Search results for "meditation"

Art as Inquiry: The Autopsy of an [Art] Experience

2003

In this article, I explore transgressive experience by embracing my personal encounters with art and life. In accordance with a phenomenological approach, I emphasize immediate experience, description, and analysis of the world as a source of knowledge and understanding. From the perspective both of art education and research, I attempt to show the enslaving effect of conventions. Furthermore, I trace and lay bare the origins of my transgressive experience from a methodological viewpoint by describing and interpreting the moments and threads that link them with time, place, and situations, thus making transparent my actions as a researcher. I travel upstream, first discussing writing, then…

Religiosity and meditation practice : Exploring their explanatory power on psychological adjustment

2019

There has been increased interest in the relationships between religiosity, meditation practice and well-being, but there is lack of understanding as to how specific religious components and distinct meditation practices could influence different positive and negative psychological adjustment outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the explanatory power of religious beliefs and the practice of prayer, focused attention (FA), open monitoring (OM), and compassion meditation (CM) on psychological adjustment, taking into consideration a number of practice-related variables such as session length, frequency of practice and lifetime practice. Psychological adjustment was assessed by means o…

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

2017

Comparative assessment of brain activity during depth perception of stereoscopic and volumetric images

2020

Recent advancements in visualization systems have triggered a growing demand for the objective and accurate comparison of user cognitive requirements when perceiving three-dimensional images demonstrated in different ways. In this work, we present the first comparative assessment of brain activity in subjects viewing stereoscopic images and volumetric images. Electroencephalography was employed to assess the short-term changes in event related potentials and neural oscillations which were further interpreted in terms of cognitive requirements for relative depth judgments. As a result, considerably higher activity have been registered in the beta band and gamma band in case of judging relati…

Exploring Frequency-dependent Brain Networks from ongoing EEG using Spatial ICA during music listening

2019

AbstractRecently, exploring brain activity based on functional networks during naturalistic stimuli especially music and video represents an attractive challenge because of the low signal-to-noise ratio in collected brain data. Although most efforts focusing on exploring the listening brain have been made through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), sensor-level electro- or magnetoencephalography (EEG/MEG) technique, little is known about how neural rhythms are involved in the brain network activity under naturalistic stimuli. This study exploited cortical oscillations through analysis of ongoing EEG and musical feature during free-listening to music. We used a data-driven method t…

2020

Besides the pure pleasure of watching a dance performance, dance as a whole-body movement is becoming increasingly popular for health-related interventions. However, the science-based evidence for improvements in health or well-being through dance is still ambiguous and little is known about the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms. This may be partly related to the fact that previous studies mostly examined the neurophysiological effects of imagination and observation of dance rather than the physical execution itself. The objective of this pilot study was to investigate acute effects of a physically executed dance with its different components (recalling the choreography and physical …

Alpha-Synchronized Stimulation of the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC) in Major Depression: A Proof-of-Principle EEG-TMS Study

2018

High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) shows therapeutic potential in pharmaco-resistant patients with major depression. However, clinical efficacy is limited by high inter-individual variability and low response rates. One possible strategy to improve the effect size and consistency may be brain state dependent brain stimulation, i.e. coupling of TMS pulses to the endogenous brain states as reflected by the instantaneous oscillatory brain activity. Here we present findings from a proof-of-principle study of alpha-oscillation synchronized brain stimulation of the frontal cortex in patients with major depression (…

Frontal Electroencephalogram Alpha Asymmetry during Mental Stress Related to Workplace Noise

2021

This study aims to investigate the effects of workplace noise on neural activity and alpha asymmetries of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during mental stress conditions. Workplace noise exposure is a pervasive environmental pollutant and is negatively linked to cognitive effects and selective attention. Generally, the stress theory is assumed to underlie the impact of noise on health. Evidence for the impacts of workplace noise on mental stress is lacking. Fifteen healthy volunteer subjects performed the Montreal imaging stress task in quiet and noisy workplaces while their brain activity was recorded using electroencephalography. The salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) was measured before and immedi…

2017

Abstract Background Neurofeedback (NF) in children with ADHD has been investigated in a series of studies over the last years. Previous studies did not unanimously support NF as a treatment in ADHD. Most studies did not control for unspecific treatment effects and did not demonstrate that self-regulation took place. The present study examined the efficacy of NF in comparison to electromyographic feedback (EMG) to control for unspecific effects of the treatment, and assessed self-regulation of slow cortical potentials (SCP). Methods A total of 150 children aged 7 - 9 years diagnosed with ADHD (82% male; 43% medicated) were randomized to 25 sessions of feedback of slow cortical potentials (NF…

EEG Brain Activity in Dynamic Health Qigong Training: Same Effects for Mental Practice and Physical Training?

2017

In recent years, there has been significant uptake of meditation and related relaxation techniques, as a means of alleviating stress and fostering an attentive mind. Several electroencephalogram (EEG) studies have reported changes in spectral band frequencies during Qigong meditation indicating a relaxed state. Much less is reported on effects of brain activation patterns induced by Qigong techniques involving bodily movement. In this study we tested whether (1) physical Qigong training alters EEG theta and alpha activation, and (2) mental practice induces the same effect as a physical Qigong training. Subjects performed the dynamic Health Qigong technique Wu Qin Xi (five animals) physicall…