Scientific ReportsMarch 26, 2026Y. J. Gordon, Golan Karvat, Noa Dagan et al.
Altered states of consciousness (ASC) involve shifts in perception, cognition, and awareness, offering a unique lens on the nature of consciousness. Across cultures, rhythmic drumming in the theta range (4-7 Hz) is often used to induce such states, but it remains unclear whether actively enhancing brain rhythms in this range can cause ASC. We tested whether theta-frequency drumming (4 beats per...
This paper presents the Cognitive Entropy Shift Model (CESM), a structured framework for exploring how distinct cognitive states, specifically passive emotional attention and goal-directed intention may influence probabilistic systems by reducing entropy. Drawing on principles from information theory and Bayesian-inspired probability updating, CESM conceptualizes consciousness as an...
Uncovering the neural basis of psychedelics’ potent effects on brain activity and conscious experience has great potential for understanding their therapeutic effects. Numerous studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) uncovered a strong effect of psychedelics on global properties of fMRI signal, but how they map to underlying neural phenomena remains to be further explored. In...
Yoga is a form of integrative health that combines a person's physical, mental, and spiritual health through body movements, conscious breathing, and meditation. Purpose of the article is to analyze and substantiate the role of yoga in shaping intrinsic motivation for a healthy lifestyle among higher education students. The study focuses on the psychological and physiological mechanisms that...
The main topic of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s philosophical consideration is the problem of carnality: the status of the human body, understanding (in this context) of consciousness and placing a human being in the background of everlasting conflict concerning the relation between the body and the soul. A man is perceived here as embodied consciousness and this is the statement which breaks the...
The research aims to identify typological points of intersection between the fictional universe of Maxim Gorky’s novel “The Life of Klim Samgin” and the fundamental concepts of Buddhist philosophy. Utilizing comparative-typological and hermeneutic methods, the article analyzes how key tenets of Buddhist thought – the Four Noble Truths, the doctrine of suffering (dukkha), the nature of the...
The relevance of this article stems from the urgent need for the widespread dissemination and deep-rooted value of dialogue in all areas of social and cultural life. In this regard, the work of its outstanding representative, H. S. Skovoroda, has attracted particular interest from scholars in the Ukrainian cultural space. In his system, “Dialogue. Its title, «The Deluge of Serpents»”, is...
Debates on selfhood typically locate its basis either in the minimal experiential structure of consciousness or in the representational mechanisms underlying de se thought. Both approaches treat selfhood as a matter of content—phenomenal or conceptual—and thus overlook the organizational conditions that make such content possible. I argue that neither the lived “for-me-ness” emphasized in...
Panpsychism holds that experience must already be present in elementary matter for consciousness to arise at the macroscopic level. We argue that this conclusion, however carefully motivated, follows only if one assumes a particular — and independently refutable — model of how phenomenological contents compose. Once that assumption is identified and rejected, the pressure towards panpsychism...
It is a well-established fact that meditation and mantra have been used over centuries to maintain better cognitive and emotional stability. Gayatri Mantra is the most powerful and believed to activate vibrational energies, which may have a healing effect on mind, body, and spirit; therefore, an interesting area for study in current psychological research. Gayatri Mantra - considered in ancient...