Search Results (46)

African migrants arriving in South Africa are finding themselves fighting a war on two fronts: the one they fled from and the one they are arriving to. As a collection of five individual narratives, this research goes behind the paintings, performances, and poetry to understand how not only migration and xenophobia, but also lives are embodied and negotiated through creative mediums, and how these creative mediums should also be emphasised as important epistemologies. Here, a journey will be taken through understanding xenophobia and otherness through the lens of language, and will look at how the arts, as a form of language, offer an alternative space and way of communicating in a space that discriminates based on communication (or lack thereof). Accordingly, the research further investigates (self-)representation from the individual and community, how public displays of pain are really felt by the artists sharing their vulnerability, and also how creative practices create a space to negotiate between the complexities of ‘home’ and the violent state of xenophobia arrived to in and beyond South Africa. Consequently, the study explores how trauma and experiences are not always visible on the body, but are carried through the mind, spirit, and generations that come later. Full article

Common sense tells us that feeling love involves loving another as another and is not merely an accident of self-love, while the Sanskrit theory of rasa aesthetics tells us that genuine love must be returned. God’s love for humanity would not require these distinctions, however, if it exists at all, and Benedictus de Spinoza (1632–1677) claims that it does not. Rather, he finds that God’s love is not a philosophical problem because the very idea of God experiencing pleasure or pain as a result of desire for another (which constitutes common transactional conceptions of love) is irrational. This philosophical problem is compounded by the intrinsic value of loving without reciprocity, the follies of delusion, and the complicated—if not implicit—demands of reciprocity. Although Spinoza teaches a devotional path to liberation based on a logic of emotion in his Ethics, it is in the Bhagavadgītā’s twenty verses on “Bhaktiyoga” that a philosophy of devotion extends to a practice for the sake of love in moral action. This virtue-theoretic approach to emotion responses yields yoga-classed results such that the characteristic traits of love are dedicated to humanity and productive actions are offered to God. This study reconciles the complex challenge of achieving adequate moral knowledge with Spinoza’s claims that the path is rare, not difficult. If knowledge of what to do can be united with how to serve, divine love may be theoretically realised. The conclusion is that one may conduct ordinary secular transactions without contradiction yet generate a kind of affective currency as a channel for experiencing embodied liberation in a virtuous friendship with humanity via God. Full article

Background/Objectives: From a phenomenological perspective, the body is not merely a biological entity but the primary medium through which we experience and interpret the world. This study aimed to understand the lived body experience of advanced physiotherapy students at a university in Cali, Colombia, exploring how significant life events are embodied and expressed. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological design was employed. Twenty physiotherapy students participated in a body mapping exercise within a mental health elective. Participants graphically represented sensations, emotions, and memories on a body silhouette using colors and symbols. Data from the resulting body maps were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach via a data extraction matrix to identify patterns in symbolic, chromatic, and narrative elements. Results: The analysis revealed that students consistently inscribe both traumatic and positive life events onto their body maps, illustrating a narrative of resilience. Specific colors and body parts were symbolically charged: black and red in the heart, head, and shoulders represented pain and emotional burden, while blue and green in areas like the hands and stomach signified stability and achievement. External symbols (e.g., landscapes, bicycles) served as emotional anchors or representations of personal growth. Conclusions: Body mapping proves to be a powerful technique for accessing the embodied, often non-verbal, narratives of students. It underscores that the body functions as a living archive of experience. Integrating such methodologies into physiotherapy education can significantly enrich professional training by fostering sensitivity to corporality as a lived, relational, and cultural phenomenon, thereby strengthening future clinicians’ holistic and humanistic competencies. Full article

Breast cancer entails profound physical, emotional, and relational changes that persist beyond biomedical treatment and may substantially affect women’s body image, sexuality, and engagement in daily occupations. This descriptive phenomenological qualitative study examined the lived experiences of eight Spanish breast cancer survivors through in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted after completion of oncological treatment. Transcripts were analyzed using discourse analysis with iterative interpretation. Three interrelated findings were identified: (1) bodily changes linked to mastectomy and adjuvant therapies disrupted continuity with the previously known body, eliciting estrangement, vulnerability, and grief for the former bodily self; (2) sexuality emerged as a particularly vulnerable domain, shaped by diminished desire, vaginal dryness and pain, shame, altered self-perception, and the need to renegotiate intimacy within the couple; and (3) coping and meaning-making were strengthened by psychological support, efforts to emotionally protect family members, and, notably, peer support and helping other women as key sources of resilience. These findings highlight the need for integrated, culturally sensitive, person-centered survivorship care that explicitly addresses sexuality, body image, and emotional well-being. Occupational therapy may contribute by supporting embodied identity reconstruction, participation in meaningful occupations, and the reconfiguration of intimacy after breast cancer. Full article

This article explores the richly visual vocabulary characteristic of the Platonic corpus. Focusing on Plato’s linkage of seeing and knowing, it will explore a two-fold paradox: first, that the soul’s ascent is consistently depicted as a painful matter by Plato; and second, that it customarily involves some emphatically bodily mechanics. These textual and rhetorical details may, in their turn, call for a significant re-thinking of several truisms regarding Platonic spirituality and “Platonic love.” Four revisions follow. First, Platonic philosophy was not radically dualistic. Second, it was not aggressively rationalist, and secularist, informed by a blanket opposition to myth, to poetry, and to religious images. Third, it aspired to illumination without breezily claiming to bathe in that light. And fourth, it embraced and ennobled the ecstatic transport vouchsafed to embodied creatures by eros, that subtle species of desire that was, if not divine, then surely sublime. Full article

This scoping review examines the use of fully immersive virtual reality (FIVR) and embodiment as a modality to treat chronic pain. We aimed to describe which chronic pain disorders have been investigated using virtual embodiment; identify how sensory feedback is manipulated to affect pain sensation; describe the effect of embodiment as an analgesic for people with chronic pain; and identify terminology used to describe virtual embodiment. We used a 5-step scoping review methodological framework to examine the state of the science related to FIVR, embodiment, and pain. A comprehensive database search identified 444 studies. After full-text review, 27 studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies addressed primarily neuropathic types of pain disorders with over 80% reporting improved pain using a wide range of sensory feedback, such as aspects of the appearance, position, or movement to manipulate the embodied limb. Results suggest that using embodied FIVR can decrease chronic pain. The high percentage of positive outcomes suggests that this emerging practice holds potential as a treatment for chronic pain, although variability in study methodologies and terminology suggests a need for standardized approaches in future research. Full article

This study aimed to identify electrophysiological markers (event-related potentials, ERPs) of intentional, need-related mental activity under controlled gaze fixation, with potential applications in brain–computer interface (BCI) development for individuals with severe motor impairments. Methods: Using stimuli from the PAIN Pictionary—a pictogram database for non-verbal communication in locked-in syndrome (LIS) contexts—neural responses were recorded via high-density EEG in 30 neurologically healthy adults (25 included after artifact-based exclusion). Participants viewed randomized sequences of pictograms representing ten fundamental need categories (e.g., “I am cold”, “I’m in pain”), with one category designated as the target per sequence. Each pictogram was followed by a visual cue prompting a button press: during training, participants executed the press; during the main task, they performed right-hand motor imagery while maintaining central fixation. Results: ERP analyses revealed a robust P300 response (450–650 ms; p < 0.0002) over centro-parietal regions for target cues, reflecting enhanced attentional allocation and stimulus choice. An early Contingent Negative Variation (CNV, 450–750 ms; p = 0.008) over fronto-lateral sites indicated anticipatory attention and motor preparation, while a left-lateralized late CNV (2250–2750 ms; p = 0.035) appeared to embody the preparation of a finalized motor plan for the forthcoming right-hand imagined response. A centro-parietal P600 component (600–800 ms; p = 0.044) emerged during response monitoring, reflecting evaluative and decisional processes. SwLORETA source analyses localized activity within a distributed network spanning prefrontal, premotor, motor, parietal, and limbic areas. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that motor imagery alone can modulate pattern-onset ERP components without overt movement or gaze shifts, supporting the translational potential of decoding need-related intentions for thought-driven communication systems in individuals with profound motor impairments. Full article

Background/Objectives: Patients in palliative care often experience multifaceted forms of suffering that extend beyond physical symptoms, including existential distress, loss of meaning, and emotional pain. Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) has emerged as a promising intervention for alleviating such complex forms of suffering, yet models specifically tailored to palliative populations remain scarce. This narrative review synthesizes current evidence on ketamine’s neurobiological, psychological, and experiential effects relevant to end-of-life care, and presents a novel, time-limited KAP model designed for use in palliative settings. Methods: Drawing from both biochemical and psychedelic paradigms, the review integrates findings from neuroscience, phenomenology, and clinical practice. In particular, it incorporates a dual-level experiential framework informed by recent models distinguishing ketamine’s differential effects on self-processing networks: the Salience Network (SN), related to embodied self-awareness, and the Default Mode Network (DMN), associated with narrative self-construction. This neurophenomenological perspective underpins the rationale for using two distinct dosing sessions. Results: The article proposes a short-course, time-limited KAP model that integrates preparatory and integrative psychotherapy, two ketamine dosing sessions (one low-dose and one moderate-dose), concurrent psychotherapy, goals of care discussion (GOCD), and optional pharmacological optimization. The model emphasizes psychological safety, meaning-making, and patient-centered care. The sequential dosing strategy leverages ketamine’s unique pharmacology and experiential profile to address both bodily and narrative dimensions of end-of-life distress. Conclusions: This dissociative-psychedelic model offers a compassionate, pragmatic, and theoretically grounded approach to relieving psychological and existential suffering in palliative care. By integrating neurobiological insights with psychotherapeutic processes, it provides a flexible and patient-centered framework for enhancing meaning, emotional resolution, and quality of life at the end of life. Further research is needed to evaluate its clinical feasibility, safety, and therapeutic efficacy. Full article

The Precious Scrolls of Hexi (Hexi Baojuan) embody the “collective memory” of the people in the Hexi region. The “Creation memory” and “Traumatic memory” are two key types of collective memory. Through the continuous recording and (re)creation of memories, the Baojuan exerts a therapeutic effect on people’s inner confusion and physical or mental pain. By studying the representative works of the ritual and secular Baojuan of the Hexi Baojuan, the Longhua Baojing (龙华宝经), and the Precious Scroll of Kalpa Survival (Jiujie Baojuan救劫宝卷), this paper examines the creation memory and traumatic memory of the Hexi people, thereby revealing the hidden tension between memory and healing. Full article

Background/Objectives: While the correlation between bodily states and cognitive processing has been extensively investigated concerning pain elaboration, little is known about how chronic, subjectively experienced pain (self-pain) following traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) affects embodied cognition, such as empathy for pain. This study aimed to determine whether individuals with SCI differ from healthy controls in these cognitive responses, and if such differences can be quantified through varying reaction times to pain-related and non-pain-related stimuli involving others. Methods: We assessed reactions to others’ pain through behavioral responses in a classification task involving 15 participants with SCI (13 men; age range 19–56 years) and 15 healthy controls (11 men; age range 25–48 years). Additionally, we measured general empathic dispositions using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and subjective pain intensity using a numeric rating scale following standard guidelines for neuropathic pain assessment. Results: The findings revealed that participants with SCI exhibited lower empathy levels (IRI: mean SCI = 55.06 ± 3.64) than healthy controls (IRI: mean HC = 67.6 ± 2.46), as measured through both cognitive and affective components. We found that higher chronic pain unpleasantness was associated with lower empathic dispositions (r = −0.63; p = 0.01) in participants with SCI. Compared to healthy controls, individuals with SCI exhibited a reduced empathic response when observing others in pain from a third-person perspective. Conclusions: These findings reveal an association between chronic pain following SCI and diminished empathic processing, offering new insights into the mechanisms underlying interpersonal reactivity after SCI. Full article

If God cares and is present, can God use pain and suffering in my life? Absolutely. Does this mean that God planned, ordained, or designed the pain (or cancer) to be instrumental in my life for some sort of higher spiritual purpose? If so, why? Why does God allow cancer to invade and interrupt one’s life? There are no theologically sound or definitive answers to these questions. Although asking such questions is basic to our humanity, as we will observe in various passages of Scripture, the answers will always remain elusive. Instead of seeking to answer the question “why?”, I will suggest two areas for theological and pastoral reflection with respect to those facing cancer: humility and hope. Enduring cancer, from diagnosis through treatment, requires humility in mind and body before our Creator and before our caregivers. Cancer also provides an opportunity for Christians to embed themselves in the hope of resurrection and new creation. Resurrection hope is also not reduced to hope beyond death but hope that is manifested now through embodied resurrection “signs” and actions of human sacrificial love, both received and practiced by the patient undergoing illness and by the patient’s caregivers, family, and friends. Full article

In practice, continuous and pulse direct current (DC) methods are embodied in classical dental iontophoresis systems (CDISs) for the treatment of dentin hypersensitivity (DH). Changes in body electrical resistance and polarization occurrence are the main problems in dental iontophoresis applications. Moreover, continuous DC application may cause discomforts such as irritation, burning and itching on the skin. For these reasons, it is preferred to use pulse DC instead of continuous DC. However, in pulse DC applications, the treatment period is prolonged depending on the decrease in the electrical charge flow. On the other hand, the pain threshold of teeth when the electric current is applied varies from person to person. In this study, in order to reduce the problems caused by the use of CDIS methods for the treatment of DH, a microcontroller-based switched-mode dental iontophoresis system (SMDIS) using a dual-return probe (RP) is designed, and its performance is compared with CDIS methods. According to the results, the new SMDIS both reduces the polarization effect as in the classical pulse DC method and shortens the prolonged treatment duration in pulse DC by raising the pain threshold of teeth due to increased ion transfer, which is a great advantage over former methods. Full article

Background/Objectives: Tactile gnosis derives from the interplay between the hand’s tactile input and the memory systems of the brain. It is the prerequisite for complex hand functions. Impaired sensation leads to profound disability. Various invasive and non-invasive sensory substitution strategies for providing feedback from prostheses have been unsuccessful when translated to clinical practice, since they fail to match the feeling to genuine sensation of the somatosensory cortex. Methods: Herein, we describe a novel surgical technique for upper-limb-targeted sensory reinnervation (ulTSR) and report how single digital nerves selectively reinnervate the forearm skin and restore the spatial sensory capacity of single digits of the amputated hand in a case series of seven patients. We explore the interplay of the redirected residual digital nerves and the interpretation of sensory perception after reinnervation of the forearm skin in the somatosensory cortex by evaluating sensory nerve action potentials (SNAPs), somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs), and amputation-associated pain qualities. Results: Digital nerves were rerouted and reliably reinnervated the forearm skin after hand amputation, leading to somatotopy and limb maps of the thumb and four individual fingers. SNAPs were obtained from the donor digital nerves after stimulating the recipient sensory nerves of the forearm. Matching SEPs were obtained after electrocutaneous stimulation of the reinnervated skin areas of the forearm where the thumb, index, and little fingers are perceived. Pain incidence was significantly reduced or even fully resolved. Conclusions: We propose that ulTSR can lead to higher acceptance of prosthetic hands and substantially reduce the incidence of phantom limb and neuroma pain. In addition, the spatial restoration of lost-hand sensing and the somatotopic reinnervation of the forearm skin may serve as a machine interface, allowing for genuine sensation and embodiment of the prosthetic hand without the need for complex neural coding adjustments. Full article

This article will use syndemic theory to identify and analyze overlapping health and social conditions, focusing specifically on how gender-based violence is systemically interconnected with contemporary public health issues. The overdose death crisis that continues to afflict Canadian populations is not an isolated health issue. Across Canada, it is intertwined with mental health, HIV/AIDS, COVID-19 and structural violence—the chronic and systemic disadvantages affecting those living in poverty and oppressive circumstances. Opioid use is an often-avoidant coping strategy for many experiencing the effects of trauma, relentless fear, pain, ill health and social exclusion. In particular, Indigenous and non-Indigenous women’s experiences with opioid addiction are entangled with encounters with gender based-violence, poverty and chronic ailments within structurally imposed processes and stressors shaped by a history of colonialism, ruptured lifeways and Western ways of knowing and doing, leading to disproportionate harms and occurrences of illness. While biomedical models of comorbidity and mortality approach substance misuse, gender-based violence and major infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 as distinct yet compounding realities, this article argues that these conditions are synergistically interrelated via the critical/reflexive lens of syndemic frameworks. Through secondary research using academic, media and policy sources from the past decade in Canada, complemented by prior ethnographic research, the synergistic connections among opioid addiction, gender-based violence and the effects of the COVID pandemic on diverse women will be shown to be driven by socio-structural determinants of health including poverty, intergenerational trauma, the legacy of colonialism and Western optics. Together, they embody a contemporary Canadian syndemic necessitating coordinated responses. Full article

Pain is the most common reason for medical consultation and use of health care resources. The high socio-economic burden of pain justifies seeking an appropriate therapeutic strategy. Immersive virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a first-line non-pharmacological option for pain management. However, the growing literature has not been accompanied by substantial progress in understanding how VR could reduce the pain experience, with some user experience factors being associated with the hypoalgesic effects of immersive VR. The aim of this review is (i) to summarize the state of the art on the effects of VR on adults and children suffering from pain conditions; (ii) to identify and summarize how mechanisms across immersive VR user experience influence hypoalgesic effects in patients with acute and chronic pain among adults and children. A critical narrative review based on PICOT criteria (P = Patient or Population and Problem; I = Intervention or Indicator; C = O = Outcome; T = Type) was conducted that includes experimental studies or systematic reviews involving studies in experimentally induced pain, acute pain, or chronic pain in adults and children. The results suggest an association between immersive VR-induced hypoalgesia and user experience such as distraction, presence, interactivity, gamification, and virtual embodiment. These findings suggest that hierarchical relationships might exist between user experience-related factors and greater hypoalgesic effects following an immersive VR intervention. This relationship needs to be considered in the design and development of VR-based strategies for pain management. Full article