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Brain, bodily awareness, and the emergence of a conscious self: these entities and their relations are explored by Germanphilosopher and cognitive scientist Metzinger. Extensively working with neuroscientists he has come to the conclusion that, in fact, there is no such thing as a "self" -- that a "self" is simply the content of a model created by our brain - part of a virtual reality we create for ourselves. But if the self is not "real," he asks, why and how did it evolve? How does the brain construct the self? In a series of fascinating virtual reality experiments, Metzinger and his colleagues have attempted to create so-called "out-of-body experiences" in the lab, in order to explore these questions. As a philosopher, he offers a discussion of many of the latest results in robotics, neuroscience, dream and meditation research, and argues that the brain is much more powerful than we have ever imagined. He shows us, for example, that we now have the first machines that have developed an inner image of their own body -- and actually use this model to create intelligent behavior. In addition, studies exploring the connections between phantom limbs and the brain have shown us that even people born without arms or legs sometimes experience a sensation that they do in fact have limbs that are not there. Experiments like the "rubber-hand illusion" demonstrate how we can experience a fake hand as part of our self and even feel a sensation of touch on the phantom hand form the basis and testing ground for the idea that what we have called the "self" in the past is just the content of a transparent self-model in our brains. Now, as new ways of manipulating the conscious mind-brain appear on the scene, it will soon become possible to alter our subjective reality in an unprecedented manner. The cultural consequences of this, Metzinger claims, may be immense: we will need a new approach to ethics, and we will be forced to think about ourselves in a fundamentally new way. At

Buy Elite Yelp Reviews Introduction Yelp is one of the most popular review sites in the world. It has millions of users, and people use it to find restaurants, shops and other places to visit. Yelp is a great tool for consumers because it allows them to share their experiences with others. But if you want more people to see your business on Yelp, then you need some positive reviews from other users who have already patronised your establishment! Why Need Buy Elite Yelp Reviews? If you are interested in buying Yelp Elite Reviews, then this guide will help you understand how to buy them. Buy Yelp Elite Reviews You can get genuine and authentic reviews by purchasing them from users who have used the product or service in question. This means that they have tried it themselves and can give their own opinion about its quality. Buy Elite Yelp Reviews Buying a review is an effective way to create trust with your customers so they feel comfortable using your product or service again if needed. It also helps build brand awareness among potential customers who may be unaware of what type of products/services exist within their industry; therefore, making it easier for them when deciding whether or not they want something similar down the line! What is Yelp Elite Reviews? Yelp Elite Reviews are written by verified users who have bought something from the business. Users must have purchased a service or product at the business, or had a positive experience with it. Elite reviewers are more likely to be positive than regular reviewers because they are more invested in their experiences with businesses. They also tend to write longer reviews that give more detailed explanations of why they enjoy using this type of business over others. Buy Elite Yelp Reviews Is it safe to buy Yelp reviews? Yes, it is safe to buy Yelp reviews. The website has been around for years and has a great reputation among the public. In fact, many people rely on it as a credible source of informatio

Buy Elite Yelp Reviews Introduction Yelp is one of the most popular review sites in the world. It has millions of users, and people use it to find restaurants, shops and other places to visit. Yelp is a great tool for consumers because it allows them to share their experiences with others. But if you want more people to see your business on Yelp, then you need some positive reviews from other users who have already patronised your establishment! Why Need Buy Elite Yelp Reviews? If you are interested in buying Yelp Elite Reviews, then this guide will help you understand how to buy them. Buy Yelp Elite Reviews You can get genuine and authentic reviews by purchasing them from users who have used the product or service in question. This means that they have tried it themselves and can give their own opinion about its quality. Buy Elite Yelp Reviews Buying a review is an effective way to create trust with your customers so they feel comfortable using your product or service again if needed. It also helps build brand awareness among potential customers who may be unaware of what type of products/services exist within their industry; therefore, making it easier for them when deciding whether or not they want something similar down the line! What is Yelp Elite Reviews? Yelp Elite Reviews are written by verified users who have bought something from the business. Users must have purchased a service or product at the business, or had a positive experience with it. Elite reviewers are more likely to be positive than regular reviewers because they are more invested in their experiences with businesses. They also tend to write longer reviews that give more detailed explanations of why they enjoy using this type of business over others. Buy Elite Yelp Reviews Is it safe to buy Yelp reviews? Yes, it is safe to buy Yelp reviews. The website has been around for years and has a great reputation among the public. In fact, many people rely on it as a credible source of informatio

Buy Elite Yelp Reviews Introduction Yelp is one of the most popular review sites in the world. It has millions of users, and people use it to find restaurants, shops and other places to visit. Yelp is a great tool for consumers because it allows them to share their experiences with others. But if you want more people to see your business on Yelp, then you need some positive reviews from other users who have already patronised your establishment! Why Need Buy Elite Yelp Reviews? If you are interested in buying Yelp Elite Reviews, then this guide will help you understand how to buy them. Buy Yelp Elite Reviews You can get genuine and authentic reviews by purchasing them from users who have used the product or service in question. This means that they have tried it themselves and can give their own opinion about its quality. Buy Elite Yelp Reviews Buying a review is an effective way to create trust with your customers so they feel comfortable using your product or service again if needed. It also helps build brand awareness among potential customers who may be unaware of what type of products/services exist within their industry; therefore, making it easier for them when deciding whether or not they want something similar down the line! What is Yelp Elite Reviews? Yelp Elite Reviews are written by verified users who have bought something from the business. Users must have purchased a service or product at the business, or had a positive experience with it. Elite reviewers are more likely to be positive than regular reviewers because they are more invested in their experiences with businesses. They also tend to write longer reviews that give more detailed explanations of why they enjoy using this type of business over others. Buy Elite Yelp Reviews Is it safe to buy Yelp reviews? Yes, it is safe to buy Yelp reviews. The website has been around for years and has a great reputation among the public. In fact, many people rely on it as a credible source of informatio

PXLab is a collection of Java classes and applications for running psychological experiments. The PXLab system allows interactive design of a wide range of experiments from all areas of psychological research. It includes a run time control system which runs experiments under highly optimized timing constraints. PXLab's major features include: Complete procedural control for sessions, blocks, and trials, display composition by combining elementary display objects, timing groups of display objects, more than 100 elementary display objects: text, geometric objects, images, gratings, sound, movies, and many more, conditional display execution, response collection from keyboard, mouse, external devices, and sound channels, precise timing with optimized use of accelerated video memory, automatic time control and report of all timing properties, vertical retrace synchronization with native code library under Windows, color control by CIE chromaticity coordinates using built in gamma correction, all display object properties controlled by experimental parameters, experiments can run as local applications or as HTML-embedded applets using the same design file, same program does data collection in the laboratory and on the internet extensible by implementing new display objects in Java code uses ASCII design files, tools for design file editing, command line experiments, and color calibration, special features for class room demonstrations and laboratory courses.

"What does hypnosis feel like?" This is a very common question hypnotists get asked all the time. And quite understandably too, as it's normal to be curious about the somewhat unknown. Therefore, it's important that you provide a reasonable answer that doesn't just fob people off. Especially because some of the people who ask this question could someday become your hypnosis subjects. But the truth is explaining this experience is not as easy as it might seem, and for 3 very good reasons: 1. The experience of hypnosis is different for everyone 2. For some people, hypnosis might feel different every time 3. It isn't a "one-size-fits-all" type of experience Now, if it's different for everyone, how can you possibly tell someone what hypnosis feels like? The answer is clear: You tell them what it MIGHT feel like. What they might experience. What happens to most people. To offer you a deeper understanding of how to best answer this question, the Hypnosis Training Academy shares 3 powerful hypnosis stories in addition to some useful information about the hypnosis experience. Visit HypnosisTrainingAcademy.com and discover how to explain the somewhat unexplainable now.

I certainly didn't mean to suggest that transcendent experiences are "beyond the purview of science." On the contrary, I think they should be studied scientifically. And I don't believe that these experiences tell us anything about the cosmos (I called Deepak Chopra a "charlatan" for making unfounded claims of this sort). Nor do they tell us anything about history, or about the veracity of scripture. However, these experiences do have a lot to say about the nature of the human mind-not about its neurobiology, per se, but about its qualitative character (both actual and potential). So, to answer Jerry's question: yes, many things follow from these transcendent experiences. Here's a short list:

study using SELF REPORT QUESTIONNAIRES on relationship of caffeine, stress, and proneness to psychosis like experiences

Three experiments examined whether or not fixation effects occur in brainstorming as a function of receiving ideas from others. Exchanging ideas in a group reduced the number of domains of ideas that were explored by participants. Additionally, ideas given by brainstormers conformed to ideas suggested by other participants. Temporal analyses showed how the quantity, variety and novelty of ideas fluctuate over the course of a brainstorming session. Taking a break modulated the natural decline over time in the quantity and variety of ideas. Although fixation was observed in brainstorming in terms of conformity and restriction of the breadth of ideas, it did not influence the number of ideas generated in these experiments.

It's better to complete a scary task than to have the sense of relief of a "near miss"

StanfordUniversity - November 10, 2008 - WARNING: CONTAINS EXPLICIT CONTENT October 9, 2008 lecture by Philip Zimbardo during the 2008 Reunion Homecoming Classes Without Quizzes program. Why do good people turn evil? In what sense are evil and heroism comparable? How could the little old Stanford prison experiment reveal parallels and insights about the abuses by military guards at Abu Ghraib? Philip Zimbardo, professor of psychology, emeritus, is internationally recognized as a leading "voice and face of contemporary psychology" through his widely seen PBS-TV series, Discovering Psychology, his media appearances, best-selling trade books on shyness, and his classic research, The Stanford Prison Experiment.

"James W. Pennebaker's interest in word counting began more than 20 years ago, when he did several studies suggesting that people who talked about traumatic experiences tended to be physically healthier than those who kept such experiences secret. He wondered how much could be learned by looking at every single word people used - even the tiny ones, the I's and you's, a's and the's."

Article that explains why we should let our children experience some stress.  Not all stress is bad...

Music, an abstract stimulus, can arouse feelings of euphoria and craving, similar to tangible rewards that involve the striatal dopaminergic system. Using the neurochemical specificity of [11C]raclopride positron emission tomography scanning, combined with psychophysiological measures of autonomic nervous system activity, we found endogenous dopamine release in the striatum at peak emotional arousal during music listening. To examine the time course of dopamine release, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging with the same stimuli and listeners, and found a functional dissociation: the caudate was more involved during the anticipation and the nucleus accumbens was more involved during the experience of peak emotional responses to music. These results indicate that intense pleasure in response to music can lead to dopamine release in the striatal system. Notably, the anticipation of an abstract reward can result in dopamine release in an anatomical pathway distinct from that associated with the peak pleasure itself. Our results help to explain why music is of such high value across all human societies.

19-01-2011 Medical evidence has shown that long-term solitary confinement is a form of torture. Dr Joost J den Otter, Medical Director at the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), adds that while there is no doubt about the damage caused by long periods of isolation, solitary confinement for a short period may also cause psychological harm. Dr den Otter highlights the fact that many qualitative and quantitative scientific studies have documented how solitary confinement in prison has damaging health effects. He asserts that the scientific debate on solitary confinement as a method of torture has been settled for many years, but that it seems there is still confusion among policy makers, prison authorities, and the general public. A recent commentary published by the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law about solitary confinement and mental illness in U.S. Prisons, the authors, Jeffrey L. Metzner and Jamie Fellner, support Dr den Otter's judgment. "Isolation can be psychologically harmful to any prisoner, with the nature and severity of the impact depending on the individual, the duration of confinement, and particular conditions (e.g., access to natural light, books, or radio). Psychological effects can include anxiety, depression, anger, cognitive disturbances, perceptual distortions, obsessive thoughts, paranoia, and psychosis". In August 2010, Physicians for Human Rights published a report (Experiments in Torture) which added to the growing body of evidence that solitary confinement causes psychological harm consistent with torture. In an interview with 'Life's Little Mysteries', Dr Scott Allen, one of the authors of the paper, said that solitary confinement "can lead to anxiety, depression, certainly disorientation, [and] it can even lead to thought disorders including psychotic thoughts." He added "The consequences can be significant." This backs up researcher Peter Scharff Smith, of The Danis

A new study suggests that a single dose of psilocybin -- the active ingredient in "Magic Mushrooms" -- can result in improved personality traits over the long term. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that individuals who received the drug once in a clinical setting reported a greater sense of "openness" that often lasted 14 months or longer, according to study published this week in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. The study defined openness as a personality trait that "encompasses aesthetic appreciation and sensitivity, imagination and fantasy, and broad-minded tolerance of others' viewpoints and values." It is one of five main personality traits that are shared among all cultures worldwide. Of the 51 participants, 30 had personality changes that left them feeling more open. Other personality traits (extroversion, neuroticism, agreeableness and conscientiousness) were not impacted. Only the participants who said they had a "complete mystical experience" while on the drug registered an increased sense of openness. "The mystical experience has certain qualities," lead author Katherine MacLean said. "The primary one is that you feel a certain kind of connectedness and unity with everything and everyone." Because personality traits are generally considered to remain stable throughout a persons lifetime, researchers are excited about therapeutic implications of the study. "[T]his study shows that psilocybin actually changes one domain of personality that is strongly related to traits such as imagination, feeling, abstract ideas and aesthetics, and is considered a core construct underlying creativity in general," study author Roland R. Griffiths told USA Today. "And the changes we see appear to be long-term."     

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"Test subjects were asked to give a person behind a screen electric shocks when he answered questions wrong. The person behind the screen was an actor, pretending to get shocked and screaming in pain."

A study on "framing" and how / if it influences user experience using HD Televisions. "

An article on "Experimental Philosophy", and the "x-phi" movement.

The time: the early years of the 19th century. The setting an ancient manor house in an isolated valley in the west of England. A scientist is engaged in a very elaborate series of experiments with electricity. Outside the laboratory, copper wires suspended on poles run for more than a mile into the countryside. Inside, mysterious equipment - coils of wire, weirdly shaped jars, strange crystals, saucers of murky liquid - glows and pulsates. The few local people who dare to approach the mansion tell of explosions, of bolts of lightning that strike when no storms are near, and of the reclusive, secretive nature of the scientist himself.