May 19, 2026
Vanessa Bibliowicz
This chapter explores the evolution of psychedelics from ancient rituals to modern neuroscience. It begins with a historical overview of their use in spiritual and communal healing, then traces the scientific discoveries that followed—from early psychiatric research to current clinical trials. The chapter then introduces how psychedelics affect the brain, especially through their impact on the...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
May 18, 2026
Vinod Jiani, Ankan Biswas, Supratim Ray
preprint
Abstract Functional connectivity (FC) is a statistical measure that reflects the degree of phase consistency between two signals and provides insights about potential interactions between two brain regions. Previous studies have reported conflicting results on the effect of meditation on FC, with some showing enhancement while others reporting suppression of FC. However, even though meditation...
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 17, 2026
Tenzin Trepp
preprint
Emerging research in contemplative science and psychedelic neuroscience suggests that deeply entrenched patterns of selfhood and cognition—often associated with mental disorders like depression—can be profoundly altered through both meditative practice and pharmacological intervention. This paper presents a neuroconstructivist framework for understanding how deep meditation and dissociative...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
May 14, 2026
Shiva Khoshnoud, Federico Alvarez Igarzábal, Marc Wittmann
preprint
Flow, as defined by Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi (1975), is a holistic sensation experienced when individuals are fully immersed in an activity, resulting in a mental state characterized by a diminished sense of self and altered perception of time. To investigate the global neural dynamics underlying flow, we employed EEG microstate analysis to capture the spatial and temporal properties of...
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology
May 12, 2026
Tiara Bounyarith, David Braun, Aaron Kucyi
preprint
Much of a typical individual's mental life is characterized by spontaneous thoughts that occur independently of external stimuli. In prior studies, ongoing mental experiences and their neural correlates have been captured using thought probes presented at random intervals during functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). However, this approach results in temporally imprecise estimates of...
World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews
May 8, 2026
SNL Narathota, Karunaratne H.k.b.m.s.
The study of consciousness has been a key focus in both Eastern contemplative traditions and modern science. Yogic texts such as the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā (HYP) describe psychophysiological states and experiential phenomena that resemble concepts in parapsychology and neuropsychology. This review aimed to develop a theoretical framework explaining how yogic practices influence consciousness,...
April 30, 2026
James Cooke
preprint
This paper introduces the concept of egostasis (self-based goal-directed persistence behaviour) and proposes a novel neurophenomenological theory of the experience of suffering, grounded in the framework of active inference. We argue that psychological suffering is a transmodal, aversive state arising from prediction errors being attributed to a self-model. Chronic suffering is proposed to...
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
April 28, 2026
Ilya Tarasov
preprint
The self is often described in terms of the narrative self, but the organization of first‑person experience extends beyond autobiographical continuity. The theory of self‑anchors introduces an architecture with three interacting axes: a stable self‑anchor, bodily grounding, and rhythm‑generating dynamics of the retrosplenial cortex. The stable self‑anchor is associated with the precuneus and...
Current Neuropharmacology
April 28, 2026
Hongshuang Wang, Xiaobing Li, Feng Yu et al.
The integration of psychedelics and music in therapeutic settings is gaining recognition for its potential to enhance mental health outcomes. This review synthesizes current evidence on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying this synergy, focusing on receptor-level pathways (e.g., 5-HT2A receptor agonism, BDNF-TrkB signaling) and neural circuit dynamics (e.g., default mode network...
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
April 15, 2026
Can Chen
preprint
This study aims to explore the neurophysiological mechanisms of the "awakening" state, defined as a shift in consciousness from Default Mode Network dominance to second-order observation. Based on neurophenomenological theory, we hypothesize that awakening manifests physiologically as DMN inhibition, increased cortical excitability, and high energy efficiency. Clinical EEG data from a subject...