Frontiers in Psychology
May 19, 2026
Cora Zeng
A formless, persistent inner dialogue partner called Dialogical Inner Voice Personification (DIVP) emerges spontaneously in childhood, operates through linguistic turn-taking, and is experienced as part of the self. Drawing on eight autoethnographic interview sessions with an AI research assistant and parental accounts, the author—a 14-year-old gifted bilingual student—traces DIVP's phenomenology and development from early childhood to adolescence. Five literatures (inner speech, imaginary companions, Dialogical Self Theory, giftedness and overexcitability, and non-pathological voice-hearing) each explain a component, but none captures the full configuration. A dual-overexcitability mechanism (intellectual × imaginational) is proposed as a candidate explanation, and the clinical risk of misdiagnosis in gifted children reporting such experiences is examined.
Frontiers in Psychology
May 15, 2026
Hiroko Tanabe, Minami Nakajima, Mai Shiratori et al.
The pleasurable urge to move to music, known as groove, is not simply enhanced by stronger synchronization between body movement and musical rhythm. In a study where participants listened to rhythms with varying syncopation under free, static, or dynamic movement conditions, the urge to move increased synchronization at a beat-level frequency (2 Hz) even when movement was restricted. However, stronger synchronization did not uniformly boost groove; in free and dynamic conditions, overly rigid temporal alignment reduced ratings of urge-to-move and pleasure. The functional role of synchronization depended on movement context: slower metrical synchronization (1 Hz) was key in the free condition, while beat-level synchronization (2 Hz) dominated in the dynamic condition. Groove emerges from a context-dependent balance between entrained bodily engagement and the degree of temporal stabilization.
Frontiers in Psychology
March 25, 2026
Amira Arora
correction
Consciousness is not a byproduct of brain activity but is ontologically fundamental, with the brain acting as a filter or receiver for a more pervasive, nonlocal consciousness. This view, supported by transpersonal psychology, contemplative traditions, and empirical findings such as near-death experiences and psychedelic studies where reduced brain activity corresponds to heightened subjective richness, challenges materialist assumptions. The paper argues for integrating first-person methodologies and cross-cultural wisdom into scientific inquiry, proposing that consciousness is a participatory field central to reality, with implications for psychology, spirituality, and a more holistic science.
Frontiers in Psychology
March 19, 2026
Richard W. Maxwell
Devotion in Tantric Yoga meditation is strongly linked to trait mindfulness, more so than to mysticism, self-actualization, or positive and negative affect. In a cross-sectional study of practitioners, trait mindfulness was the only variable that predicted devotion, even after accounting for age. This connection may stem from both secular mindfulness and traditional Buddhist and bhakti (devotional) practices emphasizing a one-pointed focus of attention.
Frontiers in Psychology
March 17, 2026
Ingeborg van den Bold, Sanneke de Haan, Jenny Slatman
Verbalizing body awareness during Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training is difficult; participants often talked about emotions or made rational judgments instead of expressing bodily sensations. Analyzing a full MBSR course transcript with interpretative phenomenological analysis and applying Wittgenstein's concept of language-games and Austin's speech acts, the authors suggest that learning to verbalize body awareness involves learning a language-game of 'reporting sense perceptions.' The findings align with emotion regulation therapy, where the first step is feeling bodily sensations rather than making rational judgments. The authors hypothesize that mindfulness apps and recorded body scans, lacking live trainer-participant dialogue, may hinder this learning process.
Frontiers in Psychology
March 6, 2026
Neil Dagnall, Andrew Denovan, Claire Murphy-Morgan et al.
People who hold strong scientific beliefs tend to rely on analytical-rational thinking, while those who hold paranormal beliefs tend to rely on intuitive-experiential thinking. In a sample of 300 adults, traditional and New Age paranormal beliefs correlated positively with intuitive processing and negatively with analytical processing; belief in science showed the opposite pattern. Two subgroups emerged: Higher Evidence-based Thinking (55% of participants) with high scientific and low paranormal belief, and Lower Evidence-based Thinking (45%) with low scientific and high paranormal belief. Cognitive rigidity (dogmatism and need for closure) did not differ between groups, suggesting these traits are belief-neutral characteristics of strongly held convictions rather than specific to scientific or paranormal worldviews.
Frontiers in Psychology
February 25, 2026
Natalie L. Dyer, Meredith Sprengel, Ivo V. Stuldreher et al.
A feasibility study monitored 23 adults with multiple sensors during guided loving kindness meditation and breathwork. Biofield measures changed as expected for some participants. After meditation, participants reported lower arousal and increased control, boundarylessness, and non-duality. After breathwork, participants reported increased arousal and decreased boundarylessness, connectedness, and non-duality. Strong correlations (r > 0.5) appeared between ultraweak photon emission from both hands, and moderate correlations (r > 0.4) between infrared nose temperature and left hand ultraweak photon emission. The authors conclude that simultaneous multi-sensor monitoring is feasible and that meditation and breathwork produce nearly opposite effects, but larger samples and control groups are needed.
Frontiers in Psychology
February 9, 2026
Akbota Tleuberdinova
A unified framework called Earth Universal BioConsciousness proposes that consciousness originates from pre-existing cell bioconsciousness, not spontaneously, and is a primary causal agent directing genetic adaptations. The framework integrates several theories: Cellular Basis of Consciousness, Cognition-Based Evolution, Universal Genome Evolution (where DNA is a structural correlate of universal bioconsciousness), and Ontogenetic Evolution of Universal Bioconsciousness (beginning at zygote formation). It reinterprets Descartes' 'Cogito ergo sum' by arguing verbal thought depends on bioconsciousness and serves communication, not independent thinking. Unicellular and multicellular bioconsciousness exist in positive and negative forms. Human-like artificial consciousness is deemed highly unlikely because bioconsciousness is tied to biological lineage.
Frontiers in Psychology
December 17, 2025
Natalija Šimunovič
The article uses the myth of Orpheus as an analogy to explore music performance anxiety (MPA), arguing that current approaches focus too narrowly on the performer's relationship with self and others while neglecting a transcendent dimension—connection to something beyond the individual, such as ritual, community, or higher meaning. The authors propose a triangular model of musical self-concept with vertices of I/self, Me/others, and the transcendent, suggesting that a stronger transcendent connection can protect against MPA. They review evidence that mindfulness and contemplative practices may shift performers from anxiety to optimal states, and call for extending MPA interventions to include spiritual and transcendent contexts in education and performance.
Frontiers in Psychology
April 25, 2025
Gheorghe Ilie, Adrian V. Jaeggi
Evolutionary psychology's modular view of the mind, which sees it as a collection of specialized information-processing modules shaped by natural selection, can be integrated with clinical psychiatry. The descriptive psychopathology of self-disorders offers evidence for this modular view, as a dysfunctional minimal self may reveal the mind's modular architecture to conscious awareness. The modular perspective also illuminates intrapsychic conflicts, and evidence from neuropsychiatric syndromes supports this view, providing a basis for classifying mental disorders.
Frontiers in Psychology
October 18, 2023
Michael Cordova
Silence is not merely the absence of sound but can be a rich, meaningful experience that shapes human consciousness and well-being. The article argues that silence has been undervalued in psychological research, yet it plays a crucial role in self-reflection, emotional regulation, and aesthetic appreciation. Drawing on humanistic and psychoanalytic perspectives, the author suggests that silence can facilitate deeper self-awareness and connection with others, challenging the modern tendency to fill every moment with noise. The piece calls for more empirical and theoretical attention to silence as a positive psychological phenomenon.
Frontiers in Psychology
August 9, 2023
Patric Plesa, Rotem Petranker
The resurgence of psychedelic research aims to treat mental health conditions through psychedelics-assisted psychotherapy, with current theories emphasizing mystical experiences as key drivers of symptom improvement. These experiences enhance feelings of salience, connectedness, and meaning. The authors argue that the excitement around psychedelics partly responds to a modern meaning and alienation crisis, which correlates with rising anxiety and depression. They frame this absence of meaning as neonihilism, a contemporary version of 19th-century nihilism shaped by neoliberal culture. Exploring whether psychedelics combined with group therapy can address modern meaninglessness, they propose concrete next steps for theory and practice, introducing neonihilistic psychedelic group psychotherapy.
Frontiers in Psychology
March 15, 2021
Ingmar Gorman, Ingmar Gorman, Ingmar Gorman et al.
Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration (PHRI) is a clinical approach for mental health providers working with patients who use or consider using psychedelics in any setting. It combines harm reduction psychotherapy and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, applicable in brief or ongoing therapy. PHRI shifts from focusing only on negative outcomes and abstinence-based addiction treatment toward compassionate, destigmatizing acceptance of patients' choices. The approach addresses assessment, preparation, and managing difficult experiences, responding to increased psychedelic research, media attention, and legal changes.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 24, 2023
Maria Beckman, Stig Poulsen, Manoj Doss et al.
This editorial introduces a Research Topic on the role of set and setting in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. It argues that the effects of psychedelic substances are profoundly shaped by the psychological state of the individual (set) and the physical, social, and cultural environment (setting), rather than being purely pharmacological. The editorial emphasizes that understanding and optimizing these contextual factors is crucial for both safe clinical practice and the design of future research. It calls for more systematic investigation into how set and setting influence therapeutic outcomes, and highlights the need to integrate these insights into training and clinical protocols to maximize the potential benefits and minimize risks of psychedelic-assisted therapy.
Frontiers in Psychology
September 30, 2022
John Burton, Austin Ratner, Timothy Cooper et al.
This commentary argues that the integration of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy with psychodynamic approaches offers a promising avenue for enhancing therapeutic outcomes. The author contends that psychedelics can facilitate access to unconscious material, potentially deepening the psychodynamic work and leading to more profound and lasting change. The piece discusses theoretical convergences between the two modalities, suggesting that combining them may address limitations of each when used alone. It calls for further research and clinical exploration into this integrated model, emphasizing the need for careful consideration of set, setting, and therapeutic relationship.
Frontiers in Psychology
September 20, 2022
Marcin Koculak, Michał Wierzchoń
Complexity measures, especially those from Integrated Information Theory, have been useful for distinguishing different states of consciousness (e.g., awake versus asleep) but have rarely been applied to studying the specific content of conscious experience. This paper argues that investigating how complexity relates to what we are conscious of is essential for understanding the role of information-theoretic measures in consciousness research. The authors outline how conscious content could be experimentally operationalized and how basic testable hypotheses can be formulated without relying on the formal apparatus of IIT. Such an approach could improve understanding of which aspects of consciousness complexity captures and facilitate comparisons between different theories of consciousness.
Frontiers in Psychology
July 15, 2022
Nike Walter, Thilo Hinterberger
Self-organized criticality (SOC) is a property of neural systems that may serve as a unifying framework for theories of consciousness. A review of 71 publications from 1998 to 2021 found that annual citations increased steadily; original articles made up 50.7% and reviews or theoretical articles 43.6%. Human data were reported in 16 studies, animal data in 7, and computational models in 12. EEG/MEG studies used diverse analytical tools—detrended fluctuation analysis, pair correlation function, neuronal avalanche parameters, and spectral exponent—to assess criticality. Critical dynamics align with global workspace theory and integrated information theory, but the small number of experimental studies and heterogeneity of methods limit generalizability.
Frontiers in Psychology
May 19, 2022
Patrizio Paoletti, Rotem Leshem, Michele Pellegrino et al.
A hypothesis paper proposes the Sphere Model of Consciousness (SMC) to examine consciousness and self-awareness, aiming to address methodological issues in consciousness research. It presents a preliminary attempt to validate the SMC using a simplified electrophysiological topographic map of the Self, showing a gradual shift from faster to slower frequency bands that mirrors dynamics between SMC states of Self. A mini-review of studies explores whether different SMC states of Self correspond to specific frequency bands, and the theoretical argument suggests the SMC's hierarchical organization of three states of Self mirrors the hierarchy of Focused Attention, Open Monitoring, and Non-Dual meditation types. Testable predictions and potential applications are offered.
Frontiers in Psychology
March 31, 2022
Asa Young, Isabella Robbins, Shivang Shelat
Consciousness may extend beyond the individual brain to form a hierarchical cognitive system when people interact. Building on evidence that the electromagnetic fields of interacting individuals synchronize, the authors propose that coupled agents can merge into a group-level conscious system through recurrent, entraining behavioral interactions. Using General Resonance Theory, they describe how synchronized electromagnetic fields optimize information flow, altering individual conscious states and enhancing group performance. While the existence of a physical basis for group consciousness remains speculative, the framework offers testable predictions for empirical research.
Frontiers in Psychology
December 20, 2021
James W. Moore
Consciousness, as defined by Julian Jaynes, centers on volition—the experience of willing or choosing. Jaynes argued that consciousness emerged recently in human history, between the writing of the Iliad and the Odyssey. This article highlights the overlooked role of volition in Jaynes' theory, noting that for Jaynes, changes in volitional experience mark the emergence of consciousness. The author draws attention to the fact that volition is central to Jaynes' definition of consciousness, a point not widely noted in critiques of his work.
Frontiers in Psychology
July 16, 2021
Álex Escolà-Gascón, Neil Dagnall, Josep Gallifa
The English adaptation of the Multivariable Multiaxial Suggestibility Inventory-2 (MMSI-2) is a valid and reliable questionnaire for assessing anomalous phenomena. Based on 613 English adults, the inventory has five macrofactors: Clinical Personality Tendencies, Anomalous Perceived Phenomena, Incoherent Manipulations, Altered States of Consciousness, and Openness. Clinical Personality Tendencies, Incoherent Manipulations, and Altered States of Consciousness together predicted 18.3% of the variance in anomalous experiences. Reliability was acceptable for some factors and excellent overall, but the authors recommend further research to improve the model's predictive quality.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 10, 2020
Joachim Keppler
Declarative memory functions are inextricably linked with phenomenal awareness because the brain acts as a write–read head interacting with the zero-point field (ZPF) specified by stochastic electrodynamics. The ZPF is hypothesized to be an immanently sentient medium whose field modes each carry a phenomenal nuance; phase-locked coupling of modes forms a ZPF information state that amalgamates elementary shades of consciousness into a complex state. Conscious memory processes differ from unconscious ones by features of many-body quantum systems such as long-range coherence and attractor formation, supported by empirical evidence.
Frontiers in Psychology
May 24, 2019
Alejandra Vasquez-Rosati, Rodrigo Montefusco-Siegmund, Vladimir Lopez et al.
Negative emotional music slowed reaction times during a task-switching test compared to positive music or silence, but the effect depended on each person's subjective emotional experience. When participants felt hampered by the music, their reaction times were slower and a brain signal called P300 was reduced. The study combined EEG brain monitoring, behavior measures, and detailed interviews about inner experience to show that emotion and cognitive flexibility interact in complex, individual ways.
Frontiers in Psychology
November 5, 2018
Matthias Michel, Stephen M. Fleming, Hakwan Lau et al.
A survey of 249 participants, mostly in academia and about 40% experts in consciousness research, assessed views on the field's progress, funding, job opportunities, and scientific rigor. 78% of respondents said scientific research on consciousness has been making progress. However, most perceived obtaining funding and getting a job in consciousness research as more difficult than in other neuroscience subfields. Work in consciousness research was seen as less rigorous than other neuroscience subfields, but this perception was not linked to the perceived difficulty in funding and jobs. Global workspace theory was rated most promising overall (about 28%), while among non-experts integrated information theory (IIT) was most popular (about 22%).
Frontiers in Psychology
June 6, 2018
Christopher Gutland
Husserl's method for exploring the essential, a priori laws of consciousness is a form of introspection. The article examines four elements of Husserl's methodology: the principle of all principles, epoché, phenomenological reduction, and eidetic variation. These are related to six features of introspection defined by Eric Schwitzgebel. Husserl's approach avoids common pitfalls of introspection, such as uncontrolled awareness, false prejudices, and difficulty distinguishing idiosyncratic from general features of consciousness. The article situates Husserl's approach in relation to Hume's and Kant's philosophical systems.