Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2024
Hugo Toriz, Antonella Fagetti, Guadalupe Terán-pérez et al.
5 citations
An 81-year-old Mexican shaman, who recognized her gift in childhood, underwent electroencephalographic recording while performing three activities: reading cards for diagnosis, performing a limpia (cleansing) with eggs, stones, and bells, and entering an incorporation trance believed to allow a deceased entity to use her body as a communication channel. Alpha activity appeared when she was concentrated, suggesting a hypnagogic-like state. Predominant beta and gamma oscillations were observed, indicating a potential plastic phenomenon that modulates the assimilation of external and internal referents, guiding action, attention, and integration of mnemonic, sensory, and imaginative elements. The authors interpret shamanic trance as a biological potential of the human brain to induce non-ordinary states of consciousness shaped by cultural beliefs and practices.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2023
Stefano Goretti, Cecilia Maria Esposito, Gilberto Di Petta
5 citations
Psychiatric urgency involves serious mental suffering and behavioral change requiring prompt treatment, while emergency is life-threatening. Although phenomenological psychopathology has neglected this area, the phenomenological method is essential for clinical management. The manuscript explores the phenomenological perspective of psychiatric emergencies, emphasizing the centrality of the encounter between clinician and patient as two subjects, not just doctor and patient. The affective space of intersubjectivity and intercorporeality enables transformative understanding. The emergency room atmosphere—full of haste, anxiety, and expectation—hinders authentic encounter, which must be recovered for diagnosis and therapy. Clinicians should immerse themselves in the patient's life-world, using the phenomenological method to grasp the crisis's meaning and help re-inscribe it within the patient's history.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2023
Yuanyuan Mo, Zhiying Lei, Mei Chen et al.
5 citations
Self-help mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT-SH) improved mindfulness, reduced depression symptoms, and lowered suicidal ideation in patients with depression compared with a control group. In a randomized trial, 97 patients were assigned to MBCT-SH or a control condition. By week 8 and at a 3-month follow-up, the MBCT-SH group showed significantly greater mindfulness and lower depression and suicidal ideation scores. At a 6-month follow-up, per capita treatment costs were 5,298 RMB lower in the MBCT-SH group, while readmission rates did not differ significantly between groups. The findings suggest MBCT-SH is feasible and effective.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2023
Oiana Echabe-Ecenarro, Izaskun Orue, Esther Calvete
5 citations
Pregnant women with higher levels of dispositional mindfulness, particularly those who are non-judgmentally aware, report fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. A study of 535 women in their 26th week of pregnancy identified three mindfulness profiles: low mindfulness (53.8%), moderate mindfulness (34.3%), and non-judgmentally aware (11.9%). Compared to the low mindfulness group, women in the moderate and non-judgmentally aware profiles had fewer depression and anxiety symptoms, and these relationships were partly explained by higher dyadic satisfaction with their partner. Analyzing a pregnant woman's mindfulness profile may help tailor prevention and intervention efforts for anxiety and depression.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2023
Lise Juul, Emilie Hasager Bonde, Lone Overby Fjorback
5 citations
In a randomized controlled trial across 110 Danish schools, 191 teachers received Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) or were placed on a wait-list. After 3 and 6 months, MBSR reduced perceived stress, anxiety, depression, and improved well-being. These improvements were partly explained by changes in self-reported resting state: less mind wandering (Discontinuity of Mind), more planning, and greater comfort. Changes in sleepiness also partially explained effects on stress and anxiety. No mediating effects were found for theory of mind, self-awareness, or somatic awareness. The findings suggest that altering resting state is one mechanism through which MBSR benefits mental health.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2023
Julia C Basso, Medha K Satyal, Kevin L Mckee et al.
5 citations
Depersonalization and trauma symptoms are linked to heightened impulsivity, increased risk-seeking, impaired emotional states, and a history of traumatic experiences. Using the Competing Neurobehavioral Decisions System theory, the study modeled survey and task data from 557 English-speaking U.S. adults. Results show that an imbalance favoring impulsive over executive systems—marked by lower valuation of future rewards, greater risk-seeking, and worse affective states—predicts more severe depersonalization and PTSD symptoms. This is the first evidence connecting dissociation to delay discounting, the tendency to prefer immediate over delayed rewards. Interventions such as episodic future thinking or mindfulness meditation may help reduce dissociative symptoms.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2021
Marvin Liesner, Wilfried Kunde
5 citations
Perceptual changes caused by an agent's own actions can contribute to the minimal self, but these changes occur across different sensory modalities and vary in temporal and spatial proximity to the agent. Some changes affect the biological body and are conveyed by private sensory signals, while others occur in the environment and are conveyed by public sensory signals. The authors argue that although these signals have considerable functional overlap in generating self-experience, they should be distinguished in theories and empirical research on self-development.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2021
Valentin Forch, Fred H Hamker
5 citations
Two research movements—cognitive science and cognitive robotics—pursue different agendas in studying the minimal self. Cognitive science creates abstract models that predict human experimental data, while cognitive robotics builds embodied learning machines that develop a self from scratch, like human infants. Although both approaches can produce causal mechanistic models, building a minimal self in a robot is not the same as understanding the human minimal self. Conclusions drawn from robotic models about humans, or vice versa, require caution. Incorporating constraints from multiple levels of analysis is essential for models that predict, generate, and causally explain real-world behavior.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2020
Constantinos Picolas
5 citations
Patients in a Minimally Conscious State (MCS) show minimal signs of awareness, unlike those in a Vegetative State who show none. Existing research on self-awareness in MCS patients has focused only on higher-order, reflective self-awareness. This paper argues that a more basic, pre-reflective (or minimal) self-awareness—the implicit awareness of our embodied subjectivity that permeates all experiences—has been neglected. The author suggests that neuroimaging studies using First-Person Perspective-taking paradigms could assess minimal self-awareness in MCS patients, even when they lack self-reflective abilities. Such evidence would have theoretical implications for the concept of self-awareness and practical medical, social, and legal implications for managing awareness-impaired patients.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Lanjuan Liu, Cheng Liu, Lijun Tang et al.
4 citations
Yoga meditation reduces anxiety, depression, and perceived stress while improving emotional regulation and self-awareness in female college students. The practice positively influences neuroplasticity, inducing beneficial changes in brain regions associated with emotional control and cognitive flexibility. Improved autonomic nervous system function was observed, with increased parasympathetic activity and reduced sympathetic response. Meditation strengthened psychological resilience, improved stress-coping strategies, and sustained positive mental health benefits even after the intervention. Integrating yoga meditation into campus mental health programs is recommended.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Cheng Wang
4 citations
Buddhist meditation practices—Samatha (focused attention), Vipassana (open monitoring), and Metta (loving-kindness)—offer distinct pathways for transforming consciousness beyond conventional mindfulness. These techniques systematically cultivate meta-cognitive insight, emotional regulation, and self-inquiry, leading to shifts in awareness and personal growth. Neuroscience and psychology studies indicate that these practices strengthen attentional stability, reshape self-referential thinking, and reorganize emotional patterns, as seen in altered default-mode network activity and characteristic EEG patterns. While sharing parallels with Western mindfulness and hypnosis, Buddhist meditation uniquely emphasizes ethical integration and profound introspection. Challenges remain in objectively measuring advanced states like "no-self" (anattā) due to reliance on subjective self-report, suggesting future research incorporate culturally sensitive methods and neurophenomenology.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
David Martínez-pernía, Alejandro Troncoso, Sergio E Chaigneau et al.
4 citations
ChatGPT can process large qualitative datasets for phenomenological analysis while preserving depth and nuance. The tool follows four stages: preparing phenomenological data, individual analysis highlighting experiential nuances, global analysis synthesizing narratives, and structuring shared experience components. Custom prompts ensure alignment and precision. ChatGPT organizes themes reflecting sensation intensity and variations in empathetic encounters, transforming raw input into detailed phenomenological accounts. Its proficiency combines precision with scalability for consciousness studies. Further research is needed to understand AI's capacity in phenomenological analysis and strengthen the methodological framework.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Jenny Moix, Isabel Nieto, Anna Yue De la Rua
4 citations
People who have had out-of-body experiences (OBEs) often describe them as more vivid and authentic than everyday reality. In interviews with 10 participants without mental or neurological disorders, five interpreted their OBEs through concepts like "other planes or dimensions" and "universal consciousness," aligning with non-local or expanded consciousness theories. Four had no explanation, and one gave a physiological account. The findings suggest that theories of non-local consciousness could be enriched by incorporating these firsthand experiential perspectives.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Matteo Laurenzi, Antonino Raffone, Shaun Gallagher et al.
4 citations
The self in non-human animals is often studied in a limited, dichotomous way that separates low-level bodily and affective aspects from high-level cognitive ones. A proposed framework based on the Pattern Theory of Self (PTS) treats the self as a dynamic, multidimensional construct with graded, non-hierarchical dimensions—ranging from bodily and affective to intersubjective and normative. This approach accommodates variability within and across species, allowing researchers to investigate how the self emerges in different degrees and forms shaped by ecological niches and adaptive demands, without relying on anthropocentric biases.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Lawrence Fischman
4 citations
MDMA-assisted therapy for trauma is unusually effective, partly because the therapist's full trust in the participant's inner healing intelligence—analogous to the body's self-healing—helps trauma survivors who struggle with trust to engage the therapist as a witness. The medication enhances trust subjectively. This therapeutic attitude parallels how a relational psychoanalyst acts as witness in resolving dissociative enactment. Trusting one's inner healing intelligence is dynamically equivalent to trusting the relational process, making it a process of feeling witnessed. The therapist's willingness to acknowledge limitations, coupled with conviction that the participant's primary need is to feel witnessed, facilitates integration of dissociated experience.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Lis Johles, Peter Molander, Carolina Lundqvist
4 citations
A 4-week body scan intervention did not improve quality of life among Swedish student-athletes compared with a relaxation control. The study, involving 99 student-athletes from six high schools, found no significant differences between the two groups in quality-of-life change, and no evidence that changes in five facets of mindfulness (acting with awareness, describing, non-judgment, non-reactivity, and observing) mediated any effect. The results indicate that body scans had no effect on student-athletes' quality of life in this pilot study, suggesting that future research should refine mindfulness interventions and explore other practices.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2024
Zhang Li, Dong Lei, Li Ting et al.
4 citations
A meta-analysis of 11 randomized controlled trials with 993 patients found that mindfulness interventions reduced anxiety and depression and improved quality of life in people with malignant tumors. Compared with usual care, mindfulness produced a large reduction in anxiety and in depression, and a moderate improvement in quality of life. The results suggest mindfulness can alleviate negative emotions and enhance well-being in this population.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2023
Otto Simonsson, Cecilia U D Stenfors, Simon B Goldberg et al.
4 citations
Mindfulness meditation and psychedelic use are both associated with positive impacts on leadership, though through different mechanisms. In a representative sample of 3,150 managers in the US and UK, more lifetime hours of mindfulness meditation and greater psychological insight during the most intense psychedelic experience each independently predicted a positive leadership impact (odds ratios 2.33 and 3.49, respectively). Both practices shared subthemes such as improved focus, creativity, patience, empathy, and compassion. Unique to mindfulness were better sleep, stress reduction, and calming effects; unique to psychedelics were greater self-understanding, less hierarchical attitudes, and positive interpersonal changes. The cross-sectional design precludes causal conclusions, but the findings suggest complementary benefits for leadership development.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2023
Shigeru Taguchi, Hayato Saigo
4 citations
Human consciousness constantly shifts through time, yet each moment is experienced as "now." This duality, called "the standing-streaming now" in Husserlian phenomenology, can be precisely formalized using category theory: the structure of the "now" corresponds to a monoid, while viewing present moments as discrete points on a timeline corresponds to a coslice category. This mathematical framework clarifies differences between ordinary consciousness and meditative states, such as the "eternal now" described in early Buddhist scriptures (Pali Canon) and Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō, which remarkably reflect a monoid structure.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2021
Javier García-campayo, Nieves Moyano, Marta Modrego-Alarcón et al.
4 citations
A Spanish version of the Lucidity and Consciousness in Dreams scale (LuCiD) was validated in 367 Spanish adults, 40.3% of whom had meditation experience. The scale’s original eight-factor structure (insight, control, thought, realism, memory, dissociation, negative emotion, positive emotion) was confirmed, with adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability after removing one poorly performing item. Meditators scored higher on the insight and dissociation factors than non-meditators. The mindfulness facet of observing was positively linked to most LuCiD factors, while acting with awareness correlated negatively with realism. Positive and negative affect corresponded to the respective LuCiD emotion factors. The scale provides a reliable tool for measuring dream lucidity and consciousness in Spanish populations, and the results suggest connections between meditation experience, mindfulness traits, and dream characteristics.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2020
Thomas Netland
4 citations
The article argues that Merleau-Ponty's philosophy supports integrating transcendental phenomenology with empirical science, contrary to the claim that they are fundamentally separate. The author proposes an "Integrationist View" where consciousness is understood as a structure of behavior that precedes the distinction between objective and subjective, and first- and third-person perspectives. On this view, the transcendental is not separate from science but consists of contingent organizational norms of empirical nature, best illuminated through dialogue between phenomenological and scientific approaches. Merleau-Ponty's analysis of the Schneider case is presented as an example of this integration.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Fereshteh Mehrabi, Shadi Beshai
3 citations
Three distinct profiles of dispositional mindfulness were identified in a sample of 604 adults recruited online. The profiles—Judgmentally Describing, Low Mindfulness, and Non-Judgmentally Describing—differed in their associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms. Women were more likely than men to belong to the Low Mindfulness profile. People in the Low Mindfulness group reported the highest levels of anxiety and depression, while those in the Non-Judgmentally Describing group reported the lowest. These findings suggest that considering mindfulness profiles could help tailor mindfulness-based interventions to individual needs.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Jutta M Tobias Mortlock, Hotri Himasri Alapati, Trudi Edginton
3 citations
Shared mindfulness practice in an online community during the COVID-19 pandemic may foster pillars of connection and interbeing, including improved mind-body awareness, trust, collective alignment, and a sense of common humanity. These findings, from semi-structured interviews, are discussed through interdependence theory, leading to exploratory propositions for creating a mindful community of practice. The study calls for more research and invites testing of these propositions in workplaces, educational settings, or neighborhoods.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Sarah Straßnig, Tobias Herzl, Afrodita Latifi et al.
3 citations
Oceanic feelings—experiences of boundlessness, unity, or fragmentation—can foster spiritual experiences but also contribute to psychosis proneness. In a survey of 480 non-clinical adults, positive oceanic feelings were strongly linked to increased connectedness and general religiosity, while negative oceanic feelings showed weak to moderate associations with schizotypy and personality organization. Personality organization fully mediated the relationship between negative oceanic feelings and both schizotypy and general religiosity, and partially mediated the link with connectedness. Positive oceanic feelings enhanced religiosity and connectedness independently of personality organization. Strengthening personality organization may protect against destabilizing effects of negative oceanic experiences, informing psychotherapy and spiritual counseling.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2024
Ronald P Endicott
3 citations
Inner speech, the experience of a voice inside the mind, may arise from a cross-modal illusion. The Body Error Theory (BET) proposes that subtle, confirmed activities in the speech musculature during inner speech combine with ordinary quiet nonverbal sounds—such as breathing or background noise—to create a mistaken perception of speech sounds. This illusion explains the 'voice within the mind' without requiring a suppressed copy of overt speech. The theory integrates with standard speech-monitoring accounts, accommodates insights from leading theories, and is supported by experience-sampling data. BET offers a testable alternative to existing explanations.