Frontiers in Robotics and AI
April 4, 2018
Yasuo Kinouchi, Kenneth James Mackin
19 citations
In developing a humanoid robot, there are two major objectives. One is developing a physical robot having body, hands, and feet resembling those of human beings and being able to similarly control them. The other is to develop a control system that works similarly to our brain, to feel, think, act, and learn like ours. In this article, an architecture of a control system with a brain-oriented...
The FASEB Journal
April 1, 2018
Katherine L Nicholson, Ellen C. Soehngen, James C. Gillespie et al.
Background Racemic (R,S)‐ ketamine produces a rapid and long‐lasting antidepressant response in treatment resistant patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the production of psychotomimetic effects and a propensity for abuse have limited its therapeutic use. The individual isomers of ketamine are being investigated for treatment of MDD with proponents stating each isomer has an...
English language notes
April 1, 2018
Robert O. Pasnau
I am a historian of philosophy and theology, which is to say that the authors I work on are almost exclusively those who make doctrine. Moreover, a great deal of my work has been focused on Thomas Aquinas, the doctrine maker extraordinaire of the later Middle Ages. From that vantage point, it is interesting to consider the question of whether mysticism, by its nature, must necessarily conflict...
English language notes
April 1, 2018
Nathan Wolski
Abstract: According to the Zohar, the most important work of the classical Kabbalah, in prayer the soul of the mystic ascends through seven celestial halls or palaces as part of its quest to unify the male and female aspects of divinity, and thereby stimulates Ein Sof, the infinite aspect of divinity to pour down its bounty. As the soul ascends through the halls—diverse qualities of being,...
History of the Human Sciences
March 26, 2018
Andrea Graus
This article examines how and why criminal proceedings were brought against alleged cases of Catholic mysticism in several European countries during modernity. In particular, it explores how criminal charges were derived from mystical experiences and shows how these charges were examined inside the courtroom. To bring a lawsuit against supposed mystics, justice systems had to reduce their...
March 25, 2018
M. Roy
Mysticism is an important component of religion, representing its experiential dimension. The term itself is of western origin, adopted by Christianity, evolving over time and extending in meaning only in the nineteenth century to include experiences of encounters with the ultimate nature of Reality in religions. Thus, a category of mysticism has developed, which can be studied in a comparative...
Routledge eBooks
March 21, 2018
Paul Marcus
An "intraworldly mysticism" is also a part of engaging the Infinite, of glimpsing immortality. To experience in oneself the love and joy of communing with the Infinite, that is, a sense of infinite being, knowledge, and bliss, requires a state of mind that nurtures the transcendent urge through compassion. Whether one calls them selfish cravings, inordinate needs, or infantile narcissism,...
Routledge eBooks
March 21, 2018
Michael Eigen
A lot of therapy is about the slow recovery of faith, at least more of it, a more informed faith, wiser, fuller, ready for anything. Although S. Freud ostensibly developed a theory and clinical approach to neurosis, the author points out in The Psychotic Core that his concepts are heavily steeped in a phenomenology of psychosis. Freud spoke of flooding as a primal trauma. Mystics also attest to...
Frontiers in Pharmacology
March 15, 2018
Mark J. Benvenga, Stephen F. Chaney, Melvyn Baez et al.
26 citations
There is substantial evidence that glutamate can modulate the effects of 5-hydroxytryptamine2A (5-HT2A) receptor activation through stimulation of metabotropic glutamate 2/3 (mGlu2/3) receptors in the prefrontal cortex. Here we show that constitutive deletion of the mGlu2 gene profoundly attenuates an effect of 5-HT2A receptor activation using the mouse head twitch response (HTR). MGlu2 and...
Mindfulness
March 11, 2018
William van Gordon, Edo Shonin, Thomas J. Dunn et al.
38 citations
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are life transformational events that are increasingly being subjected to empirical research. However, to date, no study has investigated the phenomenon of a meditation-induced near-death experience (MI-NDE) that is referred to in ancient Buddhist texts. Given that some advanced Buddhist meditators can induce NDEs at a pre-planned point in time, the MI-NDE may make...