Agency as an Inherent Property of Living Organisms.

A central characteristic of living organisms is their agency, that is, their intrinsic activity, both in terms of their basic life processes and their behavior in the environment. This aspect is currently a subject of debate and this article provides an overview of some of the relevant publications on this topic. We develop the argument that agency is immanent in living organisms.

The supporting role of dogs in the inpatient setting: a systematic review of the therapeutic effects of animal-assisted therapy with dogs for children and adolescents in an inpatient setting.

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is becoming increasingly popular. The possibilities and guidelines for interventions and methods are very diverse. Currently, published studies mainly concentrate on effects in paediatrics, outpatient therapy and schools.

Art-based interventions and art therapy to promote health of migrant populations - a systematic literature review of current research.

Background: This review aims to identify and analyse studies on art-based interventions and art therapy that are intended to promote better physical, mental and social health outcomes in culturally and linguistically diverse migrant populations.

Method: A systematic literature review was used to address the following questions: 1) What published studies over the past five years examined health outcomes? 2) What are the identifying characteristics of the studies? 3) What kinds of effect did these studies describe? 4) What implications do the findings have for future research in this field?

Results: Art-based interventions and art therapy can significantly reduce traumatic stress symptoms and anxiety, enhance well-being by giving people greater life satisfaction and hope, and improve the social behaviour of children and adolescents.

Conclusion: In order to address humanitarian concerns in this field, researchers may apply innovative approaches to engage people from a refugee background in meaningful reflections on their lives.

Improvement of Spinocerebellar Ataxia 3 Symptoms Treated with Eurythmy Therapy: A Case Vignette.

A 58-year-old male with genetically confirmed spinocerebellar ataxia 3 was treated with 10 sessions of eurythmy therapy. He was rated 9 on the "Scale for Assessment and Rating of Ataxia" before therapy started. Among movement and mental symptoms, he complained about sleep disturbances, insensitivity in the feet, and spasms in the legs.

The Impact of Dance Movement Interventions on Psychological Health in Older Adults without Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Lifestyle-based multimodal interventions that integrate physical, sensory, cognitive and social enrichment are suggested to promote healthy mental aging and resilience against aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Objectives: This meta-analysis examined the efficacy of dance movement interventions (DMI) as an integrated mind-body activity on outcomes of psychological health in older adults.

Methods: Pre-registration was carried out with PROSPERO (CRD42021265112).

Relating movement markers of schizophrenia to self-experience-a mixed-methods study.

Introduction: Basic self-disorders on the one hand and motor symptoms on the other hand are discussed as endophenotypes of schizophrenia psychopathology. However, the systematic interaction between motor symptoms and the self-experience of patients is rarely studied.

Methods: In a previous study we defined motor markers of schizophrenia via a data-driven analysis of patients' gait patterns.

Wearing face masks impairs dyadic micro-activities in nonverbal social encounter: A mixed-methods first-person study on the sense of I and Thou.

The COVID-19 pandemic has manifold negative consequences for people around the world, of which the psychosocial ones have been rather underrepresented in the public eye. Regarding social distancing measures, there is already some experimental work demonstrating that the use of face masks has detrimental effects on various aspects of social cognition such as emotion reading, face identification, and perceived closeness of persons. However, while these findings provide important clues, they do not shed light on what people experience when interacting in real life in a masked society.

From Therapeutic Factors to Mechanisms of Change in the Creative Arts Therapies: A Scoping Review.

Empirical studies in the creative arts therapies (CATs; i.e., art therapy, dance/movement therapy, drama therapy, music therapy, psychodrama, and poetry/bibliotherapy) have grown rapidly in the last 10 years, documenting their positive impact on a wide range of psychological and physiological outcomes (e.

Outer and Inner Dimensions of Brain and Consciousness - Refining and Integrating the Phenomenal Layers.

In view of the unresolved mind-brain problem, we examine a number of prototypical research attitudes regarding the question, how the mental and the neuronal realms are related to each other, both functionally and ontologically. By discussing neurophilosophical and neuropsychological positions, the mind-brain problem can be recast in terms of a structural relation between methodological and content-related aspects. Although this reformulation does not immediately lead to a solution, it draws attention to the necessity of searching for a new way of balancing separating and integrating elements regarding content as well as method.

Creative Arts Interventions for Stress Management and Prevention-A Systematic Review.

Stress is one of the world's largest health problems, leading to exhaustion, burnout, anxiety, a weak immune system, or even organ damage. In Germany, stress-induced work absenteeism costs about 20 billion Euros per year. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Central Federal Association of the public Health Insurance Funds in Germany ascribes particular importance to stress prevention and stress management as well as health enhancing measures.

The Confluence of Perceiving and Thinking in Consciousness Phenomenology.

The processual relation of thinking and perceiving shall be examined from a historical perspective as well as on the basis of methodically conducted first-person observation. Historically, these two psychological aspects of human knowledge and corresponding philosophical positions have predominant alternating phases. At certain historical points, thinking and perceiving tend to converge, while in the interim phases they seem to diverge with an emphasis on one of them.