Abstract: Background and Hypothesis: Psychotic experiences (PEs) frequently occur at a subclinical level in the general population, including symptoms like hallucination and delusion. An important hypothesis is the aberrant salience hypothesis, according to which the salience network (SN) plays a decisive role coordinating between inner and outer world, anchored in the dorsal anterior cingulate...
Neuroimaging studies show that the functional connectivity of the brain changes with age. Resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) in the brain appears to decrease with aging in key networks associated with higher order thinking and effective emotional regulation. Interventions that potentially preserversFC in the brain include 1) physical activity and 2) contemplative practice commonly...
This review integrates anthropological and neuroscientific perspectives to elucidate music-induced trance processes and their relevance to non-ordinary states of consciousness (NSCs). The objectives are to deepen the understanding of trance phenomena, delineate links across diverse trance expressions, and inform future neuroscientific research. Drawing on anthropological insights, we examine...
Ketamine responses vary across patients and sessions, suggesting that dose alone is an incomplete organizing principle. We propose a state-first Gate-Amplifier-Reintegration framework in which awake low-dose ketamine acts primarily as an Amplifier of transient network flexibility, whereas autonomic-salience stability is treated as a candidate Gate that may shape whether this flexibility remains...
Hegel’s philosophy presents self-consciousness, negation, and social recognition as the driving forces of mind’s development and the pinnacle of Spirit’s self-realization. In this view, the narrative, self-relating subject is not a defect but the crowning achievement of reality coming to know itself. By contrast, contemplative traditions and certain phenomenological models treat the narrative,...
This article examines Bhakti, the path of devotional surrender in Indian philosophy, alongside genuine, peer-reviewed scientific research relevant to its central psychological claims. It surveys the three-Yoga framework (Karma, Jnana, Bhakti) and Bhakti's foundational textual sources — the Narada Bhakti Sutras, the Shandilya Bhakti Sutras, the Bhagavata Purana's Navavidha Bhakti, and the...
Abstract Om meditation is a widely practiced mantra-based technique within yogic traditions and has increasingly been examined using electroencephalography (EEG). However, EEG findings related to Om meditation remain methodologically diverse and have not been comprehensively synthesized. This review aimed to systematically examine and integrate EEG-based evidence on the neurophysiological...
Clinical trials investigating psychedelic compounds for depression and anxiety-related disorders are yielding promising preliminary results. Psychedelics produce profound alterations in brain function—such as suppression of the default mode network and thalamocortical dysregulation—leading to intense subjective experiences including ego dissolution and mystical-type states. While often...
Sacred architecture has historically served to communicate religious teachings and elicit spiritual experiences. Although theologians and architects have offered explanations for this phenomenon, empirical evidence supporting these claims remains scarce. Scientific research on religious responses has usually overlooked architecture's role in shaping them. This study utilizes mobile...
Mind‑body practices, such as meditation and yoga, involve paying attention to breathing sensations. During these practices, individuals report "interoceptive lapses," moments when attention drifts away from internal bodily sensations. While lapses in attention to the external world have been widely studied, little is known about the physiological and neural mechanisms of interoceptive lapses....