Behavioral Sciences - The Consciousness Library

The Combined Effect of Mindfulness and Physical Activity on Stress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Behavioral Sciences September 11, 2026 Cong Liu, Wenfeng Tan, Yuyan Liu et al.

Background: Interventions combining mindfulness and physical activity are increasingly used for stress management, but their average efficacy and incremental benefit over either component alone remain uncertain. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate combined mindfulness–physical activity interventions for stress or stress-related outcomes relative to passive or general control conditions,...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16091630

Contemplative Practice and Responses to Mortality Salience: Evidence from Long-Term Sufi Meditators

Behavioral Sciences August 26, 2026 Elisa Puvia, Luca Simione, Nima Gholizadeh et al.

Mortality salience research has played a central role in understanding responses to death awareness and existential threat. At the same time, relatively little research has examined whether long-term contemplative practice may shape affective, cognitive, and implicit responses to mortality-related stimuli. The present study investigated these processes in long-term contemplative practitioners...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16081420 Full text Contemplative practice Mortality salience Terror management theory Sufism +2

The Effect of Brief Mindfulness Meditation on Attention Networks in University Students with Problematic Short-Video Use

Behavioral Sciences August 25, 2026 Tingting Liu, Siti Hajar Halili, Norharyanti Mohsin et al.

To examine the effects of brief mindfulness meditation on attention network function in university students with problematic short-video use, participants were screened using the SPAI and an adapted IAT and assigned to an intervention or control group. The intervention group received 4 weeks of brief mindfulness meditation, whereas the control group received no training. Both groups completed...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16091487

Eight-Week Mindfulness Training Effectively Improves Performance in Children with ADHD: A Comparison with Cognitive-Behavioral Training

Behavioral Sciences July 6, 2026 Chenguang Zhao, Yifei Sun, Wei Zhang

Background: This study compared the effects of mindfulness training (MT) and cognitive-behavioral training (CBT) on ADHD symptoms, test anxiety, and self-concept in children with ADHD and explored potential pathways of change associated with the two interventions. Methods: After a two-stage screening and eligibility confirmation procedure, 63 children with ADHD were included in the final...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16071128 Mindfulness Anxiety Psychological intervention Analysis of variance +6

Errors or Adaptations? A Critical Review of Predictive Processing in Psychiatry

Behavioral Sciences July 3, 2026 Matthew Crippen

Predictive processing (PP) accounts often characterize mental illness as maladaptive and epistemically distorting due to mismatches between brain-generated top-down models and bottom-up sensory inputs, with this review identifying exceptions. First, hypervigilance in trauma survivors with PTSD or depression may sustain desirable gaps between anticipated problems and actual harms that would...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16071116 Neurocognitive Normative Hypervigilance Schizophrenia object-oriented programming +9

Ketamine Use in Self-Described Therapeutic Contexts: A Thematic Analysis of Reddit Posts

Behavioral Sciences March 24, 2026 J. Richard Kendrick, Ghonwa Ahmad, Audrey Wood et al.

The use of ketamine for the management of neuropsychiatric conditions outside clinical settings has rapidly expanded, creating a critical need to understand diverse individual experiences. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of posts from the r/TherapeuticKetamine subreddit. From 3302 threads, the 500 highest-engagement threads (12,852 comments) were analyzed by independent coders...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16040480 Ketamine Addiction Thematic analysis Adverse effect +4

Hypnosis as a Mechanism of Emotion Regulation and Self-Integration: An Integrative Review of Neural, Cognitive, and Experiential Pathways to Fundamental Peace

Behavioral Sciences March 9, 2026 Luis Miguel Gallardo, Saamdu Chetri 3 citations

Hypnosis has traditionally been conceptualized as a clinical technique for reducing physiological symptoms (e.g., pain, nausea) and psychological symptoms (e.g., anxiety, intrusive thoughts), yet emerging neuroscientific evidence suggests it operates through the fundamental mechanisms of emotional regulation and self-integration. This integrative review synthesizes research on clinical hypnosis...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16030395 Default mode network Mindfulness Hypnosis Operationalization +14

Baseline Mood and “Relational Triad” Predict Acute Qualities of Psychedelic Experience

Behavioral Sciences February 23, 2026 Joshua Lipson, Hannes Kettner, Robin Carhart-Harris et al.

BACKGROUND: The quality and valence of psychedelic experiences are influenced by a range of psychological and contextual factors. This study examines baseline mood and the "relational triad"-comprising social connectedness, mindfulness, and spirituality-as potential predictors of the quality of naturalistic psychedelic experiences. METHODS: Data were drawn from the Predicting Responses to...

DOI: 10.3390/bs16020310 Anxiety Baseline sea Mood Depression economics +1

Nondual Awareness, Body Boundary Perception, and Creative Attitudes in Japanese University Students Through a Brief Paired Martial Arts Exercise: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Behavioral Sciences November 28, 2025 Arisa Yokosu, Takahiko Maruyama, Hiromitsu Miyata

Mind–body practices such as meditation, yoga, and martial arts have been suggested to enhance flexible self-experience and psychological well-being. However, few studies have examined short-term effects of contemplative bodywork rooted in traditional martial arts on perception of self–other boundaries and relevant psychological states. The present study employed a three-arm randomized...

DOI: 10.3390/bs15121638 Martial arts Creativity Randomized controlled trial Salience neuroscience +4

Mindfulness-Based Art Interventions for Students: A Meta-Analysis Review of the Effect on Anxiety

Behavioral Sciences August 7, 2025 Zhu Zhihui, Lin Xiao, Nor Aniza Ahmad et al. 4 citations

Anxiety has become an important issue affecting students’ mental health. There is some evidence that mindfulness-based art interventions (MBAIs) can reduce students’ anxiety symptoms. However, some studies have shown the opposite view. Therefore, it is necessary to explore whether MBAIs are effective in alleviating students’ anxiety. In this meta-analysis, we chose 17 articles that met the...

DOI: 10.3390/bs15081078 Mindfulness Anxiety Psychological intervention Intervention counseling +5

Investigating the Effectiveness of a Virtual-Reality-Based Mindfulness Intervention on Internet Gaming Disorder

Behavioral Sciences November 27, 2024 Selma Tvrtković, Pınar Ünal‐Aydın 6 citations

Novel treatment approaches for Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) include the use of mindfulness and technology-based interventions. Mindfulness has been shown as a protective factor against IGD, but the treatment dropout rates are high due to long sessions and treatment duration. Pathological gamers show approach bias towards technological gadgets, and the inclusion of Virtual Reality has been...

DOI: 10.3390/bs14121137 Mindfulness Intervention counseling Psychological intervention Clinical psychology +3

Enhancing Subjective Well-Being in Taiwanese University Students Through an Eight-Week Mindfulness-Based Program: A Pilot Study

Behavioral Sciences November 26, 2024 Li-Jen Lin, Su-Ping Yu, Yu-Hsun Lin et al.

While mindfulness has demonstrated extensive benefits across diverse populations, research on its integration as a formal course and its effects on subjective well-being (SWB), particularly among Taiwanese university students, remains limited. This pilot study examined changes in SWB among 85 Taiwanese university students (61 males, 24 females) following an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive...

DOI: 10.3390/bs14110980 Full text Mindfulness Subjective well-being Course

A New Way of Analysing Dreams on Its Profoundest Level: The Development of Motif Analysis and Phase Model (MAP) as an Extension of Structural Dream Analysis (SDA)

Behavioral Sciences August 1, 2024 Patrick Jenni, Christian Rœsler 2 citations

Dream research today assumes that there is a connection between dreams and waking life. However, the structural alteration of dream motifs in connection with the psychotherapeutic process and waking life has not yet been researched extensively. This study depicts the development of the new Motif Analysis and Phase Model (MAP), a dynamic method which allows research on the previous aspects. The...

DOI: 10.3390/bs14080658 Motif music Dream Extension predicate logic Aesthetics +1

How Service Employees’ Mindfulness Links to Task Performance through Psychological Resilience, Deep Acting, and Customer-Oriented Behavior

Behavioral Sciences August 4, 2023 Jeong Sik Kim, Hyun Jung Park 9 citations

This study investigates the specific pathways through which mindfulness influences task performance, focusing on the sequential mediating roles of psychological resilience, customer-oriented behavior, and deep acting. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze data collected from 359 employees in the service industry in Korea. The results confirm that mindfulness has a significant direct...

DOI: 10.3390/bs13080657 Mindfulness Task project management Psychological resilience Resilience materials science +4

Psychotherapy with Psilocybin for Depression: Systematic Review

Behavioral Sciences March 31, 2023 Jonathan Joseph Dawood Hristova, Virtudes Pérez-Jover 39 citations

Depression is a common mental health issue that affects 280 million people in the world with a high mortality rate, as well as being a leading cause of disability. Psychopharmacological therapies with psychedelics, particularly those with psilocybin, are showing promising potential for the treatment of depression, among other conditions. Some of their benefits include a rapid and exponential...

DOI: 10.3390/bs13040297 Psilocybin Psychedelic therapy Psychotherapy Depression treatment +3

Effects of Mind-Body Interventions on Adolescents’ Cooperativeness and Emotional Symptoms

Behavioral Sciences February 24, 2022 Susanna Feruglio, Stefania Pascut, Alessio Matiz et al.

Background: Mind-body interventions may support the development of adolescents’ self-regulation and provide a protective effect against maladaptive outcomes, e.g., internalizing and externalizing problems. The present study aimed at evaluating the effects of mindfulness-oriented meditation training (MOM) and autogenic training (AT) on a group of healthy Italian adolescents’ character...

DOI: 10.3390/bs12020033 Full text Adolescence Mindfulness meditation Autogenic training Character +2

A Telephone-Adapted Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program: Preliminary Effects among Healthcare Employees

Behavioral Sciences October 22, 2021 Lauren A. Zimmaro, Aleeze Moss, Diane K. Reibel et al.

Healthcare employees often experience high stress and may benefit from accessible psychosocial interventions. In this pilot study, we explored preliminary feasibility, acceptability, and psychological effects of a telephone-based adaption of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) for healthcare employees. Eleven participants (M age = 49.9; 27.3% ethnic/racial minority) were enrolled in an...

DOI: 10.3390/bs11100139 Full text Mindfulness-based stress reduction Telephone adaptation Telehealth Healthcare employees +1

Nightmares in Migraine: A Focused Review

Behavioral Sciences September 4, 2021 Parisa Gazerani 4 citations

Nightmares usually occur during the sleep phase of rapid eye movement (REM) and are associated with some physical symptoms, including sweating, shortness of breath, and lower limb movements. Emotions of fear, anger, shame, and sadness may also accompany nightmares. These symptoms can occur during dreaming, upon awakening, or later when the dream experience is recollected. Nightmares may...

DOI: 10.3390/bs11090122 Nightmare Anxiety Migraine Biopsychosocial model +9

Effect of Mindfulness on Empathy and Self-Compassion: An Adapted MBCT Program on Filipino College Students

Behavioral Sciences February 27, 2020 Reginald Paul R. Centeno, Karina Therese G. Fernandez

Attending college is meaningful for many young adults. This period is marked by physical, emotional, and psychological changes that can have both positive and negative effects on college students. The last two decades have seen an alarming increase in the number of college students who suffer from mental health conditions, such as depression, suicide, anxiety, and alcohol abuse. It is...

DOI: 10.3390/bs10030061

Meditation-Induced States, Vagal Tone, and Breathing Activity Are Related to Changes in Auditory Temporal Integration

Behavioral Sciences May 16, 2019 Damisela Linares Gutierrez, Sebastian L. Kübel, Anne Giersch et al.

This study is based on the relationship between meditation, the present moment, and psychophysiology. We employed the metronome task to operationalize the extension of the present moment. A pre-post longitudinal study was conducted. The performance in the metronome task was compared before and after the interventions (meditation, story). The aim was to assess whether physiological changes...

DOI: 10.3390/bs9050051 Full text Mindfulness meditation Heart-rate variability Breathing rate Auditory temporal integration +1

4E Music Pedagogy and the Principles of Self-Organization

Behavioral Sciences August 9, 2018 Andrea Schiavio, Dylan Van der Schyff 79 citations

Recent approaches in the cognitive and psychological sciences conceive of mind as an Embodied, Embedded, Extended, and Enactive (or 4E) phenomenon. While this has stimulated important discussions and debates across a vast array of disciplines, its principles, applications, and explanatory power have not yet been properly addressed in the domain of musical development. Accordingly, it remains...

DOI: 10.3390/bs8080072 Full text 4e cognition Music pedagogy Self-organization Music psychology +1

Validation Study of Italian Version of Inventory for Déjà Vu Experiences Assessment (I-IDEA): A Screening Tool to Detect Déjà Vu Phenomenon in Italian Healthy Individuals

Behavioral Sciences August 7, 2017 Laura Mumoli, Giovanni Tripepi, Umberto Aguglia et al. 4 citations

The Inventory Déjà Vu Experiences Assessment (IDEA) is the only screening instrument proposed to evaluate the Déjà vu (DV) experience. Here, we intended to validate the Italian version of IDEA (I-IDEA) and at the same time to investigate the incidence and subjective qualities of the DV phenomenon in healthy Italian adult individuals on basis of an Italian multicentre observational study. In...

DOI: 10.3390/bs7030050 Déjà vu Phenomenon Paranormal Observational study +5

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