright, Shawn Prest et al.
2 citations
Computational phenomenology has emerged as a powerful framework for investigating advanced meditation states and stages, and meditative development and endpoints. Various models have been proposed to mechanistically explain the diverse experiences associated with these practices, including enhanced well-being, shifts in attentional control, the loosening or 'defabrication' of perceptual...
Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience
2026
Malcolm Wright, Olivia Petit, Alexander Schnack
This article provides a novel functionalist account of embodiment in immersive virtual environments, grounded in a formal model of cognition, supported by past empirical evidence, and offering a testable framework for predicting when virtual experiences will produce cognitive and emotional effects. Our approach complements existing work on telepresence and subjective experience by applying the...
Heliyon
May 14, 2024
Winson F.z. Yang, Terje Sparby, Malcolm Wright et al.
30 citations
Volitional mental absorption in meditation: Toward a scientific understanding of advanced concentrative absorption meditation and the case of jhana.
Mindfulness
May 1, 2024
Malcolm Wright, Julieta Galante, J. S. Corneille et al.
Adoption of potentially consciousness-altering practices may be leading to a rise in emergent phenomena (EP): sudden unusual mental or somatic experiences often interpreted as spiritual, mystical, energetic, or magical in nature. It is unclear how frequently these altered states of consciousness occur and what the clinical implications may be. Anecdotal accounts and prior literature suggest...
Mindfulness
April 13, 2023
Julieta Galante, Andrea Grabovac, Malcolm Wright et al.
82 citations
Abstract Millions of people globally have learned mindfulness meditation with the goal of improving health and well-being outcomes in both clinical and non-clinical contexts. An estimated half of these practitioners follow mindfulness teachers’ recommendations to continue regular meditation after completion of initial instruction, but it is unclear whether benefits are strengthened by regular...
Mindfulness
April 10, 2023
Malcolm Wright, Joseph L. Sanguinetti, Shinzen Young et al.
41 citations
Abstract Objectives Research into meditation-related emergent phenomenology is advancing, yet progress is hampered by significant incongruities between meditator self-reports and objective measurements (e.g., of brain states). We address these incongruities by developing and demonstrating the potential of contemplative theory to support scientific investigation. Method Our approach is to...