Loving-Kindness Meditation (LKM), a contemplative practice that aims to promote social well-being, has also been linked to lower self-reported pain symptoms. However, it remains unknown whether LKM can reduce pain through having a positive impact on social well-being, as well as whether LKM can improve self-reported acute pain and objectively measured acute pain tolerance among a general,...
PLoS OneSeptember 9, 2026J Richard T Korecki, Diana Winston, Elizabeth Ko et al.
Introduction: Nearly 80% of healthcare providers experience adverse psychological symptoms (e.g., depression, burnout, sleep disturbance) stemming from workplace stressors. Elevated levels of stress have been associated with unfavorable occupational, patient, and provider-related outcomes, imposing a heavy burden on a strained system. Given the impact of stress on both employee and patient...
PLoS OneAugust 13, 2026Paige Copeland, Quinn Malone, Brian H. Dalton et al.
The psychoactive component of cannabis, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is known to alter cognitive-motor function; however, despite the high prevalence of cannabis use globally, the time course of the effects of ingesting THC is unclear. To allow future studies to accurately time the assessment of the impacts of cannabis on behaviour, this study aimed to establish a detailed time series of...
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for children (MBCT-C) on internalizing, externalizing, and attention problems in children from single-parent families: A study protocol for a crossover randomized clinical trial.
Individuals around the world report nonordinary experiences that stand out to them compared to their day-to-day or ordinary experiences. Yet, they can be appraised in very different ways, resulting in wellbeing and personal growth, or in marginalization and mental health problems. One challenge is that there are relatively few systematic efforts to explore possible appraisal processes and the...
Background: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe psychiatric disorder with high morbidity, mortality, and relapse rates, most commonly emerging during adolescence. Despite specialized psychological and nutritional treatments, outcomes remain suboptimal, with high rates of relapse and chronicity. Psilocybin has been investigated with preliminary efficacy in other psychiatric conditions...
PLoS OneJune 29, 2026Yunyun Zhao, Juanjuan Li, Xiaobei Li et al.
Objective: To evaluate the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) combined with standard perioperative care on perioperative outcomes in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Methods: This retrospective study enrolled patients with advanced HCC who underwent TACE and received either standard perioperative care...
PLoS OneJune 26, 2026Sebastiano Cinetto, Hurcan Andrei Senyuva, Marco Zorzi et al.
Embodied accounts of cognition propose that bodily states shape mental representations. We test this proposal in numerical cognition by asking whether spontaneous respiration biases random number generation (RNG). Building on prior work by Belli and collaborators (2021), we adopt a self-paced handwriting RNG paradigm that preserves the continuous, cyclic nature of breathing. Healthy adults will...
PLoS OneJune 25, 2026Savannah K H Siew, Junhong Yu
Background: Mindfulness practice has been associated with a range of benefits in the literature. However, intervention effects show substantial person-to-person variability, and the individual differences underlying this variability remain underexamined. Identifying the psychosocial predictors of the practice can increase our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the benefits of...
INTRODUCTION: Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-assisted psychotherapy (MDMA-AP) is a potentially transformative intervention for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite encouraging Phase III trial results, the psychological mechanisms underpinning MDMA's therapeutic effects remain insufficiently understood. Existing research on MDMA has emphasised neurobiological processes but has...
Skilled interpersonal support and safety monitoring can enhance the therapeutic potential of psychedelic compounds and reduce the potential for harm. In the anticipation of legalized psychedelic care, and the recognition of ongoing psychedelic use across a variety of contexts, numerous training programs have been established to educate psychedelic facilitators in supporting individuals who take...
Background: University students frequently report elevated stress, yet access to formal mental health services is often constrained. Self-directed mind-body practices, such as the Somporn Kantharadussadee Triamchaisri program (SKT1), may offer low-intensity mood management; however, real-world evidence based on repeated within-person assessments remains limited. Objectives: To examine immediate...
Models of stereotypes and discrimination propose the involvement of attentional control and executive functioning in successfully suppressing discriminatory behavior. A practice that has been shown to improve cognitive control, potentially even after short training durations, is mindfulness meditation, and beneficial effects on stereotype activation and the expression of discriminatory behavior...
BACKGROUND: Dementia affects over 50 million people worldwide, with numbers projected to triple by 2050. Informal caregivers-predominantly family members-provide the majority of daily care and exhibit disproportionately high rates of psychological distress, depressive symptoms, and perceived burden. Although mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have consistently demonstrated moderate-to-large...
PLoS OneMarch 20, 2026Katherine G Jones, Marlee M Vandewouw, Jitendra Awasthi et al.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe psychiatric condition associated with high rates of suicide and poor interpersonal functioning. There are no FDA-approved medications, and evidence-based psychotherapies such as dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) are difficult to access and vulnerable to patient dropout. Novel treatment directions are urgently needed. Mindfulness is the core...
Bipolar disorder (BD) is a prevalent mood disorder that can be associated with serious personal, societal, and economic costs. Growing attention is being paid to the importance of including the experiences of people living with BD in research and healthcare system advancement. However, there is still much to be learned about what people with BD are prioritizing, and where their needs are not...
Introduction: Engaging community members and context experts is increasingly recognized as key to developing research that is responsive to community needs. Here, we describe a protocol for incorporating stakeholder feedback using rapid qualitative techniques into OPTIMUM (Optimizing Pain Treatment In Medical settings Using Mindfulness), a pragmatic clinical trial comparing a...
PLoS One2026Aliya Islam, Javeria Rehman, Sumbul Mujeeb et al.1 citation
The transition from dental student to practicing dentist is often accompanied by high level of stress and risk of burnout. This shift from academic to professional roles can overwhelm students and compromise their well-being. Addressing burnout early is essential to maintain academic performance, resilience, and quality patient care. Mindfulness interventions have shown increasing empirical...
PLoS One2026Young Im Cho, Hyo Jin Kim, Dong Hee Kim
Nursing students experience stress that negatively affects their mental well-being and academic performance. Conventional mindfulness-based interventions are too long to fit the students' demanding schedules. This study aimed to examine the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of an adapted Meditation-Mindfulness-Positive Psychology Training (MMPT) program tailored to nursing students'...
PLoS One2026Clement Abbatecola, Bernard Marius ’t Hart, Belén M. Montabes De la Cruz et al.
We investigate the subjective experience of space around the visual blind spot area, the cortical representation of which is missing feedforward connectivity from one eye. We performed these experiments as part of an adversarial collaboration to test contrasting theories of consciousness; Integrated Information Theory (IIT), Predictive Processing Active Inference (AI), and Predictive Processing...
PLoS One2026Yijun Wang, Xiaolu Lin, Xiang Zou et al.
Postoperative pain is the most notable issue after cesarean section (CS). The contributing factors include hyperalgesia, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and inflammation. In this study, we explored the effects of esketamine on pain, hyperalgesia, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and inflammation after CS. This randomized, blinded, controlled trial enrolled single-term pregnant women...
Psychedelic-assisted therapy is regaining attention as a promising approach to treating mental health disorders. This research aimed to compare related factors regarding the therapeutic use of psychedelics between medical and nursing students, addressing a notable gap in existing research. A cross-sectional survey was conducted at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain) during the...
PLoS One2026Matilda Gibbons, Ethan G McBride, Raghuram Holenarasipura Venkatasubbaiah et al.
Identifying the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) is widely regarded as imperative to our understanding of consciousness. Although several scientific theories of consciousness make predictions about the NCC, they often differ in their level of detail, making direct comparison through experimental findings difficult. Here, we report an adversarial collaboration protocol in which unbiased...
Yoga programs have gained wide attention in school settings to promote adolescent mental health. However, comparative evaluations of distinct yoga-based approaches are limited. This study examined the effectiveness of a Mindful Yoga and Meditation (MYM) program and the Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) in reducing psychological distress and enhancing mindfulness, emotion regulation, and overall...