Chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) imposes a significant psychological, physical, and emotional burden on millions of adults in the United States. A challenge in treating CMP is its tendency to become enmeshed with a person's sense of self. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) offer a promising approach to help patients disentangle pain from their sense of self. However, rigorous research is...
Journal of Psychoactive DrugsApril 23, 2026Brayan Jonas Mano-Sousa, Maria Clara Gama Fontes, Ana Clara Anacleto Gonçalves et al.
Suicide, particularly in treatment-resistant depression (TRD), remains a pressing global health issue, with over 700,000 annual deaths. Existing treatments often have limited efficacy and delayed onset, creating a need for rapid-acting interventions. Ayahuasca, a traditional Amazonian psychedelic, has shown potential for rapidly reducing suicidal ideation. Our systematic review evaluated the...
Abstract During lucid dreaming, the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming. In past years, numerous studies have explored the characteristics of lucid dreams, which link lucid dreams to vivid visual perception, positive emotions, and wake-like metacognition and executive functions. To determine brain network activity associated with the conscious experience during lucid dreaming, we analyzed...
Contemporary accounts of mystical “non-dual” or minimal-dual consciousness often describe a state beyond the ordinary subject–object framework. In this paper we propose a novel parametric introspection framework, according to which such a breakthrough is not achieved by doctrinal affirmation or mere insight into metaphysics, but by driving specific introspective parameters to critical values....
Meditation affects neuroplasticity through synaptic pathways, prefrontal–limbic regulation, autonomic and biochemical systems. Randomized or controlled meditation interventions with at least one neuroplasticity related outcome published from January 2018 to April 2025 were included. Data extraction and synthesis were performed independently and combined by random-effects model. Eight studies...
Scientific objectivity is traditionally understood as a regulative ideal achieved through methodological rigor,intersubjective verification, and empirical testing. However, this conception presupposes relatively stable cognitive conditions under which observation and interpretation occur. Drawing on insights from cognitive neuroscience, predictive processing, and contemplative research, this...
Abstract Background Contemporary research indicates that psychedelics induce notable neurophysiological changes, some lasting weeks to months after a single dose. However, most evidence derives from acute administration studies and limited post-acute follow-ups. Long-term naturalistic psychedelic users remain critically underexamined, yet may exhibit distinct neurobiological profiles informing...
Psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, pose significant diagnostic challenges with major implications on mental health. The measures of resting-state fMRI spatiotemporal complexity offer a powerful tool for identifying irregularities in brain activity. To capture global brain connectivity, we employed information-theoretic metrics, overcoming the limitations of...
BACKGROUND: Although the efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions for improvements in IBS symptoms has been demonstrated, the specific neural mechanisms contributing to these changes remain unclear. METHODS: A single arm interventional design was employed to explore functional brain network changes underpinning IBS symptom improvement in response to an 8-week mindfulness-based stress...
Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric condition with high rates of treatment resistance. Emerging neuroimaging evidence implicates dysfunction in large-scale brain networks, particularly the cortico–striatal–thalamo–cortical (CSTC) circuit, default mode network (DMN) and salience network (SN). Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin induce acute dysregulation of the DMN...