Frontiers in Psychology
October 31, 2018
Ying Ma, Zhaozhuo She, Angela Fung-Ying Siu et al.
An 8-week randomized controlled trial compared four conditions: group mindfulness-based intervention (GMBI), self-directed mindfulness-based intervention (SDMBI), discussion group, and blank control group. Among 76 participants who completed pre- and post-tests, both GMBI and SDMBI showed significant improvements in mindfulness, emotion regulation difficulties, and psychological distress (depression and anxiety) with medium to large effect sizes. GMBI produced the largest effects. Changes in emotion regulation difficulties mediated the relationship between changes in mindfulness dimensions (Observing and Describing) and changes in psychological distress. The results provide encouraging evidence for online mindfulness-based interventions in reducing psychological distress and suggest a mediating role of emotion regulation, while also highlighting the importance of group discussion.
Frontiers in Psychology
July 10, 2018
Christian Tewes
This article argues that cognitive experimental memory research often neglects the first-person experiential basis of its procedures, risking misrepresentation of phenomena like habits. Drawing on embodied cognition and phenomenology, the author contends that procedural memory-based skills and habits are not necessarily confined to unconscious, sub-personal mechanisms; some cognitive processes involve the pre-reflectively experienced lived-body, giving us experiential access to bodily processes not yet conceptualized. The author proposes integrating such experiences into neuropsychological research on habits using the method of 'front-loaded phenomenology.'
Frontiers in Psychology
June 21, 2018
Xinli Chi, Ai Bo, Tingting Liu et al.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) moderately reduces depressive symptoms in adolescents and young adults aged 12 to 25 years at the end of an intervention. A meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials with 2,042 participants found a moderate effect (Hedges' g = −0.45) compared to control groups such as no treatment, treatment as usual, or active control. No statistically significant effects were observed at follow-up (Hedges' g = −0.24), likely due to insufficient statistical power. The average treatment effect may be influenced by the type of control condition, treatment duration, and participants' baseline depression levels.
Frontiers in Psychology
June 6, 2018
Christopher Gutland
Husserl's method for exploring the essential, a priori laws of consciousness is a form of introspection. The article examines four elements of Husserl's methodology: the principle of all principles, epoché, phenomenological reduction, and eidetic variation. These are related to six features of introspection defined by Eric Schwitzgebel. Husserl's approach avoids common pitfalls of introspection, such as uncontrolled awareness, false prejudices, and difficulty distinguishing idiosyncratic from general features of consciousness. The article situates Husserl's approach in relation to Hume's and Kant's philosophical systems.
Frontiers in Psychology
May 15, 2018
W. Mohammed, A. Pappous, D. Sharma
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) practiced for 8 weeks (one 90-minute session per week) alongside usual physiotherapy increased pain tolerance and mindful awareness in injured athletes. Twenty athletes (14 male, 6 female, aged 21–36) with severe injuries preventing sport for over 3 months participated. The intervention group showed an increase in pain tolerance and mindful awareness, and both groups experienced a promising change in positive mood. Stress and anxiety scores notably decreased across sessions, but no significant changes appeared in other main or interaction effects. The findings suggest mindfulness can aid sport rehabilitation by enhancing pain tolerance and awareness.
Frontiers in Psychology
April 24, 2018
Karl Friston
Self-consciousness is necessary for consciousness. Living systems return to attracting states, which mathematically implies a Lyapunov function that is model evidence (self-evidence) in Bayesian statistics or surprise (self-information) in information theory. All biological processes perform inference, from evolution to conscious processing. Consciousness arises when self-evidencing has temporal thickness or counterfactual depth, grounding inferences about the consequences of one's actions. Consciousness is inference about one's future—the self-evidencing consequences of what one could do.
Frontiers in Psychology
April 23, 2018
A. Flores, M. Linehan, S. Todd et al.
Two patients with spinal cord injury (SCI)—one with quadriplegia and severe depression, the other with paresis and mild depression—used immersive virtual reality (VR) goggles to experience a simulated river float while listening to Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Mindfulness skills training. Patient 1 reported reductions in negative emotions after each of four VR DBT sessions. Patient 2 had mixed results on some negative emotion measures after two sessions but both patients reported feeling less depressed, less anxious, and less emotionally upset after VR DBT Mindfulness skills learning. Patient 2 reported large reductions in short-term ASD/PTSD symptoms after his first session. The authors conclude that VR DBT is feasible and acceptable for SCI patients with paralysis.
Frontiers in Psychology
March 9, 2018
Kenji Katahira, Y. Yamazaki, Chiaki Yamaoka et al.
Flow experience, a state of deep immersion in an activity, can be partially distinguished from boredom and overload by specific brainwave patterns. In an experiment with 16 participants performing a mental arithmetic task at three difficulty levels (Boredom, Flow, Overload), self-reported flow was highest in the Flow condition. Electroencephalogram (EEG) data showed that theta brainwave activity in the frontal brain areas was higher during both Flow and Overload conditions compared to Boredom, while alpha activity in frontal and right central areas increased gradually with task difficulty. These EEG patterns correlated with self-reported concentration and perceived difficulty.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2018
Raphael Vallat, Jean-Baptiste Eichenlaub, Alain Nicolas et al.
People who frequently recall dreams have denser white matter in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) than those who rarely recall dreams. Using brain scans of 46 high dream recallers (who recalled dreams about six mornings per week) and 46 low dream recallers (who recalled dreams less than once per week), researchers found no differences in gray or white matter density in the temporo-parietal junction, hippocampus, or amygdala. The finding aligns with evidence that damage to MPFC white matter can stop dream reporting, suggesting this region plays a role in dream recall or production.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2018
Mark Solms
The article applies the free energy principle to the hard problem of consciousness. It argues that the elemental form of consciousness is affect, located in the upper brainstem via an extended form of homeostasis. This mechanism is formalized as free energy minimization in unpredicted contexts, where decreases in expected uncertainty are felt as pleasure and increases as unpleasure. The work emphasizes why such existential imperatives feel like something to and for an organism.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2018
Michail Mantzios, Kyriaki Giannou
Two experiments tested whether coloring books increase mindfulness and whether ongoing guidance is needed. In the first, 88 university students randomly assigned to unguided mandala coloring or free drawing showed no change in mindfulness or anxiety. In the second, 72 university students assigned to unguided mandala coloring or mindfulness-guided coloring (with a practitioner providing instructions adapted from breathing meditation) found that guided coloring decreased anxiety but did not increase mindfulness. Exit interviews indicated some participants disliked the guiding voice, suggesting further development is needed for mindful coloring instructions to enhance wellbeing.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2018
Uziel Awret
A middle-ground position is argued: physics can explain why the explanatory gap between physical facts and conscious experience seems especially hard to close, even if it cannot provide a complete physical explanation of consciousness. This approach seeks empirical discoveries that weaken anti-physicalist arguments such as the conceivability argument and the knowledge argument. Recent developments in the physics of spacetime and information suggest such prospects are not poor. The view is framed as a naturalist theory of mind, but its reliance on new conceptions of time and information undermines traditional notions of concreteness and causation, requiring a radically reconfigured naturalism, or neo-naturalism.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2018
Jeff Tarrant, Jeremy Viczko, Hannah Cope
A brief nature-based mindfulness virtual reality (VR) experience and quiet rest both reduced self-reported anxiety and increased Alpha brain wave power in anxious participants. The VR intervention uniquely shifted proportional power from higher to lower Beta frequencies and reduced broadband Beta activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, consistent with a physiological reduction of anxiety. These preliminary findings suggest VR may have therapeutic potential for anxiety management and stress reduction.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2018
Michele Farisco, Jeanette H Kotaleski, Kathinka Evers
Computer models and simulations are increasingly used to describe, explain, and predict brain function, aiming to integrate fragmented neuroscientific knowledge. This paper examines whether simulation technologies could plausibly emulate consciousness and assesses their potential clinical impact on disorders of consciousness such as coma, vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome, and minimally conscious state. Despite technical limitations, the authors suggest that simulating neural correlates of consciousness may offer new solutions to practical clinical problems, particularly improving treatments for patients with these disorders.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2018
Helen Y. Weng, Regina C Lapate, Diane E Stodola et al.
Two weeks of compassion meditation training, compared with reappraisal training, increased healthy adults' visual preference for images of suffering. Greater visual preference for suffering in the compassion group was linked to decreased activity in the amygdala, a brain region associated with negative valence and fear responses, as well as in the anterior insula and orbitofrontal cortex, areas tied to empathic distress. The reappraisal group showed opposite neural effects. Across both time points, engaging in compassion generally led to a visual attention preference for suffering over reappraisal. These findings suggest compassion meditation may foster a more equanimous, nonreactive attention to suffering while dampening aversive neural processing.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2018
Ying-Tung Lin
The paper explores the connection between memory and self-consciousness, focusing on the 'phenomenal presence of self'—the experience of being both the subject of a memory and the protagonist in the remembered scene. It examines how one identifies oneself in episodic memory retrieval, particularly through field and observer perspectives. Drawing on Metzinger's concept of the phenomenal unit of identification (UI), which characterizes the conscious experience of 'I am this,' the paper argues that observer-perspective remembering is a stable state of consciousness distinct from autoscopic phenomena regarding minimal phenomenal self (MPS). It raises three possible ways phenomenal properties constitute UI in memory, suggesting new empirical and conceptual issues for understanding identity and the relationship between MPS and extended self.
Frontiers in Psychology
October 13, 2017
Qianguo Xiao, Caizhen Yue, Weijie He et al.
A review of empirical studies indicates that mindfulness and meditation can improve attitudes toward the self and others, thereby helping to modulate mental and physical health problems. The authors introduce a new concept, the “mindful self,” defined as a mindfulness-enlightened self-view and attitude formed by internalizing Buddhist psychology into one’s self-system. They propose that the mindful self acts as an intermediary between mindfulness interventions and mental health outcomes, and as a moderator in promoting well-being. The concept may also describe and predict higher levels of self-development in individuals raised in Buddhist cultures or who meditate regularly over long periods.
Frontiers in Psychology
September 5, 2017
M. Müller-Engelmann, S. Wünsch, M. Volk et al.
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) as a standalone treatment reduced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in patients with mixed traumatic events. Among nine completers of an eight-week MBSR program, the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale showed a large reduction in symptoms (Cohen's d = 1.2), while self-ratings on the Davidson Trauma Scale showed a moderate reduction (Cohen's d = 0.6). Qualitative interviews indicated improved wellbeing, better handling of difficult situations, and greater distance from the traumatic event. However, five of fourteen participants dropped out, suggesting MBSR should be adapted for PTSD patients, for instance by providing more information about exercises and including shorter exercises for acute distress.
Frontiers in Psychology
June 23, 2017
J. Lisman
A philosophical perspective on consciousness is presented, drawing on John Locke's concept of an 'internal sense' as a second type of sensory input beyond external sense organs. The author contrasts this with Daniel Dennett's view that consciousness emerges from interacting brain subsystems and David Chalmers' pan-proto-psychism, which posits consciousness as a fundamental property of the universe. The argument suggests that considering Locke's internal sense may offer a useful third framework for addressing the hard problem of consciousness—how subjective feeling arises—which remains unresolved despite advances in identifying conscious and unconscious brain systems.
Frontiers in Psychology
May 16, 2017
Baland Jalal
This response addresses a commentary on the author's earlier work proposing a treatment for sleep paralysis. The author contends that the commentary misrepresents the original study's claims and methodology. The author reiterates that focused-attention meditation combined with muscle relaxation (MR therapy) is a direct treatment intervention for sleep paralysis, designed to be used during episodes. The author argues that the commentary's criticisms are based on misunderstandings and that the proposed therapy remains a viable and direct approach for managing sleep paralysis symptoms.
Frontiers in Psychology
March 6, 2017
S. Guendelman, Sebastián Medeiros, H. Rampes
Mindfulness-based interventions show clinical benefits for conditions involving emotion dysregulation, with neuroimaging revealing changes in brain regions for attention, emotion regulation, and self-referential processing. This review examines psychological and neurobiological correlates across dispositional mindfulness, mindfulness induction, interventions, and expert meditators, discussing top-down and bottom-up emotion regulation mechanisms. The authors propose distinguishing these strategies and introduce an embodied emotion regulation framework to understand psychobiological changes from mindfulness meditation. They also compare mindfulness-based interventions with other psychotherapeutic approaches for emotion regulation.
Frontiers in Psychology
February 27, 2017
M. Costello, Emily K Bloesch
This paper reviews age-related changes in sensory processing, mental representation, and the action-perception relationship through the lens of embodied cognition, a framework positing that cognitive function is intertwined with the body and physical actions. The authors argue that older adults, compared to younger adults, show an increased tendency to favor visual processing over bodily factors across all three domains, concluding that older adults are less embodied. They contend that embodied cognition can benefit gerontological research by identifying factors explaining age-related declines, despite its rare use in aging literature.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2017
Yang Lee, Robert E Shaw, Zheng Jin
Ancient Eastern philosophy holds that mind and body are not separate but integrated, with "Gih" ("Qi") as the fundamental entity of both the universe and the human being. This theoretical paper builds a meta-theory and proposes empirical designs for studying Gih, comparing it to the Western ecological concept of "affordance." Gih extends beyond affordance by activating a psychosomatic process between physical condition and mental state, enabling bidirectional interactions between subject and object. Thus, Gih integrates mind and body, offering a framework for comparing Eastern and Western philosophical systems.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2017
Jana Steinig, Ariane Bazan, Svenja Happe et al.
The study tested whether REM-sleep involves primary process thinking (associative, condensational) and non-REM-sleep involves secondary process thinking (perspective-taking, logical). Participants were subliminally shown a rebus image combining a comb and a raft, which together form the German word for "without a struggle." After awakenings from REM and non-REM sleep, they gave dream reports and free associations. Using objective association norms, conceptual associations related to the individual images (indicating secondary process) were significantly more frequent after non-REM awakenings than REM awakenings.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2017
Marek Havlík, Eva Kozáková, Jiří Horáček
This review addresses two central questions about consciousness: the 'how' (neural correlates and mechanisms) and the 'why' (the hard problem of why conscious experience exists at all). The authors argue that while the hard problem will likely never fully disappear, its significance may diminish as empirical research advances. They predict that future work will be guided by a unifying brain theory—predictive coding—which must explain both perceptual consciousness and conscious mind-wandering to succeed. Such a theory could clarify the function of conscious experience, thereby reducing the weight of the hard problem.