[Is the brain the creator of psychic phenomena or is a paradigm shift inevitable?]

Every day new scientific information is appearing that cannot be explained using the classical Newtonian model and is calling for the emergence of a new paradigm that would include the explanation of such phenomena as telepathy, clairvoyance, presentiment, precognition, out of the body experiences, psychic healing, after-death communication, near-death experiences and reincarnation. The materialist paradigm which considers the brain as the sole cause of consciousness and psychic phenomena has been challenged by a new paradigm that seems to demonstrate that there is not a cause-effect relationship between brain activity and psychic phenomena but only a correlation between them, since these phenomena can be experienced without the body and appear to have an extra-cerebral origin (cosmic field, cosmic consciousness?). Of course, the brain is intensely involved in the manifestation of consciousness in our daily life but this is not equivalent to affirm that brain creates consciousness. Recent findings force us to consider a non-physical, spiritual and transpersonal aspect of reality.

Body awareness and mindfulness: validation of the Spanish version of the Scale of Body Connection

BACKGROUND

To assess the psychometric properties and the factor structure of the Spanish version of the Scale of Body Connection (SBC) in a community population of meditators and non-meditators and to investigate the relationships among mindfulness, body awareness and body dissociation.

METHODS

Design. Validation study. Sampling. An internet-based commercial system was used to recruit the sample. Instruments. In addition to the SBC, the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) were administered.

RESULTS

A sample of 578 subjects responded to all of the items in the protocol. A total of 55.2% of respondents had some previous experience with meditation. A Scree plot showed a two-factor solution involving the Body Awareness (BA) and Body Dissociation (BD) subscales. This study differed from the original validation study in the lack of independence of the subscales; they were correlated in the present study (r=-.11). Internal consistency for BA was α: .86, and for BD, the α was .62. Test-retest reliability was assessed in a subsample (N=67) and was r=.679 for BA and r=.765 for BD. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that mindfulness practice and the FFMQ factors of Observing and Describing were positive predictors of BA. Describing, Acting with awareness and Non-judging negatively predicted BD, and Observing positively predicted BD.

CONCLUSION

The study confirms the adequacy of the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the SBC for use in community samples. The relationship between SBC and mindfulness is discussed in light of previous research.

[Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker's philosophy of the mind]

The paper deals with Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker's position within the philosophy of mind. It turns out that Weizsäcker's ontology is based on an unorthodox conception both in the philosophy of physics and in the philosophy of mind. His quantum information theoretic reductionism is based on a subtle combination of atomism and holism, his philosophy of mind connected to this is a neutral monism, which proposes a bold intertwining of mind, matter, and space.

Meditation research, past, present, and future: perspectives from the Nalanda contemplative science tradition

This article offers an overview of meditation research: its history, recent developments, and future directions. As the number and scope of studies grow, the field has converged with cognitive and affective neuroscience, and spawned many clinical applications. Recent work has shed light on the mechanisms and effects of diverse practices, and is entering a new phase where consensus and coherent paradigms are within reach. This article suggests an unusual path for future advancement: complementing conventional research with rigorous dialogue with the contemplative traditions that train expert meditators and best know the techniques. It explores the Nalanda tradition developed in India and preserved in Tibet, because its cumulative approach to contemplative methods produced a comprehensive framework that may help interpret data and guide research, and because its naturalistic theories and empirical methods may help bridge the gulf between science and other contemplative traditions. Examining recent findings and models in light of this framework, the article introduces the Indic map of the central nervous system and presents three testable predictions based on it. Finally, it reviews two studies that suggest that the multimodal Nalanda approach to contemplative learning is as well received as more familiar approaches, while showing promise of being more effective.

Getting comfortable with near death experiences. Out of one's mind or beyond the brain? The challenge of interpreting near-death experiences

With one exception, near-death experiences (NDEs) may be interpreted as unusual forms of hallucinations associated with the injured or dying brain. The exception involves perceptions described from vantage points outside the body that are later confirmed to be correct and could not have been inferred. Over a century of laboratory studies have investigated whether it is possible in principle for the mind to transcend the physical boundaries of the brain. The cumulative experimental database strongly indicates that it can. It is not clear that this implies the mind is separate from the brain, but it does suggest that a comprehensive explanation for NDEs will require revisions to present scientific assumptions about the brain-mind relationship.

Meditation improves self-regulation over the life span

The use of meditation to improve emotion and attention regulation has a long history in Asia and there are many practitioners in Western countries. Much of the evidence on the effectiveness of meditation is either anecdotal or a comparison of long-term meditators with controls matched in age and health. Recently, it has been possible to establish changes in self-regulation in undergraduate students after only 5 days of meditation practice, allowing randomized trials comparing effects of meditation with other self-control methods such as relaxation training. Early studies took place in Chinese universities; however, similar effects have been obtained with U.S. undergraduates, and with Chinese children aged 4.5 years and older Chinese participants aged 65 years. Studies using neuroimaging techniques have shown that meditation improves activation and connectivity in brain areas related to self-regulation, and these findings may provide an opportunity to examine remediation of mental disorders in a new light.

[Distant mental influence on living organisms]

This article reviews studies of distant mental influence on living organisms, including mental suggestions of sleeping and awakening, mental influence at long distances, mental interactions with remote biological systems, mental effects on physiological activity and the sense of being stared at. Significant effects of distant mental influence have been shown in several randomized controlled trials in humans, animals, plants, bacteria and cells in the laboratory. Although distant mental influence on living organisms appears to contradict our ordinary sense of reality and the laws defined by conventional science, several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the observed effects; they include skeptical, signal transfer, field, multidimensional space/time and quantum mechanics hypotheses. In conclusion, as the progress of physics continues to expand our comprehension of reality, a rational explanation for distant mind-matter interaction will emerge and, as history has shown repeatedly, the supernatural events will evolve into paranormal and then, into normal ones, as the scientific frontiers expand.

[Neuroethics as the neuroscience of ethics]

INTRODUCTION

The neurosciences have developed at a stunningly fast rate. Key points accounting for this progression include the introduction of functional neuroimaging techniques and the boost resulting from the Decade of the Brain project. This expansion has also allowed new disciplines such as neuroethics to appear.

DEVELOPMENT

Those who have worked on neuroethics can be divided into three groups (neuroreductionists, neurosceptics and neurocritics), and each group has its own standpoint as regards what neuroethics is, with several scopes and limitations in their proposals.

CONCLUSIONS

Neuroethics is a discipline that, prior to the year 2002, was understood only as an ethics of neuroscience (a branch of bioethics). As of that date, however, it is also understood as a neuroscience of ethics (a new discipline). Neuroreductionism proposes that all ethical life has a basis in the brain that determines ethical actions; neuroscepticism holds that neuroscience cannot be considered a normative function; and neurocriticism considers that the neuroscientific advances cannot be ignored and must be taken into account in some way in order to draw up ethical theories.

[Neurons and values]

This article examines the advances made by neuroscience in the attempt to find an answer to the question regarding the origin and foundation of moral judgements and of human behaviour in compliance with them. The conception of the brain as something dynamic and capable of adapting to the social and cultural surroundings is seen to be an important point for philosophy. At the same time, the complexity of ethical issues that cannot be reduced to observations based strictly on neurons alone also becomes quite apparent. Nevertheless, scientists and philosophers should get together and communicate with one another so as to be able to pose their questions with greater rigour and take advantage of each other's respective knowledge.

Potentially harmful side-effects: medically unexplained symptoms, somatization, and the insufficient illness narrative for viewers of mystery diagnosis

Illness narrative has often been found to play a positive role in both patients' and providers' efforts to find meaning in the illness experience. However, illness narrative can sometimes become counterproductive, even pathological, particularly in cases of medical mystery--cases wherein biopsychosocial factors blur the distinction between bodily dysfunction and somatizing behavior. In this article, the author draws attention to two examples of medical mystery, the clinical presentation of medically unexplained symptoms, and the popular reality television program Mystery Diagnosis, to demonstrate the potentially harmful effects of illness narrative. The medical mystery's complex narrative structure reflects and tends to reinforce providers' and patients' mistaken assumptions, anxieties, and conflicts in ways which obstruct, rather than facilitate, healing.

A narrative review of yoga and mindfulness as complementary therapies for addiction

This paper reviews the philosophical origins, current scientific evidence, and clinical promise of yoga and mindfulness as complementary therapies for addiction. Historically, there are eight elements of yoga that, together, comprise ethical principles and practices for living a meaningful, purposeful, moral and self-disciplined life. Traditional yoga practices, including postures and meditation, direct attention toward one's health, while acknowledging the spiritual aspects of one's nature. Mindfulness derives from ancient Buddhist philosophy, and mindfulness meditation practices, such as gentle Hatha yoga and mindful breathing, are increasingly integrated into secular health care settings. Current theoretical models suggest that the skills, insights, and self-awareness learned through yoga and mindfulness practice can target multiple psychological, neural, physiological, and behavioral processes implicated in addiction and relapse. A small but growing number of well-designed clinical trials and experimental laboratory studies on smoking, alcohol dependence, and illicit substance use support the clinical effectiveness and hypothesized mechanisms of action underlying mindfulness-based interventions for treating addiction. Because very few studies have been conducted on the specific role of yoga in treating or preventing addiction, we propose a conceptual model to inform future studies on outcomes and possible mechanisms. Additional research is also needed to better understand what types of yoga and mindfulness-based interventions work best for what types of addiction, what types of patients, and under what conditions. Overall, current findings increasingly support yoga and mindfulness as promising complementary therapies for treating and preventing addictive behaviors.

Energy dialogue technique in healing and health: relieving side effects and thyroid dysfunction in a male with hemophilia receiving pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment for hepatitis C virus--an anecdotal case study

This article describes the use of energy dialogue technique (EDT), a healing intervention that provides awareness of imbalances in the energetic field that affect patients' health and guide the practitioner to sense and direct the frequency, vibration, intention, awareness, or consciousness to correct these imbalances. The authors document the effectiveness of this technique as it was used to treat side effects of the medical intervention for hepatitis C in a male with hemophilia. Following EDT, the client's symptoms of fatigue and pain improved by 30% to 40%; moreover, thyroid function returned to normal. The authors suggest that EDT be studied and explored for inclusion as a treatment modality.