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133 papers in the library · 76 citations · publishing 2019-2026

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Religion and the Brain - on Consciousness and Attention

Preprints.org April 25, 2025 Johannes Bronkhorst preprint

There can be degrees of attention. Greater depth of attention is often referred to as concentration or absorption. Great depth of attention may affect the way we experience the world, leading in extreme cases to religious experiences. In spite of its importance, little is known about the neural correlates (NCCs) of those states. This paper makes a proposal as to those correlates. It suggests...

DOI: 10.20944/preprints202504.2087.v1 (opens in new tab) Consciousness Psychoanalysis Cognitive science

Mindfulness, Difficulties in Emotional Regulation, Negative and Positive Affect as Predictors of Anxiety, Depression, and Psychological Distress in Early Adolescence

Preprints.org April 16, 2025 Bárbara Porter, Cristián Oyanadel, Yaranay López-Angulo et al. 1 citation preprint

Background/Objectives: The high prevalence of anxiety and depression in early adolescents, along with the significant disability these conditions, represent a major challenge for mental health. This data underscores the need to understand the variables that predict mental health in this developmental period. Objective: Evaluate the predictive role of mindfulness, difficulties in emotional...

DOI: 10.20944/preprints202504.1309.v1 (opens in new tab)

‘Psychedelic’ as Mind-Revealing: Psychological Processes in the Subjective Experience That Drive Positive Change

Preprints.org July 30, 2024 Rúna F. E. Walther, Hein T. van Schie preprint

This narrative review explores the utilization of psychedelic states in therapeutic contexts, deliberately shifting the focus from psychedelic substances back to the experiential phenomena they induce, in alignment with the original meaning of the term "mind-manifesting." The review provides an overview of various psychedelic substances used in modern therapeutic settings and ritualistic...

DOI: 10.20944/preprints202407.2400.v1 (opens in new tab) Cognitive psychology

An “Auction of Souls”: War, Magical Parasitism, and Re-enchanted Spirits in Siberia

Preprints.org June 27, 2024 Konstantinos Zorbas 1 citation preprint

Alleged practices of magical assault and vampirism are a recurrent feature of popular explanations of misfortune in Tuva Republic, South Siberia. Based on a field study of healing practices in an “Association of Shamans”, this article analyses rituals of countercursing one’s antagonists in a context of Russian political domination. A central purpose of this discussion is to foreground the...

DOI: 10.20944/preprints202406.1928.v1 (opens in new tab) Shamanism Buddhism Indigenous Politics +6

Metastability demystified — the foundational past, the pragmatic present, and the potential future

Preprints.org July 21, 2023 Fran Hancock, Fernando E. Rosas, Mengsen Zhang et al. 16 citations preprint

Healthy brain functioning depends on balancing stable integration between brain areas for effective coordinated functioning, with bursts of desynchronisation to allow subsystems to reconfigure and express functional specialisation. Metastability, a concept originated in statistical physics and dynamical systems theory, has been proposed as a key signature that characterises this balance....

DOI: 10.20944/preprints202307.1445.v1 (opens in new tab) Meditation Cognitive science Metastability Brain function +4

Cardioprotective Potential of the Ethanol and Water Extracts of Four Psilocybin Mushrooms on Angiotensin II-Induced Hypertrophy and Oxidative Stress on H9C2 Cardiomyocytes

Preprints.org June 6, 2023 Sanah Malomile Nkadimeng, Christiaan M.l. Steinmann, J.n. Eloff 1 citation preprint

Psilocybin-containing mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms have antidepressant effect, however, their safety in cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure is not fully known and needs to be investigated. Cardiac hypertrophy is an independent risk factor for heart failure morbidity and mortality. Angiotensin II (Ang-II) plays a major role in the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy. We...

DOI: 10.20944/preprints202306.0362.v1 (opens in new tab) Angiotensin ii Oxidative stress Losartan Reactive oxygen species +3

The Self-Simulation Theory:A Computational Theory of Consciousness

Preprints.org November 23, 2022 preprint

The current theories of consciousness do not address the two major problems:What is the solution to the hard problem of consciousness or What is the experience of self-existence? and How is conscious perception computed? We address these questions using our hypothesized theory:The Self Simulation theory and propose a model of computation of consciousness.The components of the model are an...

DOI: 10.20944/preprints202211.0434.v1 (opens in new tab)

Pharmacotherapy for the Secondary Prevention of Suicide: Leads from the Social Pain Hypothesis

Preprints.org July 5, 2022 Ravi Philip Rajkumar 1 citation preprint

Suicidal behaviour is a public health problem whose magnitude is both substantial and increasing. Since many individuals seek medical treatment following a suicide attempt, strategies aimed at reducing further attempts in this population are a valid and feasible secondary prevention approach. An evaluation of the available evidence suggests that existing treatment approaches have limited...

DOI: 10.20944/preprints202207.0064.v1 (opens in new tab) Suicidal ideation Psychological pain Population Suicide prevention +5

Trilogy: A New Paradigm of Consciousness

Preprints.org June 6, 2022 preprint

Consciousness is usually interpreted as a state of being aware of one’s environment as well as self, while awareness is understood as knowledge of something. Despite their semantic differences, in philosophy, these terms are often used interchangeably, as is the case of the hard problem of consciousness proposed by Chalmers, which in fact is the hard problem of awareness. Trilogy paradigm of...

DOI: 10.20944/preprints202206.0073.v1 (opens in new tab)

Natural Language as a Window into the Subjective Effects and Neurochemistry of Psychedelic Drugs

Preprints.org November 10, 2021 Enzo Tagliazucchi 5 citations preprint

Psychedelics are drugs capable of eliciting profound alterations in the subjective experience of the users, sometimes with long-lasting consequences. Because of this, psychedelic research tends to focus on human subjects, given their capacity to construct detailed narratives about the contents of their consciousness experiences. In spite of its relevance, the interaction between serotonergic...

DOI: 10.20944/preprints202111.0201.v1 (opens in new tab) Consciousness Neurochemical Cognitive psychology Relevance law +2

Inducing Effects of Illegal Drugs to Improve Mental Health by the Self-Regulation Therapy: A Pilot Study

Preprints.org September 7, 2021 S. Amigó 1 citation preprint

Background: This study consists of a brief psychological intervention, which uses the Self-Regulation Therapy (SRT, procedure based on suggestion and classical conditioning), to improve coping with stress and emotionality by reproducing the positive effects of illegal drugs: cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy. Method: 15 volunteers (8 males, 7 females), with a mean age of 24.67 (SD = 4.43), underwent...

DOI: 10.20944/preprints202109.0134.v1 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab)