Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging
August 1, 2024
Xuefeng Xu, Xuefeng Ma, Haosen Ni et al.
14 citations
Mindfulness meditation reduced addiction severity and game craving in people with internet gaming disorder more effectively than progressive muscle relaxation. After one month of training, functional connectivity between the executive control network and both the default mode network and reward-related brain regions increased. These connectivity changes correlated negatively with dopamine and acetylcholine transporters and positively with serotonin and GABA receptors. The findings suggest mindfulness meditation enhances top-down control over cravings by altering brain network interactions.
Biological psychiatry global open science
July 1, 2025
Shuang Li, Anhang Jiang, Xuefeng Ma et al.
3 citations
Internet gaming disorder (IGD) is a global mental health issue, and effective treatments remain challenging. In a study of 61 participants with IGD, 30 received mindfulness meditation (MM) training and 31 received progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) over eight sessions. Using resting-state functional MRI and dynamic network analysis of 142 brain regions, MM training significantly reduced addiction severity and cravings compared to PMR, which showed only nonspecific effects. MM increased brain network recruitment in the frontoparietal and basal ganglia networks while decreasing it in the default mode network, and increased integration between the frontoparietal-default mode and default mode-limbic networks. MM may improve top-down control, cognitive and emotional functions, and reward processing through reconfiguration of these neural pathways.
Asian Journal of Philosophy
June 18, 2026
Chang Liu
This commentary argues that Chan and Chen's defense of compatibility between phenomenology and naturalism inadvertently shifts the meaning of experience, which can be interpreted as a phenomenalist version of the Argument from Sparse Bundles. Drawing on Husserl's work, the author contends that phenomenology does not entail phenomenalism because perceptual experience is directly directed toward objects, not toward sensory data. The commentary aims to strengthen the target article's central argument rather than challenge it.
Journal for General Philosophy of Science
March 26, 2026
Chang Liu, Bin Ye
Constructionists argue that emotions arise from categorizing a basic phenomenal quality called core affect, shaped by prior experiences. Husserl's model of perception similarly describes perceptions emerging from apprehending phenomenal character, also shaped by prior experience. The two views are independent formulations of a single Construction Framework of the Mental (CFM), which treats most folk psychological categories as constructs built from more basic mental processes. Given the framework's consistency with recent neuroscience findings, competitive metaphysical positions, and its application in psychology and phenomenology, it should be considered a feasible research framework for understanding mental states.
Archive for the Psychology of Religion
January 12, 2026
Junyi Hao, Chang Liu, Shaozhen Feng et al.
Daoist meditation practices, such as Sitting in Oblivion and Inner Observation, are less commonly used than Buddhist meditation for psychological regulation due to their philosophical complexity. This analysis compared classical Daoist methods and developed a new technique called Merging Oblivion Meditation, which combines Inner Observation and Sitting in Oblivion. Inner Observation, which involves merging with the cosmic landscape, proved more adaptable for psychological use. Merging Oblivion Meditation uses guided imagination to reduce the sense of self by fostering experiential unity with cosmic landscapes, facilitating nondual awareness without apophatic operations. This approach simplifies traditional Sitting in Oblivion, making it more feasible as a psychological technique. It differs from Buddhist-derived practices in process and effects, potentially engaging distinct mechanisms for nondual experiences.