International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science
2026
Mahesh Shrestha
Modern cosmology has established that ordinary baryonic matter constitutes only a small fraction of the cosmic mass–energy budget, while dark matter and dark energy account for the dominant remainder. Although their gravitational and cosmological effects are strongly supported by observation, their underlying physical nature remains incompletely understood. At the same time, consciousness...
Journal of Applied Consciousness Studies
2026
Prasanth S. Ariyannur
The profound challenge of phenomenal consciousness – the subjective “what it’s like” to experience – persists as a central enigma in modern science. While neuroscience meticulously identifies neural correlates of consciousness, this essay contends that such findings may represent proximate manifestations rather than the fundamental nature of consciousness itself. Drawing a parallel with...
2026
Josephine Jörke, Lena Erdmann, Michael A. Rapp et al.
preprint
High ventilation breathwork (HVB) has received growing interest as a potential therapeutic tool in the context of the psychedelic renaissance and the expanding scientific research on mind–body practices. It involves intentionally increasing the speed and/or depth of breathing and is often conducted in groups, guided by facilitators and accompanied by evocative music. HVB has been reported to...
2026
Mac Gallen, Vince Polito
preprint
Practices involving altered states of consciousness (ASCs) are receiving increasing scientific and public attention, particularly in domains such as psychedelic assisted therapy and mindfulness-based interventions (Lee et al., 2021; Nichols et al., 2017). There is also an increasing interest in a broader range of practices involving altered states, including breathwork, ice-bath immersions,...
2026
Vassilis Martiadis, Fabiola Raffone, Domenico de Berardis
preprint
BACKGROUND: Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) affects approximately one-third of patients with major depressive disorder and represents a critical clinical challenge. Esketamine (S-ketamine, Spravato), approved by FDA and EMA since 2019, and psychedelic-assisted therapies (psilocybin, MDMA) share a pharmacological feature unique among approved psychiatric treatments: they induce altered...
Abyss
2026
G. A. Illarionov, V. P. Lazovskiy
The article examines the methodological crisis in the philosophical conceptualization of artificial intelligence consciousness. It is argued that the dominant deficit approach, based on searching for human qualities absent in AI, has exhausted its heuristic potential. An alternative affordance paradigm is proposed, enabling a shift from binary logic to a gradational analysis of behavioral and...
Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education
2026
Raaghav Pandya, Christopher Emdin
As the post-pandemic classroom and pedagogy evolve to remedy oppressive norms, young people’s mental health and alienation has taken front stage (Rahmani & Zitouni, 2022). Traditional STEM learning spaces often teach inquiry as a linear, non-deviated approach to problems about self and nature (Hrisa & Psillos, 2022). Furthermore, because our classrooms often strip students and educators of...
2026
Anna Westin
Cultivating the mystical experience and the contemplative traditions that underpin it can have profound ethical consequences. By taking this path, alongside or instead of the analytic post-enlightenment route more familiar in the West, mysticism can shape the way that we relate our consciousness to our lived experience. Contemporary society is a hostile place in which to hold onto ideas of...
Epistemology & Philosophy of Science
2026
Artem P. Besedin
Pietro Perconti’s article outlines a cognitive social theory of self-consciousness, navigating between phenomenological views and illusionist perspectives. His argument suggests that rather than being intrinsically valuable, self-consciousness is evolutionarily instrumental, facilitating social cognition. However, both extremes – self-consciousness as the pinnacle of the human spirit and the...
Epistemology & Philosophy of Science
2026
Pietro Perconti
The mind has a subjective side. This is evidenced by a number of cognitive processes, including self-consciousness, first-person perspective, qualia, and individual differences in perception and emotion. In the early decades of cognitive science, these types of mental events were studied very cautiously. It was feared that they would compromise the experimental character of the new science of...