Open MIND
2026
Julia Almikeeva
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 MIND
2026
Clifton Bacon
This registration is the confirmatory analysis plan and full protocol for The Silence Experiment, a multi-participant Phase 0 investigation of whether specific, EEG-verified states of consciousness can systematically modulate the decoherence time (T₂) of a shielded room-temperature NV-center diamond quantum sensor. The protocol is documented in three companion Zenodo papers: The Silence...
Open MIND
2026
Mayank Singh
This thesis presents a comprehensive philosophical inquiry into the structure of human consciousness, focusing on the role of conditioning, ego, and psychological division in generating conflict at both individual and societal levels. Drawing on phenomenological analysis and engaging with major philosophical traditions, the study examines how thought, memory, and language construct a sense of...
Open MIND
2026
Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad
This book explores the profound interplay between mysticism and enlightenment across different cultural traditions, delving into the universal pursuit of spiritual tranquility. Through a comparative analysis, Prof. Dr. Yoesoep Edhie Rachmad, Ph.D., DBA, examines how mystical experiences and enlightened states of consciousness manifest within various religious and philosophical frameworks. By...
Open MIND
2026
Timothy Speed
This project develops an operator-based research program on consciousness, focusing on the conditions under which conscious processes emerge as forms of world-binding rather than internal representation. In contrast to dominant approaches in philosophy of mind and cognitive science, consciousness is not treated here as a set of subjective states, neural correlates, or informational processes....
Open MIND
2026
Ellen Sallis, Thorsten Barnhofer, Daniel Milburn et al.
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...
Open MIND
2026
Oakley 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...
Open MIND
2026
Bianca Avanzo
Updates and more info: www.avanzorft.comContemporary science continues to face a fundamental difficulty in explaining how conscious experience remains coherent across time. Most existing approaches focus either on neural mechanisms or on phenomenological description, leaving open how physical constraints, biological regulation, neural dynamics, and meaning‑making processes jointly sustain a...
Open MIND
2026
Lukas Moebus
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 MIND
2026
Thyagarajan Shivashanmugam, Anish Mehta
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...
Open MIND
2026
Maxwell Ruckstuhl
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...
Open MIND
2026
Léandre Sabourin
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...
Open MIND
2026
Fatema Shabbir
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...
Open MIND
2026
Kat Poteet
The psychedelic clinical research field has seen rapid growth in recent years, yet methodological frameworks remain fragmented, often focusing narrowly on pharmacology or subjectove self-report outcomes. The PRISM framework- Psychological Readiness, Regulatory & Ethical Safeguards, In-session Behavior Monitoring, Sense-making & Integration, and Meaningful Behavior Change- offers a translational...
Open MIND
2026
Sarah 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...
Open MIND
2026
Amin Nazmuddin Mohammadi, Christine Wekerle
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a prevalent and chronic psychiatric condition characterized by impaired control over alcohol use, compulsive consumption, and high rates of relapse (Grant et al., 2015; Kurihara, 2023). Despite the availability of pharmacological and psychosocial interventions, treatment outcomes remain suboptimal, with substantial rates of non-response and relapse (Lohoff, 2022;...
Open MIND
2026
Alexi Mary Theofanous
Recent research into psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy has largely emphasised pharmacological mechanism such as neuroplasticity and symptom reduction, with less attention to the relational processes through which therapeutic change is supported and integrated. Given that such experiences are central to therapeutic change, this introduces a significant limitation: variability in therapist...
Open MIND
2026
By Student
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,...
Open MIND
2026
Katarzyna Korsak, Daniel Pankowski, Paweł Holas
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...
Open MIND
2026
Sophia Fowler
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...
Open MIND
November 19, 2025
Samantha Wang, Paul McKee, Sizhe Chen et al.
In this project, we will analyze dream reports and mental health measures from a cross-cultural survey conducted in the United States and Argentina. Participants provided free-text dream reports, responses to nightmare and dream-related items (e.g., nightmare frequency, dream intensity, emotional tone), and completed standardized mental health questionnaires: the Patient Health Questionnaire...
Open MIND
November 17, 2025
Dimitri Daldegan-Bueno, Suresh Muthukumaraswamy, Alana Cavadino
The analyses described in this SAP will assess the efficacy and safety of LSD (MB-22001) in comparison with active placebo (caffeine). The analysis described cover those for the primary, secondary and safety endpoints described in the Protocol.
Open MIND
July 22, 2025
Dion Fryson
How does one investigate the observer using the tools of observation? This question cuts to the heart of an enduring epistemological challenge: the phenomena we most urgently need to comprehend—consciousness, subjective experience, the texture of reality itself—persistently evade direct empirical scrutiny. Traditional positivist methodologies assume that valid knowledge must be observable,...
Open MIND
2025
Veena Kumari, Satyam Chauhan, Emmanuelle Peters
There is increased recognition of a need to better understand and explain non-ordinary experiences and spirituality at different levels and consider their potential implications and applications for improving mental health. An important question in this context is: Do individuals who report psychotic-like experiences (e.g., hear voices), but do not find them distressing and do not have a...
Open MIND
2025
Syu Jia WUN
This study addresses the phenomenological impasse of traditional clinical psychology and psychiatry, which chronically reduces internal friction (psychic attrition), depression, and bipolar disorder to mere biochemical imbalances or trauma syndromes. We propose a paradigm-shifting Unified Hypothesis of Psychological Thermodynamics. This paper discards the ambiguous rhetoric of classical...