Conscious Cogn - The Consciousness Library

The neurophenomenology of early psychosis: An integrative empirical study.

Conscious Cogn November 1, 2019 B. Nelson, S. Lavoie, Ł. Gawęda et al. 99 citations

Minimal self-disturbance—a fragility in the implicit sense of self, presence, and agency—is a core feature of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. In a test of a neurophenomenological model, source monitoring deficits explained 39.8% of the variance in minimal self-disturbance scores across 50 ultra-high risk patients, 39 first-episode psychosis patients, and 34 healthy controls. Aberrant salience explained only 6% of the variance and was more related to positive psychotic symptoms than to self-disturbance. The model may need to incorporate additional constructs like temporal processing and multisensory integration. Longitudinal analyses will follow.

DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2019.102845

The entropic tongue: Disorganization of natural language under LSD.

Conscious Cogn December 8, 2020 Camila Sanz, Carla Pallavicini, Facundo Carrillo et al. 34 citations

Language produced under the influence of LSD shows increased entropy and reduced semantic coherence, consistent with a state of heightened neural entropy. Non-semantic analysis of speech organization revealed increased verbosity and a reduced lexicon, changes more similar to manic psychoses than to schizophrenia, as confirmed by direct comparison with reference samples. Features related to language organization allowed machine learning classifiers to identify speech under LSD with accuracy comparable to that obtained by examining semantic content. These results provide a quantitative characterization of disorganized natural speech as a landmark feature of the psychedelic state.

DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.103070 LSD Language Effects Speech disorganization Psychedelic neuroscience

The altered state of consciousness induced by Δ9-THC.

Conscious Cogn May 28, 2022 Conor H. Murray, Bhargav Srinivasa Desikan 20 citations

THC, the primary psychoactive component of cannabis, produces altered states of consciousness that share features with those induced by classical psychedelics. In 25 healthy, infrequent cannabis users, oral doses of 7.5 and 15 mg THC dose-dependently increased measures of altered states, including insightfulness, mindfulness, and mind-wandering, and increased language entropy, a pattern previously reported with LSD. The findings suggest overlapping neurophysiological mechanisms between THC and psychedelics, but future work must determine whether reported increases in mindfulness or insight reflect genuine enhancement of conscious awareness or a psychotomimetic state such as delusional thinking.

DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2022.103357 Full text Cannabis Neuroscience Consciousness Psychoactive-substances +1

Meditation and psychedelics facilitate similar types of mystical, psychological, and philosophical-existential insights predictive of wellbeing: a qualitative-quantitative approach.

Conscious Cogn July 7, 2025 Jussi Jylkkä, Hilla Väyrynen, Enyu Lin et al. 3 citations

Meditation and psychedelics both foster mystical, psychological, and philosophical-existential insights that predict wellbeing. A qualitative-quantitative study found that these insights, whether from meditation or controlled psychedelic use, are associated with positive shifts in personal wellbeing. The authors suggest that the types of insights from both practices overlap and can profoundly benefit individuals, leading to enhanced wellbeing and personal transformation.

DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2025.103901 Profound personal insights Transformative insights Deep insights Mystical revelations +8

Corrigendum to "Is dream recall underestimated by retrospective measures and enhanced by keeping a logbook? A review" [Conscious. Cogn. 33 (2015) 364-374].

Conscious Cogn July 13, 2023 correction

This is a correction notice for a previously published review article on dream recall. The original review examined whether retrospective measures underestimate dream recall and whether keeping a logbook enhances it. The corrigendum does not provide new findings or data.

DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2023.103550

Corrigendum to "Is dream recall underestimated by retrospective measures and enhanced by keeping a logbook? An empirical investigation" [Conscious. Cogn. 42 (2016) 181-203].

Conscious Cogn July 13, 2023 correction

No Summary

DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2023.103549

Mapping dreams in a computational space: A phrase-level model for analyzing Fight/Flight and other typical situations in dream reports.

Conscious Cogn October 27, 2022

A computational model analyzes dream reports at the phrase level to identify typical situations, such as Fight/Flight scenarios. By mapping dream content into a structured computational space, the model enables systematic analysis of recurring themes and patterns in dream narratives. This approach offers a method for quantitatively studying the structure and content of dreams.

DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2022.103428

If waking and dreaming consciousness became de-differentiated, would schizophrenia result?

Conscious Cogn April 16, 2011

The text explores the hypothesis that schizophrenia may arise from a breakdown in the differentiation between waking and dreaming consciousness. It considers whether the blending of these two states of awareness could lead to the characteristic symptoms of the disorder.

DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2011.03.022

Last night I had the strangest dream: Varieties of rational thought processes in dream reports.

Conscious Cogn December 8, 2006

Dream reports can contain rational thought processes, including logical reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making, challenging the view that dreams are purely irrational. The analysis of dream narratives reveals that such cognitive processes occur across different types of dreams, suggesting that rational thinking is not exclusive to waking consciousness.

DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2006.09.009

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