Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Shuting Liao, Anbang Hu
1 citation
Mindfulness is linked to better stress self-management among university teachers largely through higher resilience and greater use of cognitive reappraisal. A survey of 287 university teachers in Hunan Province, China, tested a model based on Conservation of Resources theory. Mindfulness was positively associated with resilience and cognitive reappraisal. Resilience was positively related to cognitive reappraisal and stress self-management. Cognitive reappraisal was also positively associated with stress self-management. Resilience and cognitive reappraisal together explained the link between mindfulness and stress self-management. Mindfulness, resilience, and cognitive reappraisal together explained 43% of the variance in stress self-management. The findings suggest that mindfulness-based activities combined with resilience training and emotion-regulation routines may support well-being among university faculty.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Yintu Bao, Jianqian Sun, Xiaochuan Zhang
1 citation
College students who completed six weeks of either mindfulness training or high-intensity interval training showed reduced depression and anxiety, with mindfulness training producing a significant improvement in psychological health immediately after the intervention. Both types of training improved the accuracy of response inhibition (the ability to stop an unwanted response) to a similar degree, but neither affected the speed of that inhibition. Mindfulness training was more effective than HIIT at improving interference inhibition accuracy (the ability to ignore distracting information), though neither training affected the speed of interference inhibition. The improvements in depression and anxiety were maintained at a six-week follow-up, but differences between the groups were no longer statistically significant, possibly due to the small sample size and short intervention period.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Diane Joss, Joseph Rosansky, Paula Gardiner et al.
1 citation
Among people with opioid use disorder receiving buprenorphine, those who also took part in a 24-week online mindfulness-based intervention showed a specific chain of symptom improvement linked to their history of adverse childhood experiences (ACE). Higher ACE severity was associated with greater reductions in self-critical rumination by week 8, which then predicted reduced pain catastrophizing by week 16, and less pain interference by week 24. This pathway was not seen in a matched recovery support control group. Both groups experienced significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and other symptoms, but only in the mindfulness group did ACE severity predict changes in self-critical rumination, suggesting this may be a key target for treatment.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Jian Sun
1 citation
A two-tier model of abduction resolves a tension in Peirce's philosophy: perception is involuntary yet resembles reasoning. The model distinguishes abductive insight (spontaneous hypothesis generation) from abductive reasoning (conscious conceptual endorsement). Integrated with Predictive Processing, perceptual gestalt formation is abductive insight, while perceptual judgment is abductive reasoning. The framework extends to emotion: Barrett's theory of constructed emotion instantiates the same architecture, where core affect is abductive insight into interoceptive signals and emotional categorization is abductive reasoning. This synthesis reveals how conceptual operations shape affective experience and suggests emotion regulation interventions targeting either core affect or emotional categorization.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Bruno Forti
1 citation
A new theory of consciousness, the Extended Information Theory (EIT), proposes that the simplest forms of experience are not sensations but perceptions where qualitative aspects have relational significance. Phenomenal analysis of early visual experience reveals a nested Hierarchy of Spatial Belongings, indicating that conscious contents extend into the space they belong to. This extension allows immediate knowledge of structural aspects of the physical world. Functionally, consciousness handles extended information, unlike non-conscious systems that process point-like information, potentially overcoming computational limitations. The theory differs from classical integration-based theories by emphasizing the integration of information about stimulus structure.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Thurston Lacalli
1 citation
Consciousness likely evolved from simpler antecedents, raising the question of how unified experience arises from basic beginnings. This is simplified if conscious contents combine constitutively, allowing natural selection to adjust their balance incrementally. The text contrasts two models: a conventional non-modular, fully integrated consciousness, and a modular, local, constitutive model where integration occurs non-consciously. In the modular model, a broadcast signal's amplitude at its source matters more than propagation distance, though it fails to explain how localized signals become globally perceived. Integrative models risk misdirecting attention to structures and processes unrelated to conscious sensation production.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Egbert Haverkamp, Erik Olsman, Branislava Ćurčić-blake et al.
1 citation
Prayer, one of the most widespread religious practices, may work psychologically like human attachment bonds, which are strongly linked to mental health. This systematic review of 44 studies examined brain activity during Christian prayer and during activation of the attachment system in adults. Evidence showed convergence between prayer and neural areas involved in social cognition, specifically the default mode network and theory of mind regions. No significant differences emerged between prayer and attachment in brain regions linked to emotion regulation, but findings diverged for the aversion module, particularly in the insula. The shared cognitive and affective dimensions suggest prayer could be integrated into psychotherapy, though more research is needed.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Serena Paese, Andrea Schiavio
1 citation
A four-week mindfulness course that includes body-centered meditation, meditation on thoughts, and affect-centered meditation can enhance wellbeing, boost emotional balance, and reduce the occurrence of music performance anxiety. Qualitative data from 12 musicians who participated in two short mindfulness courses and provided diary entries and open-ended responses support these benefits. The findings suggest that these meditation types positively impact musicians' wellbeing and performance skills, though further research is warranted to explore additional methods.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Claudia Russo, Luciano Romano, Davide Clemente et al.
1 citation
Adolescents who watched a 360-degree VR video of multi-ethnic youths practicing mindfulness in a natural setting felt more restored and, in turn, reported a stronger sense of global identity—feeling connected to humanity as a whole—compared to those who watched a VR video of multi-ethnic youths playing volleyball in the same environment. The indirect effect of the mindfulness video on global identity through restorativeness was significant. The study involved 94 Italian adolescents randomly assigned to one of the two VR conditions. These findings highlight restorativeness as a key mechanism linking brief mindfulness exposure in a virtual natural environment to global identity salience during adolescence.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Jian Peng, Longjun Jing, Peng Wang et al.
1 citation
Among 315 novice athletes in Changsha, China, mindfulness was negatively correlated with cognitive anxiety, while flow and self-rated performance also showed negative links to cognitive anxiety. Cognitive anxiety mediated the relationship between flow and self-rated performance, and together flow and cognitive anxiety acted as a chain mediator between mindfulness and self-rated performance. The findings suggest that for novice athletes, flow and reduced cognitive anxiety may be key mechanisms through which mindfulness improves how they perceive their own performance. Coaches can use mindfulness practices to help novices in suboptimal competitive states enhance performance perception, aiding their transition to elite roles.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Ana Rita Soares, Sandra Soares, Tânia Brandão et al.
1 citation
A meditation app (Med@Med) designed for Portuguese medical students was tested with 147 students. The main motivations for using the app were to experience meditation (33%), reduce stress or anxiety (25%), or establish a daily routine (16%). Students who received daily messages in plain language summarizing scientific benefits of meditation were more likely to keep using the app. After meditating, students reported increased joy and decreased fear and sadness. Use of the app was linked to improved emotional regulation and lower emotional distress and anxiety compared to age-matched students who did not use the app.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Adala M Prevost, Michal George, Melike M Fourie
1 citation
Eight weeks of compassion-based meditation in a White South African sample was associated with increased life satisfaction, reduced stress, greater compassion for outgroups, less desire for social distance, reduced racial prejudice, more intergroup contact, and stronger support for collective action and restitutive government policies. Participants also reported broadened compassion and affiliation with strangers, indicating enhanced self-transcendence. These results suggest that compassion meditation may improve intergroup relations in post-apartheid South Africa, though the pilot study lacked a control group and a randomized controlled trial is needed.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2024
Klaus Gärtner, João L Cordovil
1 citation
The standard view that higher-level properties are grounded in micro-physical properties fails even in physics and chemistry, so arguments that phenomenal consciousness is a special exception to physicalism are misguided. The paper introduces a general notion of grounding, then examines the zombie and knowledge arguments against physicalism about consciousness. It shows that in particle physics and chemistry, the expected reductive relation does not hold, undermining the claim that consciousness is uniquely problematic. The authors propose an alternative way to naturalize phenomenal consciousness within the natural world.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2024
Garret Yount, Sitara Taddeo, Tadas Stumbrys et al.
1 citation
Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), a marker of autonomic nervous system activity, was measured in 20 participants with PTSD symptoms who attended a six-day workshop teaching dreamwork and lucidity techniques. Participants collected saliva immediately upon waking and 30 minutes later; healing lucid dreams were those where the dreamer attained lucidity and intended a healing experience. Among four participants with usable samples who experienced healing lucid dreams, statistical tests were not significant due to low power, though nonsignificant positive associations appeared between more healing lucid dreams and increased waking sAA slope. The results did not show a consistent effect, and larger samples with stricter saliva collection controls are needed.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2024
Tania Badia-Aguarón, Estíbaliz Royuela-Colomer, Vanessa Pera-Guardiola et al.
1 citation
A 5-month randomized controlled trial will test whether adding Mindfulness for Health, cognitive training using the NeuronUP® platform, or their combination to usual care improves outcomes for 120 children aged 7–12 with ADHD. The study will assess ADHD symptoms, executive functions, and comorbid symptoms before and after the interventions and at a 5-month follow-up. It will also explore whether mindfulness and emotional regulation mediate clinical outcomes and whether certain characteristics predict treatment response. This is the first test of the combined intervention and of cognitive training alone in this setting, aiming to lay groundwork for a larger definitive trial.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2024
Ivana Buric, Maja Wrzesien, Jelica Milojičić et al.
1 citation
Self-compassion supports psychological health and can be improved through meditation, but it is unclear how to make meditation more effective. In a study with 71 students, a 3-minute sensory or semantic priming task was given before a 15-minute guided self-compassion meditation. Sensory priming reduced self-criticism more than semantic priming or a control condition, though the self-criticism scale had reliability issues. Neither priming type changed self-compassion, positive affect, or negative affect, nor did they boost the meditation's effects on these measures or the appeal of the meditation. The study was underpowered, with post hoc power estimates from 0.20 to 0.42, but offers preliminary insights for future research.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2024
Xixi Yan, Zhongwei Xiong, Huimin Sun et al.
1 citation
Online Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) reduces caregiver burden, anxiety, and depression, and improves mindfulness in main caregivers of children with allergic rhinitis. Allergic rhinitis in children is common worldwide, including in China, and harms children's physical and mental health while placing a heavy care burden on caregivers, who often experience mental health problems. The modified online MBCT intervention was found applicable and effective for these caregivers.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2024
Hirotaka Uchitomi, Yuma Yamamoto, Kishiko Ueno et al.
1 citation
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) can be induced scientifically and are of interest for applications in the Metaverse and medicine. This study replicated a 2007 experiment to test whether native language influences the ability to have such experiences. Nineteen age-matched native English and Japanese speakers completed the experiment, and their experiences were assessed via questionnaires. No significant differences were found between the two language groups; OBEs were induced similarly in both, suggesting that people respond to the same stimuli regardless of native language. However, differences in introspective reports indicated that the quality of the experiences may differ, possibly due to linguistic background. Understanding these cultural and cognitive factors could inform OBE applications in borderless virtual environments and healthcare.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2024
Louis N Irwin
1 citation
A new symbolic profile uses three observable behaviors—volition, interaction, and self-direction—to represent subjective experience across animals with a centralized nervous system. Each behavior is quantified by frequency, variety, and dynamism, creating a 3-by-3 matrix that can be displayed as a bidirectional heatmap. This approach allows quick comparison of subjective experience between species, from crustaceans to primates, highlighting similarities and differences without relying on human-centered metrics or empirical data. The profile is a theoretical construct based on markers of consciousness in humans but grounded in behaviors measurable in any animal.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2024
Aleš Oblak, Matic Kuclar, Katja Horvat Golob et al.
1 citation
A detailed case study of a patient with multiple psychiatric comorbidities, maladaptive coping mechanisms, and adverse childhood experiences followed for two years. Using phenomenological interviews, neuropsychological assessments, language analysis, and semi-structured interviews, a personalized network model of the patient's lifeworld was constructed. The core psychopathological theme identified was 'the crisis of objectivity'—a persistent mistrust of any information appraised as originating in his subjectivity, developmentally traceable to adverse childhood experiences and a psychotic episode. Correspondence was found between subjective reports and other data sources. Social sensorimotor, positive valence, and negative valence system dysfunctions likely relate to a primary deficit from childhood adversity, while cognitive symptoms may be tied to maladaptive coping mechanisms or the primary disorder.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2024
Oulmann Zerhouni, Sandra Loisy, Renaud Bouthier et al.
1 citation
A prevention program targeting ecstasy, cannabidiol, and nitrous oxide used four actions: training for 84 association workers, on-site interventions with 248 students, social media posts reaching 186 young people, and providing prevention tools to 148 party organizers. After training, workers' understanding of emerging substances improved from an average score of 15.76 to 18.29. Among young people, intentions to use MDMA shifted from 15.89 to 19.17, and awareness of CBD effects increased from 14.18 to 17.60. Instagram posts about nitrous oxide led to more negative attitudes, with scores changing from 8.16 to 8.42. A website providing information showed no significant effect.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2022
J Kevin O'Regan
1 citation
Two fundamental aspects of phenomenal experiences—their locus (whether they seem external, internal, or mental) and their imposingness (how present they feel, including spatio-temporal presence)—are linked to voluntary control over bodily actions. The external/internal/mental dimension depends on how voluntary bodily actions influence sensorimotor information flow. The degree of imposingness and spatio-temporal presence depends on how voluntary actions are impeded or aided by innate attention-grabbing mechanisms. This account, combined with prior work on inter- and intra-modal differences, suggests a path toward a scientific theory explaining why experiences feel like something rather than nothing.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2021
Alexandra Kitson, Alice Chirico, Andrea Gaggioli et al.
1 citation
correction
This notice corrects an error in a previously published article. No new findings or arguments are presented.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2016
Konstantinos Moutoussis
1 citation
A percept emerges when the brain is activated in a certain way, and all perceptual experiences—whether veridical, illusory, or hallucinatory—share this common neural cause. What distinguishes them is the separate external cause of that activation pattern. The article argues that everyday language’s separation of the perceptual event from its hypothetical content creates unnecessary ontological complications. A clear distinction is made between physical properties of the real world (e.g., wavelength reflectance) and psychological properties of perceptual experiences (e.g., color). Although perception is a way of acquiring knowledge, this acquisition is a cognitive process separate from and following perception, which should remain neutral regarding the truth of the knowledge acquired.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2026
Sarfaraz K Niazi
Empathy can be modulated through pharmacological, neurostimulation, and behavioral approaches, but effects are generally small to moderate and often temporary. Intranasal oxytocin shows modest, context-dependent effects (d = 0.24), while MDMA-assisted therapy yields larger benefits (d ≈ 0.91) in trauma-focused therapy but faces regulatory hurdles. Neurostimulation techniques like transcranial magnetic stimulation (d ≈ 0.18-0.20) offer causal insights but limited lasting behavioral change. Behavioral interventions, especially mindfulness-based programs longer than 24 hours (d = 0.37), show the greatest potential for scalability and sustainability. Empathy remains a promising but clinically constrained therapeutic target, requiring larger trials and standardized outcome measures.