Neuroscience has revived psychology's original mission to study consciousness empirically. Scientists first examined consciousness in patients presumed unconscious, identifying neural correlates of different conscious states. Technological advances and experimental designs then established key brain correlates for global consciousness (being conscious at all), perceptual consciousness (being conscious of something), and self-consciousness (being conscious of oneself). Studying complex conscious experiences can clarify mechanisms of global consciousness, the link between perceptual and self-consciousness, and interactions among self-consciousness domains. The path forward involves re-establishing psychology as a science of consciousness.
A compassion practice improved mental health and prosocial behaviors across all groups, but adding virtual reality (VR) boosted positive affect more than the practice alone, while adding a heating pad as somatosensory priming reduced negative affect less than the practice alone. Among participants with low mental imagery skills, VR significantly reduced criticism toward others. The study suggests that tools like VR can optimize compassion-based interventions for individuals who struggle with mental imagery.
Mindfulness and self-compassion are linked to lower anxiety and depression, but resilience only partly explains their effect on depression, not on anxiety. In a cross-sectional survey of 860 Spanish adults, both mindfulness and self-compassion had direct negative associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms. However, indirect effects through resilience were significant only for depression, suggesting that resilience may be a mechanism through which mindfulness and self-compassion reduce depression but not anxiety.
A randomized controlled trial assigned 234 National Health Service workers to either mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for life (MBCT-L) or a wait-list. MBCT-L reduced stress more than the wait-list, with a medium-to-large effect size, and improved well-being, depression, and anxiety. No effects were found for work-related outcomes. Mindfulness and self-compassion appeared to mediate the stress and well-being improvements. The authors suggest MBCT-L could be an effective component of a broader healthcare worker mental health strategy.