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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Can Enlightenment Be Traced To Specific Neural Correlates, Cognition, Or Behavior? No, And (A Qualified) Yes, Jake H. Davis, David R. Vago Nov 2013

Can Enlightenment Be Traced To Specific Neural Correlates, Cognition, Or Behavior? No, And (A Qualified) Yes, Jake H. Davis, David R. Vago

Publications and Research

The field of contemplative science is rapidly growing and integrating into the basic neurosciences, psychology, clinical sciences, and society-at-large. Yet the majority of current research in the contemplative sciences has been divorced from the soteriological context from which these meditative practices originate and has focused instead on clinical applications with goals of stress reduction and psychotherapeutic health. In the existing research on health outcomes of mindfulness-based clinical interventions, for example, there have been almost no attempts to scientifically investigate the goal of enlightenment. This is a serious oversight, given that such profound transformation across ethical, perceptual, emotional, and cognitive domains …


Effortless Awareness: Using Real Time Neurofeedback To Investigate Correlates Of Posterior Cingulate Cortex Activity In Meditators' Self-Report, Kathleen A. Garrison, Juan F. Santoyo, Jake H. Davis, Thomas A. Thomhill Iv, Catherine E. Kerr, Judson A. Brewer Aug 2013

Effortless Awareness: Using Real Time Neurofeedback To Investigate Correlates Of Posterior Cingulate Cortex Activity In Meditators' Self-Report, Kathleen A. Garrison, Juan F. Santoyo, Jake H. Davis, Thomas A. Thomhill Iv, Catherine E. Kerr, Judson A. Brewer

Publications and Research

Neurophenomenological studies seek to utilize first-person self-report to elucidate cognitive processes related to physiological data. Grounded theory offers an approach to the qualitative analysis of self-report, whereby theoretical constructs are derived from empirical data. Here we used grounded theory methodology (GTM) to assess how the first-person experience of meditation relates to neural activity in a core region of the default mode network—the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). We analyzed first-person data consisting of meditators' accounts of their subjective experience during runs of a real time fMRI neurofeedback study of meditation, and third-person data consisting of corresponding feedback graphs of PCC activity …


Neurophenomenological Methods: Experiences Of Earth And Space In Simulation, Patricia Morrow Jan 2013

Neurophenomenological Methods: Experiences Of Earth And Space In Simulation, Patricia Morrow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study explores the nature and structure of spiritual and aesthetic experiences through the interdisciplinary application of neurophenomenology (NP). This approach merges aspects of psychology, neurophysiology, and phenomenology into a unified methodology. The study is nested within a larger project, Space, Science, and Spirituality, and as such, it carries a common goal to use simulation to evoke spiritual and aesthetic responses similar to those expressed by astronauts and cosmonauts. Careful analysis of previous work in NP provided methodological “lessons learned”, which guided the experimental design, execution, and analysis of the present study. The data collected provides support for experience …