The Alzheimer's patients interaction through digital and arts (AIDA) program: A feasibility study to improve wellbeing in people with Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) presents a growing global challenge, with an increasing prevalence and significant impact on individuals and public health. Effective pharmacological treatments directly impacting the disease are still lacking, highlighting the importance of programs and interventions aimed at improving the wellbeing of those affected. The present feasibility study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of the Alzheimer's patients Interaction through Digital and Arts (AIDA) program.

When the body fosters empathy: The interconnectivity between bodily reactivity, meditation, and embodied abstract concepts.

Empathy is a fundamental social ability that allows humans to infer others' emotions and intentions. Empathy is thought to be rooted in bodily sensations coming from the autonomic nervous system. In parallel, the functionality and perceptions coming from the autonomic nervous system could be improved by practicing activities that involve mind-body interactions, such as meditation.

The sands of time: Discontinuity in time production, or inadequacy of psychophysical fit?

In a recent study employing time production, a number of participants presented aberrant data, which normally would have marked them as being outliers. Given the ongoing discussion in the literature regarding the illusory nature of the flow of time, in this paper we consider whether their data may indicate discontinuity in time perception. We analyze the log-log plots for these outliers, investigating to what degree linearity is preserved for all the data points, as opposed to achieving a better fit using bisegmental regression.

A Three-Fold Integrated Perspective on Healthy Development: An Opinion Paper.

Mental health and wellbeing are increasingly threatened in the current post-pandemic times, with stress, especially in students, reaching preoccupying levels. In addition, while many educational programs are unidimensional (i.e.

Quadrato motor training (QMT) influences IL-1β expression and creativity: Implications for inflammatory state reduction and cognitive enhancement.

Mind-body practices and meditation have been increasingly studied in recent years due to their beneficial effects on cognition, and physical and psychological health. Growing evidence suggests that these practices could be utilized as interventions to impact age-related biological processes, such as cognitive decline, inflammation, and homeostatic dysregulation. Indeed, it has been reported that mindful meditation may induce neuroplasticity in brain regions involved in control of attention, emotional regulation, and self-awareness.

The cloud of unknowing: Cognitive dedifferentiation in whole-body perceptual deprivation.

An altered sensory environment, especially a homogeneous one like a ganzfeld, can induce a wide range of experiences in people immersed in it. The ganzfeld of our current focus is the OVO Whole-Body Perceptual Deprivation chamber (OVO-WBPD). Previous literature has found this specific immersive environment to be capable of softening and dissolving perception of boundaries across time and sensory modalities, among other domains.

On the road to resilience: Epigenetic effects of meditation.

Many environmental and lifestyle related factors may influence the physiology of the brain and body by acting on fundamental molecular pathways, such as the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) and the immune system. For example, stressful conditions created by adverse early-life events, unhealthy habits and low socio-economic status may favor the onset of diseases linked to neuroendocrine dysregulation, inflammation and neuroinflammation. Beside pharmacological treatments used in clinical settings, much attention has been given to complementary treatments such as mind-body techniques involving meditation that rely on the activation of inner resources to regain health.

Change in Time Perception Following the Place of Pre-Existence Technique.

Time perception is closely related to spatial and bodily perception, yet little is known about how this interrelationship is impacted by meditation and biological sex. To examine this, we studied the effects of a stepwise application of three meditation techniques, from focused attention, to open monitoring to non-dual meditation, encompassed in the Place of Pre-Existence technique (PPEt) on the subjective perception of time, space and body using a pre-post research design. A total of 280 participants (mean age = 47.

A Scoping Review on Movement, Neurobiology and Functional Deficits in Dyslexia: Suggestions for a Three-Fold Integrated Perspective.

Developmental dyslexia is a common complex neurodevelopmental disorder. Many theories and models tried to explain its symptomatology and find ways to improve poor reading abilities. The aim of this scoping review is to summarize current findings and several approaches and theories, focusing on the interconnectedness between motion, emotion and cognition and their connection to dyslexia.

Holistic Functioning from a Developmental Perspective: A New Synthesis with a Focus on a Multi-tiered System Support Structure.

While research in specific academic disciplines has individually advanced knowledge and practice for promoting multiple aspects of health and well-being in children and adolescents, still missing is an understanding of the interconnectedness of many critical aspects of development and how to intentionally weave these factors to advance a more holistic approach. The need for a more holistic and inclusive approach to child and adolescent development is increasingly evident to promote long-term health and well-being as the overall percentage of children, adolescents, and adults who suffer from mental health disorders is increasing. To address this issue, our authorship team consists of researchers in the areas of developmental psychology, neuroscience, motor development, exercise science, and mental health.

Tackling the Electro-Topography of the Selves Through the Sphere Model of Consciousness.

In the current hypothesis paper, we propose a novel examination of consciousness and self-awareness through the neuro-phenomenological theoretical model known as the Sphere Model of Consciousness (SMC). Our aim is to create a practical instrument to address several methodological issues in consciousness research. We present a preliminary attempt to validate the SMC a simplified electrophysiological topographic map of the Self.

Fostering Holistic Development with a Designed Multisport Intervention in Physical Education: A Class-Randomized Cross-Over Trial.

Physical education (PE) is acknowledged as a relevant context for holistic child and youth development promotion. However, interventional research mostly builds on individual theories focused on specific outcome domains. This study presents a multisport enriched PE intervention that capitalizes on the intersection of different theory-based approaches to motor, cognitive and socio-emotional skills development promotion.

Age-Related Differential Effects of School-Based Sitting and Movement Meditation on Creativity and Spatial Cognition: A Pilot Study.

Psychophysical well-being can be supported during development by the integration of extra-curricular activities in scholastic settings. These activities can be implemented in different forms, ranging from physical activities to sitting meditation practices. Considering that both such activities are thought to affect children's psychophysical development, a movement-based meditation that combines the two approaches-in the form of a short daily activity-could represent a powerful tool to promote healthy physical and mental development.

Breaking up classroom sitting time with cognitively engaging physical activity: Behavioural and brain responses.

Introduction: Classroom-based active breaks are a feasible and effective way to reduce and break up sitting time, and to potentially benefit physical health in school children. However, the effect of active breaks on children's cognitive functions and brain activity remains unclear.

Objective: We investigated the impact of an active break intervention on typically developing children's cognitive functions and brain activity, sitting/standing/stepping, on-task behaviour, and enjoyment.

Correlates of Silence: Enhanced Microstructural Changes in the Uncinate Fasciculus.

Silence is an important aspect of various meditation practices, but little work has focused specifically on the underlying neurophysiology of silence-related meditative practice, and on how it relates to the self-reported experiences of practitioners. To expand current knowledge regarding the neurophenomenology of silence in meditation, we directly investigated first-person reports of silence-related experiences during the practice of Quadrato Motor Training (QMT) and their association with changes in fractional anisotropy (FA). Participants recorded their cognitive, emotional, and physical experiences upon beginning QMT and again after 6 weeks of QMT practice.

Dynamics of the Sphere Model of Consciousness: Silence, Space, and Self.

The (SMC) delineates a sphere-shaped matrix that aims to describe subjective experiences using geometric coordinates, in accordance with a neurophenomenological perspective. According to the SMC, an experience of overcoming the habitual self and the conditioning of memories could be placed at the center of the matrix, which can then be called the (PPE). The PPE is causally associated with .

Immersion, Absorption, and Spiritual Experience: Some Preliminary Findings.

Many traditions have utilized silent environments to induce altered states of consciousness and spiritual experiences. Neurocognitive explorations of spiritual experience can aid in understanding the underlying mechanism, but these are surprisingly rare. We present the verbal report and the electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha profile of a female participant scoring a maximal 34 on the Absorption Scale, recorded before and while she was immersed in a whole-body perceptual deprivation (WBPD) tank.

Reflections on Inner and Outer Silence and Consciousness Without Contents According to the Sphere Model of Consciousness.

In the current hypothesis paper, we propose that focusing attention on silence can be used as a paradigm conceptually similar to sensory deprivation, to study consciousness without content. We briefly overview recent influential models of consciousness and consider how they assess the relationship between consciousness and contents. After discussing the strengths and weaknesses of current models, we suggest an extension based on the Sphere Model of Consciousness (SMC) and introduce new definitions for identification and self-awareness as states of consciousness.

The Implications of Motor and Cognitive Inhibition for Hot and Cool Executive Functions: The Case of Quadrato Motor Training.

Enabling the ceasing of ongoing or prepotent responses and the controlling of interference, motor inhibition facilitates the development of executive functions (EFs) such as thought before action, decision-making, self-regulation of affect, motivation, and arousal. In the current paper, a characterization is offered of the relationship between motor inhibition and the executive functioning system, in the context of a proposed division into predominantly affective (hot) and cognitive (cool) components corresponding to neural trajectories originating in the prefrontal cortex. This division is central to understanding the effects of a specifically-structured sensorimotor movement training practice, known as Quadrato Motor Training (QMT), on hot and cool EFs.

Creating an Internal Environment of Cognitive and Psycho-Emotional Well-Being through an External Movement-Based Environment: An Overview of Quadrato Motor Training.

In this overview, we discuss the internal and external environmental factors associated with cognitive and psycho-emotional well-being in the context of physical activity and Mindful Movement. Our key argument is that improved cognitive and emotional functions associated with mental well-being can be achieved by an external, Mindful Movement-based environment training called Quadrato Motor Training (QMT). QMT is a structured sensorimotor training program aimed at improving coordination, attention, and emotional well-being through behavioral, electrophysiological, neuroanatomical, and molecular changes.