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Special Issue Editors

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Guest Editor

School of Public Health, Tel-Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
Interests: mental health promotion; well-being and resilience; contemplative practices

Dr. Marc Wittmann

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Guest Editor

Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Hygiene, Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health, Wilhelmstrasse 3a, 79098 Freiburg, Germany
Interests: time perception; altered states of consciousness; self-consciousness; drug effects and drug dependence

Prof. Aviva Berkovich-Ohana

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Guest Editor

Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel
Interests: mindfulness in educational setups; sense of self; consciousness

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Biology focuses on recent advances in the field of the physiology of contemplative experiences and practices. Important advances in neuroscience, psychology and clinical medicine suggest that contemplative practices and experiences may change the brain and body (both function and structure) and potentially help improve health problems, enhance well-being and promote healthy behaviors. Contemplative practices vary and emerge from diverse traditions. As disciplines of body and mind they share a number of features, including the cultivation of altered state of consciousness (ASCs), or expanded consciousness, generally aiming at a holistic approach to well-being. Contemplative experiences include either psychologically (e.g., meditation, sensory deprivation, or contemplative inquiry) or physiologically (e.g., psychedelics) induced ASCs. Their measurable effects can be during the experience (short-term, state effects) or lasting (long-term, trait effects). Physiological measures can include neuroscience (central nervous system, peripheral physiology) and clinically relevant biological measures. One of the major proposed mechanisms that underlie such beneficial effects might be related to a shift in self-consciousness, especially a reduction in the central focus on self-consciousness, e.g., experiences of volitionally reduced self-boundaries, meditation-induced selflessness or psychedelic-induced ego-dissolution. Our goal is to stimulate interdisciplinary research by closing the gap between theoreticians and experimentalists in the field of contemplative-type practices and to foster collaborations that will strongly benefit both communities and improve our understanding of mechanisms that underlie the clinical effect of contemplative practices on health. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

Clinical work—biological measures of contemplative-type experiences, related to physical and mental health and well-being.
Basic science—relating contemplative-type experiences to physiological measures of (self) consciousness.
Theoretical contributions related to the above clinical work and basic science, including physiological measures.

Dr. Shahar Lev-Ari
Dr. Marc Wittmann
Prof. Aviva Berkovich-Ohana
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

physiology
neuroscience
well-being
consciousness
contemplative practices

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Changes in Subjective Time and Self during Meditation

Damisela Linares Gutiérrez

Stefan Schmidt

Karin Meissner

and

Marc Wittmann

Biology 2022, 11(8), 1116; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11081116 - 26 Jul 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1698

Abstract

This study examined the effects of meditative states in experienced meditators on present-moment awareness, subjective time, and self-awareness while assessing meditation-induced changes in heart-rate variability and breathing rate. A sample of 22 experienced meditators who practiced meditation techniques stressing awareness of the present moment (average 20 years of practice) filled out subjective scales pertaining to sense of time and the bodily self and accomplished a metronome task as an operationalization of present-moment awareness before and after a 20 min meditation session (experimental condition) and a 20 min reading session (control condition) according to a within-subject design. A mixed pattern of increased sympathetic and parasympathetic activity was found during meditation regarding heart-rate measures. Breathing intervals were prolonged during meditation. Participants perceived their body boundaries as less salient during meditation than while reading the story; they also felt time passed more quickly and they paid less attention to time during meditation. No significant differences between conditions became apparent for the metronome task. This is probably the first quantitative study to show how the experience of time during a meditation session is altered together with the sense of the bodily self. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Physiology of Contemplative Experiences and Practices)

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Review

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Open AccessReview

The ABC Model of Happiness—Neurobiological Aspects of Motivation and Positive Mood, and Their Dynamic Changes through Practice, the Course of Life

Tobias Esch

Biology 2022, 11(6), 843; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11060843 - 31 May 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3441

Abstract

Background: Happiness is a feeling, an immediate experience, not a cognitive construct. It is based on activity in the brain’s neurobiological reward and motivation systems, which have been retained in evolution. This conceptual review provides an overview of the basic neurobiological principles behind happiness phenomena and proposes a framework for further classification. Results: Three neurobiologically distinct types of happiness exist: (A) wanting, (B) avoiding, and (C) non-wanting. Behind these types lies a dynamic gradation, ranging from the more youthful anticipation, pleasure and ecstasy (A), to stress processing, escape and relief (B) as we find them accentuated in the middle-aged, to deep satisfaction, quiescence and inner joy (C), which is particularly attributed to older people. As a result, the development of happiness and satisfaction over the course of life typically takes the form of a U-curve. Discussion: The outlined triad and dynamic of happiness leads to the paradoxical finding that the elderly seem to be the happiest—a phenomenon that is termed “satisfaction paradox”. This assumed change in happiness and contentment over the life span, which includes an increasing “emancipation” from the idea of good health as a mandatory prerequisite for happiness and contentment, can itself be changed—it is trainable. Conclusions: Programs for mindfulness, contemplation, or stress reduction, including positive psychology and mind–body/behavioral medicine training, seem to be capable of influencing the course happiness over time: Happiness can be shaped through practice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Physiology of Contemplative Experiences and Practices)

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