Preprints.org
April 7, 2026
Luis Miguel Gallardo
preprint
Altered states of consciousness (ASC) represent a universal human capacity for accessing and transforming the subconscious mind, employed across cultures and millennia through diverse contemplative, somatic, pharmacological, ritual, and technological modalities. This comprehensive review synthesizes evidence from over 25 distinct disciplines spanning five clusters: (A) contemplative and...
Human Brain Mapping
April 1, 2026
Paweł Orłowski, Aleksandra Domagalik, Michał Bola
Classic psychedelics profoundly alter emotional states, inducing intense acute experiences lasting hours, followed by subtler, longer-lasting changes in emotional reactivity that can persist for weeks. While experimental and clinical studies document these prolonged effects, the highly context-dependent nature of psychedelic experiences leaves open the question of whether naturalistic,...
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
March 31, 2026
(曹方石) Cao Fangshi
preprint
Abstract This paper presents a first-person qualitative case study of an individual with extraordinarily high dream recall frequency, sustained high‑narrative dreaming, and unconscious creative dreaming—a rare and understudied phenotype in sleep and cognitive science. The participant (also the author) consistently experiences long, coherent, plot‑driven dreams with distinct characters,...
Alzheimer S and Dementia Diagnosis Assessment and Disease Monitoring
March 30, 2026
Darren M. Lipnicki, Meritxell Valenti, Elizabeth Lucia Valeriano‐Lorenzo et al.
1 citation
Abstract INTRODUCTION Dreaming is subserved by the default mode network (DMN) and can be abolished by focal lesions within key regions. DMN dysfunction is promoted by pre‐clinical Alzheimer's pathology and apolipoprotein E ( APOE ) ε4 carriage, but any effects of these on dreaming are unknown. METHODS Associations between dream recall and APOE ε4 carriage and blood phosphorylated tau (p‐tau)...
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
March 27, 2026
Morgan Rose Healey, Yaser Sanchez-Gama, Mengyuan Ding et al.
preprint
Abstract Self-transcendence, the reorientation of experience away from the self toward others, nature, or broader meaning, is a fundamental dimension of human psychology, yet its causal neural architecture remains poorly understood. Here we applied lesion network mapping to 88 neurosurgical patients with pre- and post-operative assessments of trait self-transcendence to identify the distributed...
Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism
March 21, 2026
Claudio Agnorelli, Joseph Peill, Gabriela Sawicka et al.
We investigated ketamine's neuroplastic effects in healthy human subjects using integrated Positron Emission Tomography (PET)/Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) measures before and 1-8 days after a single psychedelic dose of ketamine (1 mg/kg, intravenous). Eleven male participants underwent two PET/MRI scans with [11C]-UCBJ (synaptic density/plasticity), 1H-MRS (glutamate and GABA) and...
Discover Mental Health
March 19, 2026
Àlvar Farré-colomés, Olga Rublinetska, Oscar Soto-Angona
Psilocybin-assisted therapies are innovative therapeutic approaches, particularly in the treatment of depression. However, there are sparse studies providing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) evidence elucidating the underlying biological mechanisms that support clinical outcomes. This review aims to comprehensively gather all the evidence reported in psilocybin studies using fMRI...
Preprints.org
March 17, 2026
Yuki Ueda
preprint
The nature of consciousness, specifically the state of "pure consciousness"—often characterized in contemplative traditions as a state of awareness devoid of intentional content—has transitioned from a topic of purely philosophical inquiry to a rigorous subject of neuroscientific study. This review synthesizes current clinical and neurobiological research to propose that oxytocin (OT), a...
Figshare
March 16, 2026
Fangshi Cao 曹方石
preprint
This preprint was submitted on 31 March 2026. The author confirms that the research content is authentic, accurate, and reliable. The author takes all legal and academic responsibility for content presented in this work.This paper presents a first-person qualitative case study of an individual with extraordinarily high dream recall frequency, sustained high‑narrative dreaming, and unconscious...
Network Neuroscience
March 13, 2026
Yanli Lin, Marne L. White, Jihong Zhang et al.
1 citation
Abstract Neural oscillatory activity within the alpha and theta bands have long been considered putative markers of state mindfulness, yet understanding of their functional role has been limited by the challenges of linking objective brain indices with subjective experience. To address this gap, the current study applied longitudinal network analysis to a unique dataset from 16 novices who...