Heliyon
September 15, 2024
Hao Hua, Xinghuo Fu, Wenli Wang et al.
2 citations
A bibliometric analysis of 710 publications from 2004 to October 2023 reveals growing research interest in psychedelics as treatments for depression. The analysis maps annual publication trends, authorship, countries, institutions, journals, and keywords to visualize emerging frontiers and influential factors. The authors assert that regulation of psychedelic drugs is necessary but should not impede scientific progress.
June 13, 2026
Qi Zhang
A new framework called the Twin Cognitive Cycle (TCC) models consciousness as emerging from a unique global activation pattern. Each conscious state is inherently subjective because it combines a constrained macro-distribution of common features with an unconstrained exponential micro-state space. The TCC involves five staged activations across four cognitive regions, with activation intensity and involved regions varying by constraints. This aligns with multi-peaked ERP waveforms from neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) studies and with fMRI findings from no-report paradigms. In the model, consciousness influences decision-making only in the subsequent cycle, suggesting that interpretations of Libet's free-will experiments are flawed if causal effects on later decisions are ignored; delayed consciousness does not constitute evidence for or against free will.
June 9, 2026
Qi Zhang
A new cognitive model, the Twin Cognitive Cycle (TCC), explains why brain-imaging studies of consciousness often find multiple peaks and widespread activations. The TCC is an executable system that simulates how semantic reports are generated through five stages of activation across four cognitive regions. This model accounts for the multiple neural correlates of consciousness (NCCs) observed in ERP and fMRI data and clarifies why no-report paradigms reduce neural activity. The authors suggest that these confounds arise from the process of generating verbal reports, not from consciousness itself, offering a unified framework for understanding previous contradictory findings.
Neuroscience
March 5, 2025
Hanyu Liu, Siqi Yang, Qi Zhang et al.
Opioid-induced hyperalgesia (OIH) is a complication of pain treatment where opioids paradoxically increase pain sensitivity. Using a mouse model, about 60% of mice developed OIH after three days of morphine, shown by abnormal movement and anxiety-like behaviors. Mice whose gut microbiota were eliminated with antibiotics did not develop hyperalgesia, but those receiving fecal transplants from OIH mice did. S-ketamine, but not R-ketamine, prevented OIH. Gut microbiota analysis revealed increased Enterobacteriaceae in OIH-susceptible mice, which decreased after S-ketamine treatment. The findings suggest S-ketamine alleviates morphine-induced OIH by reducing gut Enterobacteriaceae levels.