Biological PsychologyJuly 9, 2026Nattanon Bunrodchu, Ekkasit Kumarnsit, Wan Khairunizam Wan Ahmad et al.
Long-term cannabis use can result in the development of cannabis use disorder (CUD) and dependence via the endocannabinoid system pathway. A brain network that has been consistently linked to various stages of addiction and various substances is the default mode network (DMN). By comparing EEG features between cannabis users and healthy participants, this study sought to identify EEG-based...
Functional neuroimaging studies consistently show that episodic recollection engages the default mode network (DMN), yet the extent to which this engagement varies with the representational content of retrieved information remains unclear. The present meta-analysis examined whether recollection of verbal and visual materials differentially recruits the DMN. Twenty-four verbal and 19 visual...
Depression constitutes a major global public health burden, with university students exhibiting a disproportionately high prevalence of depressive symptoms. Although Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has demonstrated efficacy in alleviating depressive symptomatology, its underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain incompletely understood. This randomized controlled trial investigated...
This study investigated the bioelectric brain activity associated with Zen meditation in an ecologically valid monastic setting, comparing experienced Zen practitioners with non-meditating controls. The experimental group consisted of Vietnamese monks from Truc Lam Tay Thien and Truc Lam Thuong Chieu monasteries, while the control group comprised non-practitioners. EEG data were collected using...
Biological PsychologySeptember 1, 2025Norden E. Huang, Wei-Shuai Yuan, Albert C Yang et al.
Consciousness remains a multifaceted phenomenon that is difficult to be measured by traditional quantification methods. Here we propose the intrinsic probability density function (iPDF) as a quantitative method to evaluate the dynamic inter-cortical interactions that underlie conscious states. First, the method utilizes empirical mode decomposition to derive intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) from...
When evaluating the effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on the stress response, several aspects should be considered, such as (1) effects on various response systems, (2) temporal dynamics of the stress response, and (3) differences between programs. This study assesses the stress-attenuating effects of a standard mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and a second-generation...
Breathing is peculiar among autonomic functions through several characteristics. It generates a very rich afferent traffic from an array of structures belonging to the respiratory system to various areas of the brain. It is intimately associated with bodily movements. It bears particular relationships with consciousness as its efferent motor control can be automatic or voluntary. In this review...
The present study examined the differences in frontal EEG asymmetry during emotion regulation between participants who had different levels of trait mindfulness. EEG recordings were taken from 23 high mindfulness adolescents (Mage = 12.34) and 22 low mindfulness adolescents (Mage = 12.53) during the Reactivity and Regulation-Image Task. The results showed that (1) high mindfulness adolescents...
It has been demonstrated, in a long line of research, that the low-activity genotype of the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene is associated with aggression. Previous work has linked impaired response inhibition to aggression, but little is known about how this relates to the purported MAOA-aggression relationship in adolescents. Here, we examined how MAOA genotype influences neural correlates of...
Meditation, as taught by most schools of practice, consists of a set of heterogeneous techniques. We wanted to assess if EEG profiles varied across different meditation techniques, proficiency levels and experience of the practitioners. We examined EEG dynamics in Vipassana meditators (Novice, Senior meditators and Teachers) while they engaged in their traditional meditation practice...
Biological PsychologySeptember 2016Christophe E De Bézenac, Vanessa Sluming, André Gouws et al.
In normal circumstances we can easily distinguish between changes to the external world brought about by our own actions from those with external causes. However, in certain contexts our sense of ownership and agency over acts is not so clear. Neuroimaging studies have implicated a number of regions in the sense of agency, some of which have been shown to vary continuously with action-outcome...
Mindful self-awareness is central to mindfulness meditation and plays a key role in its salutary effects. It has been related to decreased activation in cortical midline structures (CMS) and amygdala, and increased activation in somatosensory regions. However, findings in untrained individuals are contradictory, and scarce in experienced meditators. Using fMRI, we investigated experienced...
The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between chronic cannabis use and visual selective attention by examining event-related potentials (ERPs) during the performance of a flanker go/nogo task. Male participants were 15 chronic cannabis users (minimum two years use, at least once per week) and 15 drug naive controls. Cannabis users showed longer reaction times compared to...
Although a growing body of research indicates that frequent nightmares are related to impaired sleep regulation, the pathophysiology of nightmare disorder is far from being fully understood. We examined the relative spectral power values for NREM and REM sleep separately in 19 individuals with nightmare disorder and 21 healthy controls, based on polysomnographic recordings of the second nights'...
Mental training techniques rooted in meditation are associated with attention improvement, increased activation and cortical thickening of attention/executive-related brain areas. Interestingly, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with behavioural deficits, hypo-activation and cortical thinning of similar networks. This study assessed the relationship between prior...
Automatic intuitions and deliberate reasoning, sourcing internal representations of our personal norms and values, contribute to our beliefs of what is right and wrong. We used fMRI to directly compare moral (M) and non-moral (NM) decision-making processes using scenarios requiring conscious deliberation, whereby the main character declared an intention to take a course of action. Furthermore,...
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), cognitive style, and the temporal dynamics of frontal EEG alpha asymmetry in recurrently depressed patients.
Given the cognitive-promoting properties of the nicotinic acetylcholinergic receptor (nAChR) agonist, nicotine, the increased prevalence of smoke-inhaled nicotine in schizophrenia has been interpreted as an attempt to self-correct cognitive deficits, which have been particularly pronounced in the attentional domain. As glutamatergic abnormalities have been implicated in these attentional...
Biological PsychologyMay 1, 2011Sarah Laxhmi Chellappa, Sylvia Frey, Vera Knoblauch et al.
Dreaming pertains to both REM and NREM sleep. However, frequency and regional specific differences in EEG activity remains controversial. We investigated NREM and REM sleep EEG power density associated with and without dream recall in 17 young subjects during a 40-h multiple nap protocol under constant routine conditions. NREM sleep was associated with lower EEG power density for dream recall...
This paper reviews the evidence for changes of Meditation on body and brain physiology and for clinical effectiveness in disorders of psychiatry. The aim of Meditation is to reduce or eliminate irrelevant thought processes through training of internalised attention, thought to lead to physical and mental relaxation, stress reduction, psycho-emotional stability and enhanced concentration....
Long-term meditating subjects report that transcendental experiences (TE), which first occurred during their Transcendental Meditation (TM) practice, now subjectively co-exist with waking and sleeping states. To investigate neurophysiological correlates of this integrated state, we recorded EEG in these subjects and in two comparison groups during simple and choice contingent negative variation...
This study investigated effects of transcendent experiences on contingent negative variation (CNV) amplitude, CNV rebound, and distraction effects. Three groups of age-matched subjects with few (<1 per year), more frequent (10-20 per year), or daily self-reported transcendent experiences received 31 simple RT trials (flash (S(1))/tone (S(2))/button press) followed by 31 divided-attention trials...
To determine whether a period of meditation could influence melatonin levels, two groups of meditators were tested in a repeated measures design for changes in plasma melatonin levels at midnight. Experienced meditators practising either TM-Sidhi or another internationally well known form of yoga showed significantly higher plasma melatonin levels in the period immediately following meditation...
The relations between three hormones of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis, beta-endorphin (beta-EP), corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and cortisol, and mood change were examined in 11 elite runners and 12 highly trained mediators matched in age, sex, and personality. Despite metabolic differences between running and meditation, we predicted that mood change after these...
During lucid dreaming, a subject willed movements of his fingers, toes and feet, remembered tasks, and counted sensory stimuli. Dreamed speech was related to respiration. EMG activity corresponding to dreamed actions was greater in flexor than in extensor limb muscles and was never present in axial muscles.