Religion, ideology, and storytelling evolved as adaptive responses to the existential vulnerabilities created by higher-order consciousness, such as awareness of mortality and uncertainty. Shared symbolic systems—from religious cosmologies to political doctrines—function as emotionally salient, neurologically embedded scaffolds that buffer existential anxiety, regulate affect, and enable large-scale cooperation. A formal two-stage account and a Selection for Existential Stabilization (SES) criterion specify that symbolic architectures persist when they reduce existential/narrative instability and scale cooperation over time. The erosion of traditional meaning frameworks in modern secular contexts is linked to rising psychological and sociopolitical instabilities. Meaning is reframed as a recursive, evolutionarily selected capacity to generate coherence and belonging.
Ketamine, known for its illicit recreational use, is an approved treatment for treatment-resistant depression. It works by blocking NMDA receptors, which increases glutamate in mood-regulating brain regions and promotes synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis, counteracting chronic stress effects. Response varies among individuals, influenced by route of administration, dose, delivery rate, past trauma, and genetic predispositions. There is growing interest in combining ketamine with therapies like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Interventions to enhance outcomes.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of seven randomized controlled trials found that mindfulness meditation is associated with significant improvements in pain reduction and quality of life for patients with chronic lower-back pain, compared to standard care. The pooled effect size for pain was large (standardized mean difference −1.01), and for quality of life it was moderate (standardized mean difference −0.57). However, there was no evidence that mindfulness meditation improves physical function, with a negligible effect size (standardized mean difference 0.03). Substantial heterogeneity among studies suggests variations in design and protocols. The authors conclude that mindfulness meditation is more effective than conventional treatments for pain and quality of life but not for physical function.
Interest in mindfulness-based practices for improving health and wellbeing has grown over the last four decades, prompting renewed study of the psychological and neuropsychological mechanisms involved. This perspective paper presents a taxonomy of meditation types, describes key neuroanatomical regions involved, and critically appraises EEG findings. Correlates between mindfulness and EEG are well described for attentional and interoceptive processes, and understanding is growing for compassion and loving-kindness meditation. However, consistent associations between neuropsychological processes and EEG characteristics remain elusive for wisdom-based and null-state meditation practices, which are considered key to deeper transformative experiences. Promising theoretical developments exist, but more research and standardization are needed.