Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
May 15, 2026
Felix Tretter, Henriette Löffler-stastka, Hans Braun et al.
Ten years ago, we published a position paper in this journal, criticizing reductionist claims of neurobiology related to mental disorders and important theoretical concepts like free will. Our interdisciplinary group of experts highlighted the need for and the challenges of integrating different approaches and system levels in neuroscience. We argued-and still argue-that such an integrative and...
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
2026
Alfredo López Parra
Consciousness remains one of the central challenges in contemporary neuroscience, in part due to the absence of an explicit framework describing the temporal constraints required for integrative processing. While influential models such as Integrated Information Theory and the Free Energy Principle characterize structural and functional aspects of conscious systems, they remain largely agnostic...
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
2024
Alexandra Lopes, Rute Sampaio, Isaura Tavares
3 citations
Pain is a complex phenomenon influenced by psychosocial variables, including the placebo effect. The effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for pain has been demonstrated in experimental studies and systematic reviews, but the mechanisms of action are only starting to be established. Whether the expectations of individuals experiencing pain can be manipulated during MBIs...
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
June 19, 2023
Zoé Dary, C. Lopez
The last two decades have seen a surge of interest in the mechanisms underpinning bodily self-consciousness (BSC). Studies showed that BSC relies on several bodily experiences (i.e., self-location, body ownership, agency, first-person perspective) and multisensory integration. The aim of this literature review is to summarize new insights and novel developments into the understanding of the...
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
November 4, 2022
Sergey B. Yurchenko
There are now dozens of very different theories of consciousness, each somehow contributing to our understanding of its nature. The science of consciousness needs therefore not new theories but a general framework integrating insights from those, yet not making it a still-born “Frankenstein” theory. First, the framework must operate explicitly on the stream of consciousness, not on its static...
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
2021
Ege Tekgün, Burak Erdeniz
3 citations
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) provide fascinating insights into our understanding of bodily self-consciousness and the workings of the brain. Studies that examined individuals with brain lesions reported that OBEs are generally characterized by participants experiencing themselves outside their physical body (i.e., disembodied feeling) (Blanke and Arzy, 2005). Based on such a characterization,...
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
July 8, 2020
June van Aalst, Jenny Ceccarini, Koen Demyttenaere et al.
57 citations
Yoga is becoming increasingly popular worldwide, with several implicated physical and mental benefits. Here we provide a comprehensive and critical review of the research generated from the existing neuroimaging literature in studies of yoga practitioners. We reviewed 34 international peer-reviewed neuroimaging studies of yoga using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography...
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
May 28, 2020
Anna Xu, Chloe S. Zimmerman, Sara W. Lazar et al.
Objective: Tai chi (TC), a contemplative practice combining slow movements and deep breathing, has been shown to be clinically effective in alleviating depressive symptoms. Feelings of fatigue or low vitality often accompany major depressive disorder (MDD) though they are commonly overlooked and not well understood neurologically. By using resting state functional connectivity (rs-FC) using the...
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
November 1, 2018
Camila Sanz, Carla Pallavicini, Carla Pallavicini et al.
78 citations
Classic psychedelics are substances of paramount cultural and neuroscientific importance. A distinctive feature of psychedelic drugs is the wide range of potential subjective effects they can elicit, known to be deeply influenced by the internal state of the user (“set”) and the surroundings (“setting”). The observation of cross-tolerance and a series of empirical studies in humans and animal...
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
September 16, 2014
Charles-Edouard eNotredame, Delphine ePins, Sophie eDeneve et al.
Illusion, namely a mismatch between the objective and perceived properties of an object present in the environment, is a common feature of visual perception, both in normal and pathological conditions. This makes illusion a valuable tool with which to explore normal perception and its impairments. Although still debated, the hypothesis of a modified, and typically diminished, susceptibility to...
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
May 22, 2014
John eSmythies, Lawrence eEdelstein, Vilayanur eRamachandran
This paper present a new hypothesis as to the function of the claustrum. Our basic premise is that the claustrum functions as a detector and integrator of synchrony in the axonal trains in its afferent inputs. In the first place an unexpected stimulus sets up a processed signal to the sensory cortex that initiates a focus of synchronized gamma oscillations therein. This focus may then interact...
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
2014
Klaus M Stiefel, Alistair Merrifield, Alex O Holcombe
59 citations
THIS ARTICLE BRINGS TOGETHER THREE FINDINGS AND IDEAS RELEVANT FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS: (I) Crick's and Koch's theory that the claustrum is a "conductor of consciousness" crucial for subjective conscious experience. (II) Subjective reports of the consciousness-altering effects the plant Salvia divinorum, whose primary active ingredient is salvinorin A, a κ-opioid receptor...
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
2013
Christophe Lopez
The consequences of vestibular disorders on balance, oculomotor control, and self-motion perception have been extensively described in humans and animals. More recently, vestibular disorders have been related to cognitive deficits in spatial navigation and memory tasks. Less frequently, abnormal bodily perceptions have been described in patients with vestibular disorders. Altered forms of...
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
2012
Stuart Hameroff
Conscious "free will" is problematic because (1) brain mechanisms causing consciousness are unknown, (2) measurable brain activity correlating with conscious perception apparently occurs too late for real-time conscious response, consciousness thus being considered "epiphenomenal illusion," and (3) determinism, i.e., our actions and the world around us seem algorithmic and inevitable. The...
Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
2011
Marc Wittmann
160 citations
It has been suggested that perception and action can be understood as evolving in temporal epochs or sequential processing units. Successive events are fused into units forming a unitary experience or "psychological present." Studies have identified several temporal integration levels on different time scales which are fundamental for our understanding of behavior and subjective experience. In...