PsyArXiv
December 12, 2023
Federico Benitez, Cyriel M A Pennartz, Walter Senn
preprint
Critics of Artificial Intelligence posit that artificial agents cannot achieve consciousness even in principle, because they lack certain necessary conditions for consciousness present in biological agents. Here we highlight arguments from a neuroscientific and neuromorphic engineering perspective as to why such a strict denial of consciousness in artificial agents is not compelling. We argue...
PsyArXiv
December 12, 2023
preprint
Advancing mindfulness research through innovative Ecological Momentary Assessment approaches
PsyArXiv
December 5, 2023
preprint
The rise of neurotechnological tools offering targeted feedback holds considerable promise for accelerating learning in meditation and mindfulness practices. These technologies could fast-track the development of transformational states and traits that traditionally require years of disciplined practice. However, many current neurofeedback systems are built on generalized models or features...
PsyArXiv
December 4, 2023
Teresa Campillo-Ferrer, Adriana Alcaraz, Ema Demšar et al.
preprint
Out-of body experiences (OBEs) are characterized by the subjective experience of being located outside the physical body. Evidence supports that OBEs triggered by electrical stimulation and epileptic seizures are associated with disrupted brain activity in a distributed network centred at the temporo-parietal junction and the resulting multisensory disruption of body representation. However,...
PsyArXiv
November 7, 2023
Mika Turkia
2 citations
preprint
Following advice received in a dream, a woman in her early thirties, suffering from depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders caused by complex trauma in her childhood, experimented with 'microdosing' or psycholytic dosing of Amanita muscaria (fly agaric) mushrooms. During a 3.5-month period with an intuition-based, gradually declining dosing scheme, her symptoms significantly decreased. No...
PsyArXiv
November 3, 2023
Perez Pauline, Dragana Manasova, Bertrand Hermann et al.
preprint
Identifying the neural correlates of consciousness (NCCs) is key to support the different scientific theories of consciousness. NCCs can be defined to reflect either the brain signatures underlying specific conscious content or those supporting different states of consciousness, two aspects traditionally studied separately. In this paper, we introduce a framework to characterize NCCs according...
PsyArXiv
October 16, 2023
Tariq Khan
preprint
A short and speculative philosophical essay proposing consciousness as a singular function of both observation and memory creation that like light, that does not require a medium in which to propagate, is free of a medium.
PsyArXiv
October 10, 2023
Zhuo Job Chen
preprint
The studies of mysticism have traditionally emphasized a common core centered around experiences of ego dissolution and unity. However, this focus on a central set of experiences tends to downplay the non-central aspects, resulting in a limited understanding that may not encompass many other types of extraordinary experiences. This paper proposes a layered hierarchy model of mysticism, which...
PsyArXiv
October 3, 2023
Surabhi Lodha, Rashmi Gupta
preprint
Objectives: This study investigated the effect of mindfulness induction on attentional control in emotional contexts and explored if the time course of emotional information modulated the effects. Method: A total of 323 undergraduate students were randomized to four groups: mindfulness induction group in Experiment 1 (MI-Prime), waitlist control group in Experiment 1 (WLC-Prime), mindfulness...
PsyArXiv
September 29, 2023
Nicholas Martin Rosseinsky
preprint
A recent letter associates IIT with the (undefined!) term 'pseudoscience'. A striking and unarguable definition of pseudoscience here shows it applies to all mainstream theories of consciousness. But this isn't a field-destructive critique: it's a call to begin the beautiful, pristine, science that lies beyond current pseudoscientific dogma.
PsyArXiv
September 29, 2023
Polina Beloborodova, Kirk Warren Brown
preprint
Many scientific papers on mindfulness and its psychological implications are published annually, yet doubts persist regarding the validity of self-report mindfulness measures, as some researchers argue that they capture established concepts instead of mindfulness itself. We explored this possibility empirically by examining the relation between two commonly used measures: the Mindful Attention...
PsyArXiv
September 25, 2023
Ryota Kanai, Ippei Fujisawa
preprint
While falsifiability has been broadly discussed as a desirable property of a theory of consciousness, in this paper, we introduce the meta-theoretic concept of "Universality" as an additional desirable property for a theory of consciousness. The concept of universality, often assumed in physics, posits that the fundamental laws of nature are consistent and apply equally everywhere in the...
PsyArXiv
September 16, 2023
Stephen M Fleming, Chris Frith, Mel Goodale et al.
preprint
The media, including news articles in both Nature and Science, have recently celebrated the Integrated Information Theory (IIT) as a ‘leading’ and empirically tested theory of consciousness. We are writing as researchers with some relevant expertise to express our concerns.
PsyArXiv
August 28, 2023
Avanti Shrikumar
preprint
A meta-analysis of Princeton's Global Consciousness Project (GCP) of 500 pre-registered experiments from 1998-2015 found that, during periods of strong coherence in people's thoughts (e.g. after a terrorist attack), random number generators (RNGs) based on quantum tunneling are more likely to produce correlated results (Z=7.31, p < 1E-12). This was not observed for duration-matched control...
PsyArXiv
August 21, 2023
Yair Dor-Ziderman, Yoav Schweitzer, Ohad Nave et al.
3 citations
preprint
We recently showed using a magnetoencephalogram visual mismatch-response paradigm that self-specific prediction-based neural mechanisms shield the self from existential threat by attributing death to the ‘other’. Here we test the pre-registered hypothesis that mindfulness meditation is associated with a reduction in the brain’s defensiveness towards mortality. Additionally, we examine putative...
PsyArXiv
August 15, 2023
Hakwan Lau
preprint
Here I discuss how to study subjective experiences in Alzheimer’s Disease and the related dementias (AD/ADRD), using the rigorous methods of psychophysics. We will borrow some ideas from studies of visual awareness, specifically regarding how impoverished subjective experience is characterized in blindsight patients. I also discuss how understanding the neural correlates of perceptual...
PsyArXiv
August 9, 2023
Thomas W Clark
preprint
A first order of business in explaining consciousness is to make sure it’s consciousness that’s being explained. I argue that there are two essential features of consciousness needing explanation: qualitativeness – the sensory feel of experience – and subjectivity: that experiences exist only for the conscious subject. These constitute what’s called phenomenal consciousness or phenomenality. I...
PsyArXiv
August 7, 2023
Qiang Xie
preprint
Mindfulness and self-compassion have the potential to alleviate loneliness, a significant public health concern. Investigating the underlying mechanisms that drive their impact on loneliness is crucial to optimizing their effectiveness. The current cross-sectional study aimed to explore the mediating role of coping style in the relationships between mindfulness, self-compassion, and loneliness....
PsyArXiv
July 21, 2023
Rediet Emebet Getnet Alemu, Joan Kamere, Rosine Baseke et al.
preprint
Background: Depressive and anxiety symptoms significantly impact the well-being of African youth. This problem is compounded by limited access to appropriate mental health care services and societal stigma. In addressing this issue in Kenya, we employed the network approach to psychopathology to identity the most significant symptoms of depression and anxiety. These network analyses revealed...
PsyArXiv
July 14, 2023
Norah Wolk, Daniel J Morris, Yasmeen Nahas et al.
preprint
People typically become aware that a dream was “just a dream” only after awakening. Alternatively, people can become aware that they are dreaming during the dream. These lucid dreams are thought to involve increased prefrontal cortex activity relative to non-lucid dreams, and they are associated with volitional control over dream content. Lucid dreams could be valuable for many purposes, such...
PsyArXiv
June 30, 2023
Cameron Sandell, Tadas Stumbrys, Ken A Paller et al.
preprint
Standard treatments for nightmares focus on waking activities, with consequences for subsequent sleep. An alternative strategy may be to provide people with a novel way to learn to end a nightmare by waking up. People typically think of sleep as a state that they cannot control, but there are exceptions to this rule. For example, the ability to select dream content in a lucid dream might allow...
PsyArXiv
June 11, 2023
Abraham Peled
preprint
It is not a secret that treatments for mental disorders are limited in their therapeutic efficacy. The reason for this, among other things, is the lack of knowledge regarding the etiology (causes) of psychiatric disorders. For many years efforts to combine Computational Neuroscience with psychiatry are beginning to yield some insights that may connect phenomenology to brain disturbances and...
PsyArXiv
June 2, 2023
Naotsugu Tsuchiya, Peter Bruza, Makiko Yamada et al.
preprint
To arbitrate theories of consciousness, scientists need to understand mathematical structures of quality of consciousness, or qualia. The dominant view regards qualia as points in a dimensional space. This view implicitly assumes that qualia can be measured without any effects on it. This contrasts with intuitions and empirical findings to show that by means of internal attention qualia can...
PsyArXiv
June 1, 2023
Sucharit Katyal, Anna-Lena Lumma, Philippe R. Goldin et al.
preprint
This is an editorial piece for a special issue (SI) in Frontiers of Psychology on 'The Varieties of Contemplative Experiences and Practices'. While diverse contemplative techniques are employed across a plethora of traditions around the world, contemplative research over the years has not reflected this variety. Despite exponential growth in contemplative research in recent decades, it has...
PsyArXiv
May 18, 2023
Brian M. Galla
preprint
In this essay, I argue that the scalability and effectiveness of universal school-based mindfulness interventions for adolescents will always be limited by the high motivational commitment required to meditate. Mindfulness interventions rely on a single and demanding health behavior—namely, meditation—to cultivate mindfulness skills. But unlike traditional mindfulness interventions delivered in...