Academic studies on claimed past-life memories

Did you know that most studies on claimed past-life memories were carried out mainly in Asian countries?

Empathy in couples

Understanding the adaptative functioning of couples is something crucial considering the harmful consequences of situations of domestic violence.

Choosing the usual or taking a chance?

We always choose the same route back home, but one day, alerted about traffic restrictions, we decide to risk an alternative route. What drives us to make this decision?

How submovements are coordinated?

In the scope of the research project 246/20 - The hidden rhythm of interpersonal (sub-)movement coordination, supported by the BIAL Foundation, the research team led by Alice Tomassini studied the submovement coordination at an individual- and dyadic-level. Participants performed a series of bimanual tasks in coordination with a partner (dyadic task) or alone (solo task) and, in the latter case, with or without visual feedback. Data, presented in the paper The microstructure of intra- and interpersonal coordination published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, showed that distinct coordinative structures emerged at the level of submovements, as a result of feedback properties. Specifically, the relative timing of submovements (between partners/effectors) shifted from alternation to simultaneity and a mixture of both when coordination is achieved using vision (interpersonal), proprioception/efference-copy only (intrapersonal, without vision) or all information sources (intrapersonal, with vision), respectively.

Can the brain act as a psi-inhibitory filter?

Morris Freedman’s neurobiological model suggests that the frontal lobes of the brain act as a filter to inhibit psi and implies that humans may have innate psi abilities that are suppressed by this frontal lobe filter. To test this model, the research team of the research project 210/18 - Mind-matter Interactions and the Frontal Lobes of the Brain, supported by the BIAL Foundation, used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to induce reversible brain lesions in the left medial middle frontal region in healthy participants. Data confirmed their a priori hypothesis, that is, healthy participants with reversible rTMS induced lesions affecting the left medial middle frontal brain region showed larger effects on a mind-matter interaction task compared to healthy participants without rTMS induced lesions. These findings support the concept that the brain serves as a filter to block psi effects and may help explain why these effects are so small and hard to replicate in healthy participants. To know more about the study, please read the paper Enhanced mind-matter interactions following rTMS induced frontal lobe inhibition, published in the journal Cortex.

Can perceived interactions with the deceased help in the bereavement process?

Across societies, 30 to 34% of individuals is likely to experience at least one after-death communication (ADC) in their lifetime. The ADC is defined as a spontaneous phenomenon in which a living individual has a feeling or sense of direct contact with a deceased person. An ADC may occur in several forms, which include a sense of presence, sensory experiences (visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory), symbolic experiences (song on radio, flower blooming out of season, etc.), electronic experiences (telephone call, Facebook “like”, or email from the deceased, computer anomalies, etc.), visitation or message dreams. ADCs occur across cultures, race, age, socio-economic status, educational level, gender, and religious beliefs. In the scope of project 169/20 - Investigation of the Phenomenology and Impact of Spontaneous and Direct After-Death Communications (ADCs), supported by the BIAL Foundation, the research team explored the impact of perceived ADCs on bereavement, involving 70 individuals who experienced ADCs with deceased partners or spouses. The majority found the ADCs comforting (81%) and helpful in their bereavement (84%). For 49% of the participants, ADCs seemed to ease acceptance of loss and 42% confirmed an accelerated recovery due to the ADC. The implications of these findings are discussed in the article Description and impact of encounters with deceased partners or spouses published in OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying.