Both *Ceremony* and *Storyteller* serve as important written works that demonstrate the relationship between medicine ritual in the work of healing and harm for the Laguna Pueblo people. Author Leslie Marmon Silko demonstrates the symbiotic relationship between these two elements while creating parallels to time immemorial and the present. This paper seeks to analyze the presence and connection...
What physical process underlies the transition between unconscious and conscious brain states? Indicators such as the Perturbational Complexity Index (PCI) can track consciousness level with clinical reliability, yet the mechanism that generates conscious experience remains unspecified. We develop a framework—the Boundary Process Hypothesis (BPH)—built on a single empirically risky conjecture:...
Abstract: Standard debates about death presuppose a binary: consciousness either survives bodily death or it doesn't. For physicalism, the question barely arises—consciousness is identified with the brain, so extinction follows necessarily. The interesting problem is that consciousness-first metaphysics does not simply flip the binary. It transforms what the question means—and thereby renders...
This paper proposes identity fusion as attention collapse: when consciousness narrows completely onto single aspects of experience (diagnostic labels, professional roles, parental identity, recovery status, spiritual attainment), that aspect becomes experientially totalizing regardless of cultural valuation. The framework emerged through systematic phenomenological observation, documenting...
Open MindMarch 5, 2026Evangelos-Konstantinos Georgantas
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Computational Neuropsychiatry Model of Psychosis via Tonic–Phasic Dopamine Biregulation This work introduces a computational psychiatry framework describing psychosis as a dynamical instability in dopaminergic regulation. The model formalizes the interaction between tonic dopamine baseline, phasic dopamine responses to environmental stimuli, and attentional reinforcement within a closed...
An experimental research design has been selected for this research study. The research design will assist in addressing the research aims and questions because it will give us the data to assess a causal relationship. Participants will be recruited via the School of Psychology’s research participation system (SONA) and contacted via email. Prior to the study, participants will be asked for...
Open MindFebruary 22, 2026Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad
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The twenty-first century has produced a paradox unprecedented in human history: never before has humanity been so hyperconnected, yet never before has it experienced such widespread existential fragmentation. Digital networks collapse geographic distance, algorithmic systems personalize information flows, and virtual environments simulate immersive realities. Yet amid this technological...
Open MindFebruary 19, 2026Seyed Morteza Moossavi
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ABSTRACT This article explores the profound continuity and transformation of Iranian art as a medium of metaphysical vision. Beginning with Zoroastrian fire symbolism and its emphasis on cosmic illumination, Iranian art evolved through successive cultural encounters, preserving ancient motifs while integrating new philosophical and spiritual frameworks. Persian painting, as Basil Gray observed,...
Open MindFebruary 14, 2026Black Heart Jitendraz
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This technical report proposes a hypothesis-grade framework modeling the interaction between rational cognition (L), affective-emotional dynamics (E), and awareness modulation (A) within a unified dynamic systems structure. The framework is grounded in established affective and cognitive neuroscience, particularly prefrontal–limbic circuit interactions, and formalizes these dynamics through a...
Open MindFebruary 13, 2026John Moriarty, Alan Robert Bowman, Alison Pocock
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Psychedelics are psychoactive substances that alter one's perception, cognition and emotion, as well as one's sense of time, place and self (Nutt, 2023, p.19). Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) involves the carefully controlled administration of a psychedelic substance "alongside structured psychological support, including preparation, guidance during the psychedelic session, and post-session...
The brain shifts frequently between distinct regimes of neural activity with associated electrophysiological and behavioral features. These many brain states have different functions and subserve different goals of the animal. No understanding of the brain can be complete without characterization of its states, of how they are affected by disorders of the brain, and of how treatments are...
Les psychédéliques classiques sont des substances connaissant un regain d’intérêt dans la recherche depuis le début du 21e siècle. En contexte clinique et naturaliste (récréatif ou à des fins de rituel), plusieurs études ont démontré que l’utilisation de ces substances pouvait contribuer à la réduction de la consommation d’alcool problématique. La présente étude vise à mieux comprendre les...
This research explores the intersection of cognitive psychology and immunology, specifically investigating how mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) influences systemic inflammation markers. While clinical evidence shows that psychological stress and trauma (including childhood experiences) can trigger inflammatory responses without external pathogens, this study examines MBT as a strategic...
Open Mind2026Sarah Nicole Horne, Anne M. Cleary, Joshua Prasad et al.
Around two decades ago, cognitive psychologists began empirically studying déjà vu—the odd sensation that one is re-experiencing something from the past while being certain of the situation's novelty. Prior work, investigating déjà vu's subjective phenomenology by soliciting retrospective reports in a survey, uncovered déjà vu was relatively positive in its emotionality, and involved language...
The clinical use of psychedelic substances and Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (PAT) is an area of growing interest that also raises significant social concerns and controversy. Despite existing legal restrictions, empirical research on substances such as psilocybin, mescaline, MDMA, LSD, DMT, and ibogaine has been developing, particularly in the treatment of conditions such as treatment-resistant...
Background: Rapid demographic aging necessitates innovative solutions to promote well-being in later life. Programs incorporating mindfulness and nature are promising options. Furthermore, immersive virtual reality (VR) can recreate natural environments and guide on-screen mindfulness practice, potentially improving access for older adults with mobility, sensory, or cognitive constraints that...
Research to date has focused largely on mindfulness-based interventions as whole treatment packages, with relatively little exploration of the specific mindfulness practices that comprise them. Understanding the effects of individual practices could offer insight into why mindfulness-based interventions work for some but not others and help identify and mitigate any adverse effects. This is in...
This study examines the immediate neurophysiological and psychological effects of a five-minute guided breathing meditation compared to a matched five-minute educational podcast as an active control. Using a wireless 14-channel EEG system (Emotiv EPOC X) in a randomized within-subject crossover design, we aim to (1) test whether brief meditation induces a distinct neurophysiological state that...
Open Mind2026Oakley Charlotte Author, MacKenzie Matthew Advisor, Kasser Jeff Committee Member et al.
There has been a recent resurgence of both cultural and scientific interest in altered states of consciousness. Among the most puzzling and widely reported are mystical experiences—anomalous events where one’s ordinary sense of self is replaced by an overwhelming and transcendent feeling of connectedness or unity. These ‘unitive’ mystical experiences challenge many of our common intuitions...
This project presents a unified, multimodal framework for understanding near-death experiences (NDEs) as structured transformations of the human world-model under extreme physiological stress. Drawing on neuroscience, cognitive psychology, phenomenology, and developmental research, the paper interprets core NDE features—such as tunnel vision, out-of-body experiences, altered time perception,...
We are conducting a conceptual replication study of a recent study at Heidelberg University (Schültke et al., 2024). The aim of the study is to examine the effects of dyadic compassion meditation on heart rate variability (HRV), affect, and social closeness in friendships, to expand the evidence base for the use of dyadic meditation in therapy and in non-clinical contexts. The sample consists...
Emerging adults who engage in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI; deliberate destruction of one’s own body tissue, without suicidal intent) report unique interpersonal difficulties. A significant portion report engaging in NSSI for interpersonal reasons (e.g., communicating distress). Relatedly, individuals who engage in NSSI report heightened sensitivity to social stressors, rejection sensitivity,...
Dream experiences may play a critical role in sleep quality, yet limited research has examined how the emotional tone (valence) of dreams influences sleep stability and recovery. This study investigates the relationship between dream valence, emotional intensity, and subjective sleep quality in university students. Using a correlational design, participants (N = 150) will complete self-report...
This research project presents a six-year autoethnographic case study examining recurrent sleep paralysis through the lens of lived experience. While sleep paralysis is commonly explained through neurophysiological mechanisms—particularly REM atonia intrusion—there remains a significant gap in qualitative literature capturing how the condition is experienced subjectively over time. The purpose...
This component develops a constraint-based framework for the empirical specification of tranquil states in meditation research. The manuscript proposes that tranquil states are characterized by the co-attenuation of default mode network activity and salience-network baseline drive, while distinguishing this configuration from broader trait effects, altered states, or generalized reductions in...