Recently, there has been an increase in studies yielding evidence for psychedelics' anxiolytic and anti-depressive qualities. Preliminary evidence for treatment in substance addiction is also available. In our manuscript, we present a perspective on the possible effectiveness and mechanisms of action of psychedelics' introduction in the treatment of Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder (CSBD)...
While attention to external visual stimuli has been extensively studied, attention directed internally towards mental contents (e.g., thoughts, memories) or bodily signals (e.g., breathing, heartbeat) has only recently become a subject of increased interest, due to its relation to interoception, contemplative practices and mental health. The present study aimed at expanding the methodological...
Advances in behavioral and brain sciences have engendered wide ranging efforts to help understand consciousness. The target article suggests that abstract computational models (such as integrated information theory [IIT]) are ill-advised. This commentary broadens the discussion to include mysteries of subjective experience that are inconsistent with current neuroscience. It also discusses...
The aim of this mini-review paper is to present an overview of work on consciousness from a philosophical perspective, and to argue for the continuing relevance of philosophy in consciousness research. After introducing some major philosophical positions about the relationship between consciousness and matter, we argue that the problem of consciousness that many authors have focused on-the...
The fragmented sleep, fragmented mind hypothesis has associated sleep disturbances and dissociative states in subjects with dissociative traits, as supported by neurophysiological theories of consciousness stating that altered states might result from an altered functional interaction among brain modules due to inefficient sleep processes.
In India the philosophers, except the Madhyamika Buddhists and Jayarasi Bhatta, maintain that determination of an object depends on a pramana, a source of cognition. Similarly, pramana depends on prameya padhartha. In the present paper I will deal with the relationship between epistemology and metaphysics from the Advaita point of view. According to Advaita Vedanta, Brahman is the only highest...
The modulatory effect of nasal respiration on integrative brain functions and hence consciousness has recently been unambiguously demonstrated. This effect is sustained by the olfactory epithelium mechanical sensitivity complemented by the existence of massive projections between the olfactory bulb and the prefrontal cortex. However, studies on slow nasal breathing (SNB) in the context of...
This chapter presents contemplative pedagogies developed in a course on “Environmental Literature” for Thai undergraduates. With course objectives aimed at introducing ecocriticism and fostering ecological conscience, this course interweaves contemplative practices with discussion of literary texts. Informed by the Buddhist notions of dependent origination (paticcasamppāda), which Thich Nhat...
Embodied spiritual inquiry (ESI) is a radical approach to integral and transpersonal education and research offered as a graduate course at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). Inspired by elements of participatory research and cooperative inquiry, ESI applies interactive embodied meditations to access multiple ways of knowing (e.g., somatic, vital, emotional, mental,...
This paper contributes to the interdisciplinary theory of collective affective niche construction, which extends the extended mind (ExM) thesis from cognitive to affective phenomena. Although theoretically innovative, the theory lacks a detailed psychological account of how collective affectivity is scaffolded. It has also been criticized for its uncritical assumption of the subject qua the...