Predictive Texts: Modern Mysticism and Algorithmic Divination contributes to critical literature on secularism, literary, and digital studies by theorizing algorithmic divination, which is the process of interpreting algorithmic technologies in order to gain insight into one’s life and identity. I argue that new media users “read” the algorithms they are subjected to and create a folk mythology...
In this article we present two ontological problems for the Integrated Information Theory of Consciousness 4.0: what we call the (i) the intrinsicality 2.0 problem, and (ii) the engineering problem. These problems entail that truly existing, conscious entities can depend on, and be engineered from, entities that do not objectively exist, which is problematic: if something does not exist in...
Aspects of hypnosis and its application in psychotherapy, psychosomatics and medicine are examined and contextualized in the 250-year history of hypnosis. Imagination as an essential element of hypnotic treatments appeared as early as 1784 as an argument rejecting the theory of animal magnetism of Franz Anton Mesmer. In somnambulism of German romanticism, another proto-form of hypnosis after...
In search for the neural correlates of consciousness (NCCs), it is important to isolate the true NCCs from their prerequisites, consequences, and co-occurring processes. To date, little is known about how attention affects the event-related potential (ERP) correlates of auditory awareness and there is contradictory evidence on whether one of them, the late positivity (LP), is affected by...
Complex neuronal interactions underlie cortical information processing that can be compromised in altered states of consciousness. Here intracortical microstimulation was applied to investigate anesthetic state-dependent effective connectivity of neurons in rat visual cortex in vivo. Extracellular activity was recorded at 32 sites in layers 5/6 while stimulating with charge-balanced discrete...
Psychedelic substances, which were once categorized as Schedule 1 drugs, are gaining public attention for their potential to treat individuals with mental conditions. Every Schedule 1 drug was once considered to have no medicinal value, with the potential for high abuse, but recent research has suggested otherwise. LySergic acid Diethylamide (LSD) and MethyleneDioxy-MethAmphetamine (MDMA) are...
Seeing an embodied humanoid avatar move its arms can induce in the observer the illusion that its own (static) arms are moving accordingly, the kinematic signals emanating from this avatar thus being considered like those from the biological body. Here, we investigated the causal relationship between these kinaesthetic illusions and the illusion of body ownership, manipulated through visuomotor...
Abnormally widened spatial and temporal binding windows (SBW/TBWs; length of space/time whereby stimuli are considered part of the same percept) are observed in schizophrenia. TBW alterations have been associated with altered sense of agency (hereafter referred to as agency), and an associative relationship between embodiment (body ownership) and agency has been proposed. SBWs/TBWs are...
OBJECTIVES Understanding variations in knowledge and attitudes of psychiatrists to psilocybin therapy is important for the collective discourse about the potential impact on clinical practice and public health in Ireland. METHODS A 28-item questionnaire was designed based on previous studies and distributed to psychiatrists in Ireland via online mailing lists and at in-person academic events....
The vast majority of treatments for psychiatric and substance use disorders take weeks to work. Notable exceptions to this rule exist, with some treatments such as intravenous ketamine resolving symptoms in minutes to hours. Current research is focused on identifying novel approaches to rapid-acting psychotherapeutics. Promising results from studies of novel classes of drugs and innovative...