Brain Sciences - The Consciousness Library

Self, Me, or I? Unravelling the Triumvirate of Selfhood in Pathological Consciousness.

Brain Sciences June 13, 2025 Alexander A Fingelkurts, Andrew A Fingelkurts 2 citations

In this conceptual review, we explore how alterations in the configuration and expression of the three core aspects of experiential Selfhood-'Self,' 'Me', and 'I'-both reflect and shape an individual's susceptibility to neuropsychopathology. Drawing on empirical neurophenomenological evidence and theoretical insights, we examine a range of psychiatric and neurological disorders through the lens...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci15060640 Full text Experiential selfhood Neuropsychopathology ‘self’–‘me’–‘i’ Selfhood self-awareness +4

The Potential Role of Psilocybin in Traumatic Brain Injury Recovery: A Narrative Review

Brain Sciences May 26, 2025 Charles Palmer, Ally T Ferber, Brian D Greenwald 4 citations

Background: This narrative review explores psilocybin’s potential use as a therapeutic agent in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods: We engaged in a search of PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane’s databases for information on the effects of psilocybin. We also reviewed articles where psilocybin was used in patients with TBI. Articles from 2000–2025 were included. Results: A...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci15060572 Neurogenesis Neuroplasticity Medical psilocybin Traumatic brain injury +12

Emotion, Motivation, Reasoning, and How Their Brain Systems Are Related.

Brain Sciences May 16, 2025 Edmund T Rolls 7 citations

A unified theory of emotion and motivation is updated in which motivational states are states in which instrumental goal-directed actions are performed to obtain anticipated rewards or avoid punishers, and emotional states are states that are elicited when the (conditioned or unconditioned) instrumental reward or punisher is or is not received. This advances our understanding of emotion and...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci15050507 Full text Depression Amygdala Cingulate cortex Cognition +10

Opportunities and Challenges in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Disorders of Consciousness.

Brain Sciences May 6, 2025 Yang Bai 1 citation

Disorders of consciousness (DOCs) are a dynamic and challenging field, presenting significant difficulties for clinicians and neurorehabilitation specialists due to the lack of reliable assessment methods and effective intervention strategies [...].

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci15050487 Full text Consciousness Brain injury Medical diagnosis Patient care

Drugs Used in "Chemsex"/Sexualized Drug Behaviour-Overview of the Related Clinical Psychopharmacological Issues.

Brain Sciences April 22, 2025 Fabrizio Schifano, Stefania Bonaccorso, Davide Arillotta et al. 14 citations

Background: "Chemsex" involves the intake of a range of drugs (e.g., synthetic cathinones, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid/gamma-butyrolactone (GHB/GBL), ketamine, methamphetamine, "poppers", type V phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors, MDMA/ecstasy, cocaine, cannabis, and occasionally a few other molecules as well, to enhance and prolong sexual experiences. This paper aims to provide an overview of...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci15050424 Full text Substance abuse Sexual health Chemsex Drug addiction +4

Neurocomputational Mechanisms of Sense of Agency: Literature Review for Integrating Predictive Coding and Adaptive Control in Human–Machine Interfaces

Brain Sciences April 14, 2025 Anirban Dutta 9 citations

BACKGROUND: The sense of agency (SoA)-the subjective experience of controlling one's own actions and their consequences-is a fundamental aspect of human cognition, volition, and motor control. Understanding how the SoA arises and is disrupted in neuropsychiatric disorders has significant implications for human-machine interface (HMI) design for neurorehabilitation. Traditional cognitive models...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci15040396 Predictive coding Coding social sciences Agency philosophy Sense of agency +10

Assessing the Accuracy of ChatGPT in Answering Questions About Prolonged Disorders of Consciousness.

Brain Sciences April 13, 2025 Sergio Bagnato, Cristina Boccagni, Jacopo Bonavita 3 citations

Objectives: Prolonged disorders of consciousness (DoC) present complex diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of two ChatGPT models (ChatGPT 4o and ChatGPT o1) in answering questions about prolonged DoC, framed as if they were posed by a patient's relative. Secondary objectives included comparing performance across languages (English vs. Italian) and...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci15040392 Full text Ai in healthcare Chatgpt o1 Caregiver support Empathy +7

The Neural Correlates of Consciousness: A Spectral Exponent Approach to Diagnosing Disorders of Consciousness.

Brain Sciences April 4, 2025 Ying Zhao, Anqi Wang, Weiqiao Zhao et al. 5 citations

Disorder of consciousness (DoC) poses diagnostic challenges due to behavioral assessment limitations. This study evaluates the spectral exponent (SE)-a neurophysiological biomarker quantifying the decay slope of electroencephalography (EEG) aperiodic activity-as an objective tool for consciousness stratification and clinical behavior scores correlation. The study involved 15 DoC patients, nine...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci15040377 Full text EEG Biomarker Disorder of consciousness Spectral exponent Brain monitoring +3

Mindfulness-Based Intervention Effects on EEG and Executive Functions: A Systematic Review.

Brain Sciences March 20, 2025 Gilberto Galindo-Aldana, Luis Arturo Montoya-Rivera, Jose Jaime Esqueda-Elizondo et al. 3 citations

Background. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have emerged as an alternative intervention for symptoms of psychological and psychiatric conditions, such as depression, anxiety, and emotional discomfort. Over the last ten years, MBIs have established a growing body of evidence that shows cognitive and neurophysiological benefits. Depression and anxiety are conditions with a high prevalence...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci15030324 Full text EEG Frontal alpha Social cognition Mindfulness mindfulness practices +7

Emerging Medications for Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Review with Perspective on Mechanisms and Challenges

Brain Sciences February 6, 2025 Michael J Lucido, Boadie W Dunlop 15 citations

Background/Objectives: Non-response to initial treatment options for major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common clinical challenge with profound deleterious impacts for affected patients. Few treatments have received regulatory approval for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Methods: A systematic search of United States and European Union clinical trials registries was conducted to identify...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci15020161 Psilocybin Depression treatment antidepressants Therapy Medication +12

Physiological Entrainment: A Key Mind–Body Mechanism for Cognitive, Motor and Affective Functioning, and Well-Being

Brain Sciences January 24, 2025 Marco Barbaresi, Davide Nardo, Sabrina Fagioli

Background: The human sensorimotor system can naturally synchronize with environmental rhythms, such as light pulses or sound beats. Several studies showed that different styles and tempos of music, or other rhythmic stimuli, have an impact on physiological rhythms, including electrocortical brain activity, heart rate, and motor coordination. Such synchronization, also known as the “entrainment...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci15010003 Full text Neural entrainment Rhythmic entrainment EEG Embodied cognition +1

Ketamine Reduces Avoidance Responses During Re-Exposition to Aversive Stimulus: Comparison Between (S)-Isomer and Racemic Mixture.

Brain Sciences December 22, 2024 Clarissa A Moura, Anne N de Sousa-Silva, Ana Lívia Mesquita Soares et al. 1 citation

Recent studies have investigated the effects of ketamine on fear memory in animals. However, it is unclear if ketamine might affect avoidance memory and emotional behaviors concomitantly. In this study, we compared the effects of (R,S)- and (S)-ketamine in modulating avoidance responses, depression- and anxiety-related behaviors in stressed mice. Mice were previously exposed to inescapable...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14121291 Full text Animal model Aversive memory Mouse Ketamine therapy +4

Meditation-Induced Self-Boundary Flexibility and Prosociality: A MEG and Behavioral Measures Study.

Brain Sciences November 26, 2024 Yoav Schweitzer, Fynn-Mathis Trautwein, Yair Dor-Ziderman et al. 7 citations

In the last decade, empirical studies on the beneficial effects of meditation on prosocial capacities have accumulated, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Buddhist sources state that liberating oneself from a fixed view of the self by gaining access to its transitory and malleable nature leads to increased compassion and other prosocial traits. These, however, have not yet been...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14121181 Full text Meditation Prosociality Self-boundary sb flexibility

Consciousness and Energy Processing in Neural Systems.

Brain Sciences November 1, 2024 Robert Pepperell 2 citations

Our understanding of the relationship between neural activity and psychological states has advanced greatly in recent decades. But we are still unable to explain conscious experience in terms of physical processes occurring in our brains. This paper introduces a conceptual framework that may contribute to an explanation. All physical processes entail the transfer, transduction, and...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14111112 Full text Biophysics Brain Classical mechanics Complexity +4

Mindfulness-Based Interventions for People with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Literature Review.

Brain Sciences September 30, 2024 Luca Simione, Alessandro Frolli, Francesca Sciattella et al. 22 citations

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have emerged in recent years as a strong candidate for the treatment of a range of difficulties faced by individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including cognitive, emotional, and social aspects. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a review that systematically examined the efficacy of MBIs for individuals with ASD and their caregivers. This systematic...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14101001 Full text Meditation Asd Autism spectrum disorder Mental health +1

Does Cognitive Load Affect Measures of Consciousness?

Brain Sciences September 13, 2024 André Sevenius Nilsen, Johan Frederik Storm, Bjørn Erik Juel

Developing and testing methods for reliably measuring the state of consciousness of individuals is important for both basic research and clinical purposes. In recent years, several promising measures of consciousness, grounded in theoretical developments, have been proposed. However, the degrees to which these measures are affected by changes in brain activity that are not related to changes in...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14090919 Full text Attention Consciousness Electroencephalography Event-related potential +2

Classifying Unconscious, Psychedelic, and Neuropsychiatric Brain States with Functional Connectivity, Graph Theory, and Cortical Gradient Analysis.

Brain Sciences August 30, 2024 Hyunwoo Jang, Rui Dai, George A. Mashour et al.

Accurate and generalizable classification of brain states is essential for understanding their neural underpinnings and improving clinical diagnostics. Traditionally, functional connectivity patterns and graph-theoretic metrics have been utilized. However, cortical gradient features, which reflect global brain organization, offer a complementary approach. We hypothesized that a machine learning...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14090880 Full text Anesthesia Cortical gradient Functional connectivity Graph theory +6

Nicotine's Effects on Schizophrenia-like Symptoms in a Mice Model: Time Matters.

Brain Sciences August 25, 2024 Ana Carolina Dutra-Tavares, Luciana Araújo Couto, Thainá P Souza et al.

Tobacco consumption in schizophrenia (SCHZ) patients is highly prevalent. Data support the occurrence of sequential events during comorbidity establishment, and both smoking first, SCHZ second and SCHZ first, smoking second sequences have been proposed. To investigate whether these two possibilities lead to distinct outcomes of comorbidity, we used a phencyclidine-induced SCHZ model and...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14090855 Full text E-cigarette Nmda receptor antagonism Comorbidity Positive symptoms +4

Comparison between Single-Dose and Two-Dose Psilocybin Administration in the Treatment of Major Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Current Clinical Trials

Brain Sciences August 18, 2024 Gianmarco Salvetti, Daniele Saccenti, Andrea Stefano Moro et al. 16 citations

Current pharmacological treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD) are often only partially effective, with many patients experiencing no significant benefit, leading to treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Psilocybin, a classical serotonergic psychedelic, has emerged as a notable emerging treatment for such disorders. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to summarize and...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14080829 Mdd Major depressive disorder Treatment-resistant depression Mental health treatment +6

The Dream Experience and Its Relationship with Morning Mood in Adolescents Hospitalized after a Suicide Attempt

Brain Sciences August 10, 2024 Emma Desjardins, Lina Gaber, Emily Larkin et al. 2 citations

Suicidality in adolescents has been associated with emotional distress, stressful life events, relationship issues, and nightmares to name a few. This study explored the actual dream content and the mood at pre-sleep, during a reported dream, and in the morning in 33 adolescents admitted to the hospital on account of a suicide attempt. In all aspects, hospitalized adolescents were compared to...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14080804 Nightmare Dream Clinical psychology Content measure theory +8

An Unavoidable Mind-Set Reversal: Consciousness in Vision Science.

Brain Sciences July 22, 2024 Liliana Albertazzi 1 citation

In recent decades, the debate on consciousness has been conditioned by the idea of bottom-up emergence, which has influenced scientific research and raised a few obstacles to any attempt to bridge the explanatory gap. The analysis and explanation of vision conducted according to the accredited methodologies of scientific research in terms of physical stimuli, objectivity, methods, and...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14070735 Full text Consciousness Experimental phenomenology First person account Self-referentiality +1

Impact of Pre-Sleep Visual Media Exposure on Dreams: A Scoping Review

Brain Sciences June 29, 2024 Ajar Diushekeeva, Santiago Hidalgo, Antonio Zadra 4 citations

A body of experimental research has aimed to investigate processes underlying dream formation by examining the effects of a range of pre-sleep stimuli and events on subsequent dream content. Given its ever-growing presence and salience in people's everyday lives, pre-sleep media consumption stands out as a key variable that could influence people's dreams. We conducted a scoping review to...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14070662 Visual media Sleep system call Audiology Cognitive psychology +1

Have I Been Touched? Subjective and Objective Aspects of Tactile Awareness.

Brain Sciences June 27, 2024 Emanuele Cirillo, Claudio Zavattaro, Roberto Gammeri et al. 5 citations

Somatosensory tactile experience is a key aspect of our interaction with the environment. It is involved in object manipulation, in the planning and control of actions and, in its affective components, in the relationships with other individuals. It is also a foundational component of body awareness. An intriguing aspect of sensory perception in general and tactile perception in particular is...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14070653 Full text Body integrity disphoria Embodiment Mirror box illusion Rubber hand illusion +5

The Persistent Paradox of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep (REMS): Brain Waves and Dreaming.

Brain Sciences June 21, 2024 J F Pagel 4 citations

The original conceptualization of REM sleep as paradoxical sleep was based on its EEG resembling wakefulness and its association with dreaming. Over time, the concept of paradox was expanded to include various associations with REM sleep, such as dream exclusivity, high recall, and pathophysiology. However, none of these associations are unique to REM sleep; they can also occur in other sleep...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14070622 Full text Dream content Dream recall Bizarreness Brain waves +11

Quantitative-Qualitative Assessment of Dream Reports in Schizophrenia and Their Correlations with Illness Severity.

Brain Sciences June 3, 2024 Gianluca Ficca, Oreste De Rosa, Davide Giangrande et al. 1 citation

Positive symptoms of schizophrenia have been proposed to be an intrusion of dreaming in wakefulness; conversely, psychotic patients' abnormal cognitive and behavioral features could overflow into sleep, so that their dreams would differ from those of healthy people. Here we assess this hypothesis by comparing dream features of 46 patients affected by schizophrenic spectrum disorders to those of...

DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14060568 Full text Dreams Emotion regulation Schizophrenia

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