Psychologists create body-maps of hallucinations

Psychologists have created body-maps of the sensations which arise during hallucinations in people experiencing psychosis.

Which types of brain activity support conscious experiences?

Our subjective experience appears to us in a continuous stream of integrated information, and researchers now explore the question: Which characteristics should brain activity have to support this type of conscious experiences? The group searched for integrated structures that encompass most of the brain but change configuration from time to time. Their hypothesis was these structures should vanish during states of deep unconsciousness, such as deep sleep or while under general anesthetics.

Psychedelic spurs growth of neural connections lost in depression

In a new study, researchers show that a single dose of psilocybin given to mice prompted an immediate and long-lasting increase in connections between neurons. The findings are published July 5 in the journal Neuron.

Study finds novel evidence that dreams reflect multiple memories, anticipate future events

Dreams result from a process that often combines fragments of multiple life experiences and anticipates future events, according to novel evidence from a new study.

Explanatiion of how religious beliefs may be formed

Feeling anxious can direct our attention and memory toward supernatural beings such as gods, a new study has found.

Our dreams' weirdness might be why we have them, argues new AI-inspired theory of dreaming

Why we dream is a divisive topic within the scientific community, and the neuroscience field is saturated with hypotheses. Inspired by techniques used to train deep neural networks, a neuroscience researcher argues for a new theory of dreams: the overfitted brain hypothesis. The hypothesis suggests that the strangeness of our dreams serves to help our brains better generalize our day-to-day experiences.

Meditative practice and spiritual wellbeing may preserve cognitive function in aging

It is projected that up to 152 million people worldwide will be living with Alzheimer's disease (AD) by 2050. To date there are no drugs that have a substantial positive impact on either the prevention or reversal of cognitive decline. A growing body of evidence finds that targeting lifestyle and vascular risk factors have a beneficial effect on overall cognitive performance. A new review examines research that finds spiritual fitness, a new concept in medicine that centers on psychological and spiritual wellbeing, and Kirtan Kriya, a simple 12-minute meditative practice, may reduce multiple risk factors for AD.