Brain and Cognition
December 1, 2011
Valdas Noreika, Leila Jylhänkangas, Levente Móró et al.
62 citations
Subjective experiences can occur even when a person appears unresponsive under sedation. In a nonsurgical setting, participants given dexmedetomidine, propofol, sevoflurane, or xenon recalled having subjective experiences in almost 60% of sessions after regaining responsiveness. During dexmedetomidine sessions, such experiences were linked to shallower sedation depth as measured by an EEG-based monitor. The findings indicate that unresponsiveness does not guarantee absence of consciousness, and studies on phenomenal consciousness under anesthetics should assess subjective states through post-recovery interviews.
Brain and Cognition
May 27, 2025
Steven Wickens, Gummersall Timothy, Brown Trevor
4 citations
A meta-analysis of eight sham-controlled randomized trials found that combining mindfulness practices with active transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) produces a small but significant increase in self-reported mindfulness compared to mindfulness with sham stimulation. The effect size was small (standardized mean difference = 0.24). Most studies used 2 mA anodal stimulation to the prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest that tDCS can augment the benefits of mindfulness practice, supporting a synergistic multimodal approach.
Brain and Cognition
August 1, 2023
Etzel Cardeña, Lena Lindström, Philippe R. Goldin et al.
4 citations
Automatic writing, whether occurring spontaneously or induced by hypnosis, reduces the sense of control and agency compared to copying symbols. In a functional MRI study of one spontaneous automatic writer and four highly hypnotizable individuals, automatic writing was associated with decreased brain activity in regions linked to the sense of agency, including the left premotor cortex and insula, right premotor cortex, and supplemental motor area. Increased activity was observed in the left and right temporoparietal junctions and occipital lobes. The highly hypnotizable individuals showed widespread decreases in brain activity and increases in frontal and parietal regions compared to the spontaneous writer. Spontaneous and induced automatic writing had similar effects on the subjective experience of agency but only partly overlapping effects on cortical activity.
Brain and Cognition
April 1, 2012
Zoë D Théodoridou, Lazaros C Triarhou
2 citations
Christfried Jakob, a neurobiologist active from 1930 to 1949, argued that philosophy must be integrated with biology, especially neurobiology, to understand consciousness. He is considered an early figure in neurophilosophy, focusing on the neurobiogenetic, neurodynamic, and neuropsychogenetic foundations of consciousness. His ideas share common ground with thinkers such as Kant, James, Husserl, Bergson, Piaget, and Quine, and also align with aspects of cybernetics and neurophenomenology. Jakob advocated for interdisciplinary science as essential to solving the mystery of consciousness.
Brain and Cognition
July 9, 2026
Stephanie Clarke, Sonia Crottaz-Herbette, Simo Frestadius et al.
Neuroimaging studies show that spiritual and religious beliefs engage the same brain regions as secular cognition. Christian faith, defined by belief, trust, commitment, and practices such as prayer, has been examined in only a few neuroimaging studies: three on propositional belief, five on prayer, and two on spiritual practice. The authors propose that Christian commitment and practice may, over time, shape dedicated neuronal structures and networks and interact with secular cognition. They formulate five hypotheses and methodological approaches to test them, and outline options for investigating the inner disposition of trust and commitment, an aspect not yet studied. Pursuing these investigations may reveal how faith is represented in and possibly modifies the brain.
Brain and Cognition
December 1, 2025
Peter J Chabot, Nicholas B Dadario, Michael E. Sughrue
Brain imaging of people with Tourette's Syndrome who consciously control premonitory urges shows that the non-language dominant prefrontal part of the frontal operculum in the inferior frontal gyrus and the anterior insular cortex are involved in tic inhibition and decision-making. These regions also appear important for intention, volitional control, self-awareness, perception of tangible reality, and attentional selectivity, suggesting they may be part of the neural correlates of consciousness.
Brain and Cognition
October 30, 2024
Nicola Sambuco
The Default Mode Network (DMN) is a brain system where cognitive and emotional processes converge, especially in integrating memory and emotion. This mini-review identifies three patterns of DMN activity during emotional processing: the ventromedial prefrontal cortex encodes memory pleasantness while other DMN regions build episodic content; DMN interacts with amygdala and anterior insula to assign emotional significance; and widespread DMN activation occurs for both pleasant and unpleasant events, challenging the idea that cognition and emotion are modular. The first two patterns may stem from methodological choices, while a non-modular view has recently emerged as most plausible. The DMN appears fundamental for constructing coherent, emotionally charged narratives.
Brain and Cognition
July 1, 2023
Sean N Riley, Jim Davies
Vividness in visual mental imagery is less studied than imagery's format or neural basis. The authors propose re-framing vividness not as closeness to perception, but as closeness to an internal model: the more generated imagery matches this model, the more vivid it is. This perspective may reconcile conflicting findings on visual cortex activation during imagery. The paper examines this view alongside existing neuroscientific, psychological, and philosophical research and outlines future research directions.
Brain and Cognition
January 13, 2020
G. Avvenuti, Andrea Leo, L. Cecchetti et al.
After three months of practicing Transcendental Meditation twice daily for 20 minutes, novice meditators showed reduced anxiety and stress compared to a control group. This psychological improvement correlated with increased functional connectivity between brain regions involved in self-referential thought and interoceptive awareness, specifically the posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, left superior parietal lobule, and right insula. No structural brain changes were observed. The findings suggest that the beneficial effects of Transcendental Meditation may be mediated by functional brain changes occurring after a short practice period.
Brain and Cognition
August 1, 2018
F. Travis, Laurent Valosek, Artie Konrad et al.
A randomized controlled trial tested whether the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program could improve brain integration and psychological well-being in government employees. Ninety-six central office administrators and staff from the San Francisco Unified School District were randomly assigned to either start TM immediately or join a wait-list control group. After four months, TM participants showed significant decreases in total mood disturbance, anxiety, anger, depression, fatigue, and confusion, and significant increases in vigor. A subset with EEG recordings also showed significant increases in brain integration scores. Compliance with daily meditation practice was high at 93%, indicating the program is feasible and effective for reducing psychological distress and improving brain integration and positive affect in this population.
Brain and Cognition
June 1, 2018
Michelle C. Mahone, F. Travis, R. Gevirtz et al.
During Transcendental Meditation practice, long-term practitioners showed increased blood flow in brain regions involved in executive function and attention (anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices) and decreased blood flow in arousal-related areas (pons and cerebellum). This pattern, which has not been reported for other meditation practices, suggests that Transcendental Meditation requires minimal effort and involves automatic attentional processes.
Brain and Cognition
March 1, 2017
Leon De Bruin, John Michael
The prediction error minimization (PEM) framework is gaining influence across cognitive sciences. A central debate concerns how PEM conceptualizes the relationship between brain, body, and environment. Clark argues for a version of PEM that retains commitments to Embodied Cognition and the Extended Mind Hypothesis. Hohwy contends that PEM rules out at least some versions of Embodied and Extended cognition. This paper aims to facilitate constructive debate by explicating the different theoretical motivations underlying these two alternatives and identifying relevant issues that may help adjudicate between them.
Brain and Cognition
February 1, 2017
Frederick Travis, Niyazi Parim
Transcendental Meditation (TM) does not involve focused attention or voluntary control of mental content, even in beginners. Eighty-seven TM practitioners with one month to five years of experience reported similar levels of transcendental experiences regardless of practice duration, with a flat regression (r=.07). Brain activity measured by eLORETA showed theta and alpha activation in the default mode network during both eyes-closed rest and TM, and beta2 and beta3 activation in the central executive network during a task. TM uniquely showed higher theta orbitofrontal activation compared to rest. These findings indicate TM should not be categorized with Focused Attention meditations, which involve gamma EEG and default mode network deactivation.
Brain and Cognition
February 1, 2016
Barbara Tomasino, Franco Fabbro
An 8-week mindfulness-oriented focused attention meditation training alters brain activation patterns in novice meditators. Comparing fMRI scans before and after training, participants showed increased activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left caudate/anterior insula, and decreased activation in the rostral prefrontal cortex and right parietal area 3b during focused attention on breathing and body scan exercises versus rest. These changes suggest the training strengthens brain regions involved in sustaining and monitoring attention while reducing activity in areas linked to mind wandering and self-referential thought, consistent with the goals of mindfulness practice.
Brain and Cognition
November 1, 2014
Péter Simor, János Körmendi, Klára Horváth et al.
People with nightmare disorder show signs of wake-like brain activity and reduced parasympathetic nervous system activity specifically during the transition into REM sleep, but not after REM periods. Compared to healthy controls, nightmare sufferers had increased alpha power in EEG recordings before REM sleep, indicating a more wake-like cortical state. They also lacked the normal increase in heart rate variability that typically occurs before REM, suggesting blunted parasympathetic activity. These differences were not explained by trait anxiety. The findings suggest that sleep is most disturbed during the transition into REM sleep in nightmare disorder, possibly reflecting altered emotional processing.
Brain and Cognition
April 1, 2012
Péter Simor, Péter Pajkossy, Klára Horváth et al.
People who frequently experience nightmares show measurable impairments in certain thinking tasks during the day, particularly those requiring suppression of irrelevant information. In two studies, nightmare subjects were slower on emotional Go/NoGo and Stroop tasks, made more perseveration errors, and generated fewer words on a verbal fluency task compared to matched controls. These deficits appeared as an overall slowing regardless of whether the stimuli were emotionally positive, negative, or neutral. Poor sleep quality and waking anxiety accounted for some but not all of the differences. The findings suggest that frequent nightmares are linked to executive function difficulties involving the control of task-irrelevant semantic information.
Brain and Cognition
February 1, 2008
Jonathan Smallwood, Merrill McSpadden, Bryan Luus et al.
Principal component analysis of response times during a continuous performance task can distinguish mental states. Three components accounted for 58.8% of the variance in response time data. The second-largest component was a marker for mind wandering: it was stronger under slow stimulus presentation (paralleling the distribution of mind-wandering reports) and more powerful before failures in response inhibition (a behavioral marker of mind wandering) and less powerful before reports of task-focused thinking. The analysis appears to be a viable tool for differentiating mental states and may help identify neural substrates underlying mind wandering.
Brain and Cognition
February 1, 2004
M. Overgaard, J. Nielsen, A. Fuglsang-Frederiksen
Visual stimuli presented very briefly produce little or no subliminal perception in healthy individuals. When transcranial magnetic stimulation is applied, a dissociation emerges between correct performance and conscious awareness. The findings support the hypothesis that the ventral projection streams from area V1 are necessary for visual consciousness.
Brain and Cognition
July 1, 1986
M S Greenberg, M J Farah
Dreaming appears to be lateralized to the left hemisphere in people with typical brain organization, according to a review of neurological cases where brain damage led to loss or change in dream recall. The distribution of lesion sites across the left and right hemispheres was analyzed to test competing hypotheses about whether dream generation is controlled by the right hemisphere, left hemisphere, or both hemispheres equally or unequally. The evidence best supports the left-hemisphere hypothesis.