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What Can Neuroscience Learn from Contemplative Practices?
A recent wave of brain research has advanced our understanding of the neural mechanisms of conscious states, contents and functions. A host of questions remain to be explored, as shown by lively debates between models of higher vs. lower-order aspects of consciousness, as well as global vs. local models. (Baars 2007; Block, 2009; Dennett and Cohen, 2011; Lau and Rosenthal, 2011). Over some twenty-five centuries the contemplative traditions have also developed explicit descriptions and taxonomies of the mind, to interpret experiences that are often reported in contemplative practices (Radhakrishnan & Moore, 1967; Rinbochay & Naper, 1981). These traditional descriptions sometimes converge on c...
Meditation
Meditation, Volume 244, the latest release in the Progress in Brain Research series, highlights new advances in the field with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on The effect of meditation on attentional processes, State-trait influences of Vipassana meditation practice on P3 EEG dynamics, What could teachers learn from the neuroscience of self-experience?, Training Attention for Conscious Non-REM Sleep: The Yogic Technique of Yoga Nidra and Its Implications for Neuroscience Research, CNV and P3 modulations following sensorimotor training, Analytical meditation: a characterization of a reasoning-based meditation training, Buddhist meditation and the regulation of brain networks, Mindfulness-based Emotional Balance Training in Military Spouse, and more.
Extreme Religious Behaviours
Certain religious behaviours clearly reduce biological fitness. These behaviours include celibacy along with various forms of asceticism, and rituals that harm the performer. Such behaviours are found in widely different cultures. How is this possible? This book shows that these behaviours (as is religion in general) are by-products of features of the human mind whose evolutionary fitness is beyond doubt and explores those features. Which are those features? This book proposes a twofold answer. It draws attention to the layered nature of human consciousness, in which different manners of experience are superimposed on each other. This goes a long way toward accounting for the universal relig...
The long and short of mental time travel-- self-projection over time-scales large and small
Researchers working in many fields of psychology and neuroscience are interested in the temporal structure of experience, as well as the experience of time, at scales of a few milliseconds up to a few seconds as well as days, months, years, and beyond. This Research Topic supposes that broadly speaking, the field of "time psychology" can be organized by distinguishing between "perceptual" and "conceptual" time-scales. Dealing with conceptual time: "mental time travel," also called mental simulation, self-projection, episodic-semantic memory, prospection/foresight, allows humans (and perhaps other animals) to imagine and plan events and experiences in their personal futures, based in large pa...
Down the rabbit hole – the psychological and neural mechanisms of psychedelic compounds and their use in treating mental health and medical conditions
Psychedelic compounds use has a rich and complicated history spanning through ancient cultures, modern medical use, cultural movements and national and international politics. With the latest resurgence of use of these compounds in mental health and medical conditions, we are just scratching the surface of understanding the mechanisms that underlie these drugs' effects and their ways of action in the single body and in society as a whole.
The Creative Brain
A nuanced, science-based understanding of the creative mind that dispels the pervasive myths we hold about the human brain—but also uncovers the truth at their cores. What is the relationship between creativity and madness? Creativity and intelligence? Do psychedelics truly enhance creativity? How should we understand the left and right hemispheres of the brain? Is the left brain, in fact, the seat of reasoning and the right brain the seat of creativity? These are just some of the questions Anna Abraham, a renowned expert of human creativity and the imagination, explores in The Creative Brain, a fascinating deep dive into the origins of the seven most common beliefs about the human brain. ...
A History of Mysticism
This book offers a historical overview of mysticism in the world's major religious traditions. Beginning with a chapter on the nature of mystical experiences, A History of Mysticism then turns to a discussion of mysticism's prehistory in shamanism and the early use of psychedelics. The possible role of mystical experiences among early Greek philosophers (including Socrates and Plato) is subsequently addressed, followed by chapters on mysticism in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, and a variety of present-day iterations, including New Age mysticism, secular mysticism, and the scientific study of mystical experiences. An appendix covering popular misunderstandings of mystical experiences and mysticism is also included. Written in a clear, accessible style, this book is suitable for students of religion and philosophy as well as general readers interested in mysticism and the world's variety of mystical traditions.
Reconstructing 'Education' through Mindful Attention
This book reconstructs the idea and practice of education. Rather than conceiving of education as a process we undergo in which our minds are shaped by a social vision, Oren Ergas turns this notion of education on its head, arguing instead that we ourselves construct education. The multitude of problems with formal education and schooling, such as violence, inequality, and low achievements, are then seen as reflections of problems of the mind, meaning that close study of the mind is necessary if these problems are to be successfully tackled. Through philosophy, neuroscience and psychology, this book proposes a new perspective on 'educational' theory, practice and research. It will be of great interest to students and teachers, scholars of education, and educational policy-makers.
Presence
Research on the beneficial effects of mindfulness and meditation has boomed over the last decade. This volume is the first book-length review of this extensive body of research, aimed at the non-specialist reader, examining effects on brain activation, brain structure, attention, stress, and well-being, and how mindfulness works as therapy.
