Dave Vago

Really enjoyed being part of this #dose-response in #mindfulness #meditation #symposium #panel at #ISCR2025 today together with @sgoldbergphd.bsky.social, Yuval Hadash, & Nick Bowles, chaired by David Creswell & facilitated by @drericgarland.bsky.social Thank you for the (many) people who came!

Gamma-band synchronization between neurons in the visual cortex is causal for effective information processing and behavior - Nature Communications The brain’s ability to route information selectively is vital for perception and behavior. Here, the authors demonstrate that routing causally depends on the precise synchronization of rhythmic neuron...

Temporal coordination (phase synchrony) of gamma signalling is a fundamental mechanism of information processing. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #neuroscience #gamma #attention

The RFP for Music Based Interventions and Pain pilot studies are out! audioanalgesia.org/2025-call-fo...

nice review reflecting on the potential of meditation apps. what we know and where is the field going? #contemplativeresearh #meditationapps psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?d...

Nondual Awareness Dimensional Assessment (NADA) Two versions of the Nondual Awareness Dimensional Assessment-Trait (NADA) were developed as self-report measures of nondual awareness. The trait version of the NADA (NADA-T) was developed to assess du...

Nondual awareness scale - State and Trait differences. #contemplativeresearch #nondualawareness link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/...

Beyond the attention economy, towards an ecology of attending. A manifesto - AI & SOCIETY We endorse policymakers’ efforts to address the negative consequences of the attention economy’s technology but add that these approaches are often limited in their criticism of the systemic context o...

great reflections on meaning-engendering, an ‘ecology’ of bodily, sociotechnical and moral frameworks, and using technology from a contemplative lens #contemplativeresearch link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Time-frequency decomposition for
cue- and target-locked dat.... from all electrodes with complex Morlet wavelets that had theta frequencies.for fc - they calculated a "phase lag index" targeting 6 Hz was calculated and averaged across all trials, separately for cue- and target-locked data"

Exploring ultraweak photon emissions as optical markers of brain activity Cognitive neuroscience; Neuroscience

so cool. functional bioluminescence detected in the form of Ultraweak photon emissions (UPEs) - could be a very new way to image activity from brain and body #photoencephalography #neuroscience www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Your brain has a hidden beat — and smarter minds sync to it When we focus, switch tasks, or face tough mental challenges, the brain starts to sync its internal rhythms, especially in the midfrontal region. A new study has found that smarter individuals show mo...

interesting findings on low-frequency theta and attentional control - #contemplativeresearch #attention #eeg #neuroscience sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

What psi research can – and cannot – say about ‘mind beyond the brain’ Research on parapsychological (psi) phenomena is very relevant in the discussion of whether mental processes might go beyond the known limits of brain capacities. Nonetheless, most scientific and p...

Etzel Cardeña: What psi research can – and cannot – say about ‘mind beyond the brain’

#contemplativeresearch #meditation

Investigating the Psychophysiological Effects of Tonglen Compassion Meditation in Healthcare Workers - Mindfulness Objectives Compassion is a valuable, trainable skill which can bring significant benefits to oneself and others. One method for developing compassion towards others is Tonglen, a Tibetan Buddhist medi...

Tonglen effects on HRV and physiology #contemplativeresearch #meditation #tonglen link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Webinars - iscrsociety.org

Webinar! Join us Thursday, June 12th Noon EST - Neural & Psychological Mechanisms of #Mindfulness and #Psychedelic Interventions for Pain & Opioid Use Disorders @drericgarland.bsky.social & @fadelzeidan.bsky.social will share new findings #contemplativeresearch #meditation iscrsociety.org/webinars/

The 2025 Summer Research Institute is happening now— and it’s not too late to register! Erin McCarthy, our Director of Research, invites you to join the livestream for talks, panels, and meditations on reimagining education.

Register now! www.mindandlife.org/events/summe...

#ContemplativeEducation

#contemplative research #mindfulness

Redefining respiratory sinus arrhythmia as respiratory heart rate variability: an international Expert Recommendation for terminological clarity Nature Reviews Cardiology - The physiological phenomenon whereby heart rate varies in phase with breathing in vertebrates has been known as ‘respiratory sinus arrhythmia’. In this...

New consensus paper on Redefining respiratory sinus arrhythmia as respiratory heart rate variability: an international Expert Recommendation for terminological clarity #HRV #RSA #RespHRV www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Are You Happy While You Work? Interesting to see the list of activities that people report doing at their happiest #happiness #wellbeing url:https://academic.oup.com/ej/article-abstract/127/599/106/5067823

Where is my mind? A neurocognitive investigation of mind blanking During wakefulness, our thoughts transition between different contents. However, there are moments that are seemingly devoid of reportable content, referred to as mind blanking (MB). It remains unclea...

Where is my mind? A neurocognitive investigation of mind blanking www.cell.com/trends/cogni... #contemplative #research

join the @mindandlife.bsky.social summer research institute virtual livestream on Contemplative Education

The Teacher Matters: The Role and Impact of Meditation Teachers in the Trajectories of Western Buddhist Meditators Experiencing Meditation-Related Challenges Although meditation is often treated as an individual practice, meditation teachers can play an important role. Drawing on the mixed-methods dataset of the Varieties of Contemplative Experience pro...

The Teacher Matters: The Role and Impact of Meditation Teachers in the Trajectories of Western Buddhist Meditators Experiencing Meditation-Related Challenges www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1... #meditation #contemplative #research #adverse

Exploring Phenomenological Characteristics of Thinking in Individuals with Maladaptive Daydreaming Tendencies: Insights from Ecological Momentary Assessment - osf.io/f52z4/resour... #meditation #contemplative #research #ema #neuroscience

Fantastic weekend at Google X’s Moonshot Factory in Mountain View, 150 of the brightest minds in neuroscience, AI, & human flourishing gathered for the BrainMind Science Collective. There was a high-energy exchange of ideas #BrainMindScience2025 #Neuroscience #AI #Consciousness #MindBody #brainmind

Investigating the complex cortical dynamics of an advanced concentrative absorption meditation called jhanas (ACAM-J): a geometric eigenmode analysis Abstract. Advanced meditation has been associated with long- and short-term psychological changes such as bliss, profound insight, and transformation of we

🧠✨ New #Research on #Meditation

Jhana meditation alters brain networks, as shown via geometric eigenmode analysis of 7T fMRI data. academic.oup.com/cercor/artic...

#Mindfulness #Meditation #Neuroscience #MentalHealth

A small win indeed.

Certainly makes it clear that federally funded science will have a more narrow agenda dictated by the priorities of a select few. :(

NIH centralizes peer review to improve efficiency and strengthen integrity The proposed approach is expected to save more than $65 million annually.

Big change for NIH study sections - now a centralized process only. www.nih.gov/news-events/...

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Contemplative Research Fellow in Cognitive Science in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America | Research at University of Virginia Apply for Postdoctoral Research Associate, Contemplative Research Fellow in Cognitive Science job with University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America. Research at Univer...

come work w/ us in the CIRCL lab - we’re hiring a postdoc in cognitive science to conduct contemplative research :

jobs.virginia.edu/us/en/job/UO...

Judge issues preliminary injunction blocking Trump cuts to NIH research overhead payments A federal judge issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from slashing NIH payments for research overhead

Preliminary injunction in nationwide indirect cost rate case.

This means that the judge found that the plaintiffs (AAMC, et al.) are likely to win on the merits when the ruling is finalized.

www.statnews.com/2025/03/05/n...

Good NOA news! It is happening. Don’t fire your staff yet!

Researchers at Johns Hopkins are seeking volunteers for a ~15 minute survey study about psychedelic experiences among veterans. (Note: if you completed a similar survey 8 months ago, please DO NOT fill out the current survey). To participate, please visit: hopkinspsychedelic.org/veteransurvey