Open MIND
January 1, 2026
Julia Almikeeva
Mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) can reduce systemic inflammation, as measured by C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, by linking neurological functions like dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity with immune signals. An experiment with 200 participants tested MBT as an intervention for inflammation triggered by psychological stress and trauma. The findings suggest that mental regulation through mindfulness practice lowers cognitive load and improves physical health, providing evidence that psychological interventions can influence physiological resilience without targeting external pathogens.
Open MIND
January 1, 2026
Claudio Fuentes Bravo
This project provides supplementary materials for a forthcoming article on force dynamics in dream narratives. It includes a system prompt for automated annotation of Force Dynamics patterns based on Talmy's framework, eight few-shot examples from a manually annotated corpus of 25 pandemic-era dream reports, and Python code for the annotation pipeline using the Anthropic API. The annotation scheme identifies five semantic fields, three normativity types, force balance outcomes, and emotional valence per minimal scene. Applied to 524 dreams from DreamBank across 7 series, the pipeline achieved 79% coverage of dreams with identifiable FD patterns and 79.2% prevalence of AGO<ANT configurations. Inter-rater reliability on the primary corpus was κ = 0.82.
Open MIND
January 1, 2026
Léandre Sabourin
Classic psychedelics are substances experiencing renewed research interest since the early 21st century. In clinical and naturalistic (recreational or ritual) contexts, several studies have shown that using these substances can contribute to reducing problematic alcohol consumption. This study aims to better understand the psychological mechanisms and changes in attitudes and perceptions related to alcohol. Fifteen participants from the general population, who generally do not have alcohol use disorders, were recruited through a community organization in Montreal and via social networks to conduct semi-structured interviews and better understand how psychedelic use influenced their attitudes and perceptions toward alcohol, as well as...
Open MIND
January 1, 2026
Maxwell Ruckstuhl
The brain frequently shifts between distinct regimes of neural activity, each with different functions and behavioral features. Understanding these brain states is essential for comprehending how disorders affect the brain and how treatments are modulated by them. REM sleep contains substates that are distinct in eye movement but continuous in single-neuron and coordinated activity. Ketamine's effect on spiking and local field potential in cortex varies depending on a wake substate defined by high electromyographic activity. These findings have potential implications for treating depression and for analyzing multimodal brain data.
Open MIND
January 1, 2026
Hui Fan
This scoping review maps neurobiological evidence for psychological and pharmacologically-assisted PTSD interventions published between 2020 and 2025. Using the triple-network model (default mode, salience, and central executive networks), the review synthesizes findings across cognitive behavioral/exposure therapies, somatic/mindfulness-based approaches, imagery rescripting, EMDR, and MDMA-assisted and ketamine-assisted psychotherapy. A mechanism-based classification is developed based on each intervention's primary network target and dominant pathway of effect, such as top-down regulation, bottom-up modulation, or multi-network integration. The review is conducted within a participatory framework involving researchers with lived trauma experience in data interpretation and validation of ecological validity.
Open MIND
January 1, 2026
Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad
This book examines the interplay between mysticism and enlightenment across diverse cultural traditions, arguing that the universal pursuit of spiritual tranquility manifests through shared aspirations and unique methodologies. Drawing on Sufi, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, and indigenous practices, it explores mystical experiences as direct encounters with the divine or ultimate reality and enlightenment as the realization of higher wisdom and liberation. The work identifies principles such as inner detachment, self-surrender, mindfulness, and moral discipline as governing spiritual peace, and correlates indicators like deepened awareness, moral refinement, altruism, and divine connection with enlightenment across traditions. It suggests practical approaches including interfaith dialogue, spiritual retreats, and contemplative education to integrate mystical wisdom into modern life, reaffirming the universal human capacity for transcendence and the significance of interfaith appreciation in cultivating global harmony.
Open MIND
January 1, 2026
Kat Poteet
The psychedelic clinical research field has grown rapidly, but its methods are often fragmented, focusing narrowly on pharmacology or subjective self-reports. The PRISM framework—Psychological Readiness, Regulatory & Ethical Safeguards, In-session Behavior Monitoring, Sense-making & Integration, and Meaningful Behavior Change—provides a translational approach that integrates behavioral science, ethical protocol design, and real-world functional outcomes to improve safety, data integrity, and therapeutic relevance in psychedelic trials.
Open MIND
July 22, 2025
Dion Fryson
Investigating the observer with the tools of observation presents a fundamental epistemological challenge, as consciousness and subjective experience resist direct empirical scrutiny. Traditional positivist methods, which require observability and measurability, fail when applied to the inner substrate of experience that makes observation possible. This paper introduces 'Trusting Reality Through Proxy,' a framework that neither dismisses subjective phenomena nor forces them into unsuitable empirical categories. It offers structured indirect methods for building reliable understanding, drawing from cognitive science, consciousness studies, and pragmatic epistemology. The framework addresses how to construct systematic knowledge about experiences existing primarily in subjective consciousness, at the boundaries of current observational capabilities, or in the dynamic interplay between minds.
Open MIND
January 1, 2025
Syu Jia WUN
Human consciousness is modeled as a topological structure emerging from an absolute vacuum, not as a sacred entity. Chronic suppression of innate psychological modules (aggression, selfishness, chaos) creates internal opposition that violates the Principle of Least Action, causing a surge in psychic entropy. Major depressive disorder is described as gravitational collapse into a black hole of meaning, where the system exhausts free energy. Bipolar disorder is an uncontrolled slingshot effect from supercharged combustion. The proposed cure is the Holistic Acceptance and Zeroing Protocol, requiring ontological courage to face death and undergo ego death (weak interaction decay), returning consciousness to the absolute vacuum to reverse entropy and achieve fluid integration.
Open MIND
January 1, 2025
Zhu, Xudong
No Summary
Open MIND
April 23, 2018
John Makeham
The origin of moral badness is a central problem in New Confucian philosopher Xiong Shili's 1959 work Explaining the Mind. Xiong argues that Buddhists never addressed the origin of ignorance and delusion, which cause suffering and wrongdoing, and he attempts to remedy this. The essay shows that Xiong's conceptual structure for explaining badness through nature (xing) and mind (xin) is isomorphic with that of Zhu Xi, a Song dynasty Confucian. This isomorphism suggests Xiong consciously drew on Zhu Xi and the Buddhist models that Zhu used. Evidence demonstrates that even late in life, despite his criticisms of Buddhism, Xiong continued to rely on Buddhist philosophy of mind.
Open MIND
January 1, 2015
Jonathan Cachat, Chris Collins, Evan J. Kyzar et al.
Three-dimensional reconstructions of zebrafish swimming paths enable both macro- and micro-level analysis of behavior, offering a more complete picture than traditional 2D traces. Temporal 3D reconstructions plot spatial data across time to reflect activity over testing, while spatial 3D reconstructions use two cameras to depict activity within the actual arena. These reconstructions are highly sensitive to anxiolytic, anxiogenic, and hallucinogenic effects in adult zebrafish. For example, ibogaine reversed natural behaviors, a characterization impossible without 3D reconstructions. Track3D, applied for the first time in adult zebrafish, showed strong significant correlation (R>0.07) of automated endpoints with manual data, providing precise calculation of movement parameters and accurate spatiotemporal integration. These approaches permit advanced movement pattern analysis for screening psychoactive compounds.
Open MIND
October 1, 2012
Thomas John Mcconochie
Many sinologists have labeled Zhuangzi's writings as mystical, but they do so without engaging the scholarly literature on mysticism. This analysis examines three specific passages from the Zhuangzi—the "riding the wind" section, the "Ziqi" dialogue, and the "sitting and forgetting" dialogue—to provide an explicit hermeneutic for understanding mysticism in the text. The proposed hermeneutic holds that mystical experiences transcend ego and sensory perception through esoteric practices involving ecstasy, leading the practitioner to experience what they consider the true nature of reality. The ecstatic experience of the egoless state itself is more central to mystical experience than unity with a divine other, which is absent from two of the three passages analyzed.
Open MIND
January 1, 2011
Joshua A Grant
Pain is a multidimensional experience with sensory, emotional, and cognitive aspects that can be modulated by psychological factors or cognitive interventions. Eastern tradition suggests meditation may have analgesic effects, but few studies have tested this. This thesis examined the analgesic mechanisms of meditation through three studies. A psychophysical study found that Zen meditation practitioners showed lower pain sensitivity, atypical attentional responses to pain, and reduced pain perception associated with meditation training compared to controls.
Open MIND
January 1, 2003
Jonathan Freedlander
Ibogaine, a naturally occurring compound, is being studied for treating addictions to opiates, cocaine, alcohol, and nicotine, as current therapies show limited effectiveness. This paper reviews research on ibogaine's history, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, toxicology, and therapeutic effectiveness for substance use disorders.