Ayahuasca compound changes brainwaves to vivid 'waking-dream' state

Scientists have peered inside the brain to show how taking DMT affects human consciousness by significantly altering the brain's electrical activity.

How meditation can help you make fewer mistakes

New research tested how open monitoring meditation altered brain activity in a way that suggests increased error recognition.

Mind-body therapies alleviate pain in people prescribed opioids

A new study details the first comprehensive look across the scientific literature at the role of mind-body therapies in addressing opioid-treated pain. The researchers found that certain mind-body therapies can reduce pain, as well as reduce opioid use, among patients treated with prescription opioids.

Mindfulness meditation enhances positive effects of psilocybin

Recent years have seen a renewed interest in the clinical application of classic psychedelics in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders. Researchers have now shown that mindfulness meditation can enhance the positive long-term effects of a single dose of psilocybin, which is found in certain mushrooms.

The propensity to hear 'voices' in Schizophrenia may be established by infancy

Findings reveal how auditory hallucinations may arise in patients with schizophrenia and provide potential new targets for early detection and treatment.

Is this brain cell your 'mind's eye'?

No-one knows what connects awareness -- the state of consciousness -- with its contents, i.e. thoughts and experiences. Now researchers propose an elegant solution: a literal, structural connection via 'L5p neurons'. The group offers evidence - and caveats. Their challenge to experimentalists: if consciousness requires L5p neurons, all brain activity without them must be unconscious.

Psychology of attraction to religious deities and super-heroes

A new psychological study has addressed centuries-old questions about how and why supernatural beings are worshipped.