The challenging problem of consciousness, or more traditionally the mind-body problem, continues to maintain its vitality and importance despite all philosophical theories and advances in neuroscience, artificial intelligence and technology. The problem of consciousness has been addressed by both philosophers and scientists from ancient times to the present. In the most general sense, the...
Functions of the human insula have been explored extensively with neuroimaging methods and intracranial electrical stimulation studies that have highlighted a functional segregation across its subregions. A recently developed cytoarchitectonic map of the human insula has also segregated this brain region into various areas. Our knowledge of the functional organization of this brain region at...
European PsychiatryNovember 17, 2023V. Lucarini, F. Cangemi, F. Paraboschi et al.
Introduction Patients with schizophrenia show severe difficulties in interpersonal communication, including impairments in conversation skills, like the turn-taking. To our knowledge, very few studies to date have taken into account conversation analysis in order to investigate turn-taking in schizophrenia patients. Objectives To investigate the conversational patterns in schizophrenia...
Introduction The overlap between imagery and perception has long fascinated philosophers and scientists. Many scientists considered how the mind is capable of constructing an internal world without intervention of the external environment. Descriptions of their core characteristics often draw attention to differential features, but other currents reveal that many of these are shared rather than...
Introduction During the last decade there has been a resurgence of interest on the use of psychedelics as novel treatments for mental disorders, including treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Psilocybin, the chemical component of “magic mushrooms”, has been administered with psychotherapy in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) showing large and sustained antidepressant effects. As the use of...
NeuroImage: ClinicalNovember 16, 2023Piergiuseppe Liuzzi, Andrea Mannini, Bahia Hakiki et al.
Consciousness can be defined as a phenomenological experience continuously evolving. Current research showed how conscious mental activity can be subdivided into a series of atomic brain states converging to a discrete spatiotemporal pattern of global neuronal firing. Using the high temporal resolution of EEG recordings in patients with a severe Acquired Brain Injury (sABI) admitted to an...
Background: The classical psychedelics psilocybin, peyote, ayahuasca/ N, N-dimethyltryptamine, and lysergic acid diethylamide can temporarily produce altered states of consciousness, characterized by changes in sensory perception, thought, mood, and the sense of self-reality and meaning. It is important to have reliable instruments for quantifying these altered states in trials, due to a...
Abstract Background Depression is a major global health challenge, affecting over 300 million people worldwide. Current pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions have limited efficacy, underscoring the need for novel approaches. Emerging evidence suggests that peak emotional experiences characterized by awe, transcendence, and meaning hold promise for rapidly shifting maladaptive...
Cognition is a core part of and a common topic among philosophy of mind, psychology, neuroscience, AI, and cognitive science. Through a mechanistic lens, I propose a framework of defining, modeling, and analyzing cognition mechanisms. Firstly, appropriate terms are introduced and used in explanations related to the framework and within the definition of a mechanism. I implicitly contend that...
More than 60 well-controlled empirical studies since 1974 have indicated there is a statistically observable causal link between the number of people who practice the Transcendental Meditation technique and the state of order, harmony and prosperity in a city, region, country or the world. Such a phenomenon is based on the level of brainwave coherence generated by the practice and the effect...