The Feeling Brain

02/04/2025

Surprise! Dreams are conscious.

Subjectively falling asleep and waking up refreshed eight hours later is something of an illusion.

Perhaps because we dream after losing consciousness every day, we tend to forget that dreams are actually conscious events.

But we now know beyond reasonable doubt that our eight hours of unconscious sleep is interrupted by periods of waking consciousness, which are easily distinguishable in the electrical activity of the cortex (almost exactly like waking); many times we can also see the distinctive signature of “slow, regular, horizontal eye movements” – called REM.

So the first point is that subjectively falling asleep and waking up refreshed eight hours later is something of an illusion.

In fact, we are not densely unconscious every second of being asleep — it only seems like that in the morning.

🧠 When scientists started studying night-time EEG they discovered periods of waking activity in the EEG, labeled “paradoxical sleep” by French scientist Michel Jouvet. The word “paradoxical” was suggested that waking EEG happened several times during what we think of as a continuously unconscious eight hours of sleep. When we wake people up during the paradoxical period, sleepers tell us about their dreams — which are in fact conscious states of a kind.

📜 This was already realized by the authors of the Mandukya Upanishad, the shortest and best-known scripture of Vedanta.

💫 Dreams are an interaction between the unconscious and conscious.

The unconscious is the dominant force of the dream. You overlook all your realm of the waking scene while you are dreaming.

From "The Developing Brain & Consciousness" BaarsLab.com course — The Story of Spikes and Waves.

https://bernardbaars.substack.com/p/surprise-dreams-are-conscious

Subjectively falling asleep and waking up refreshed eight hours later is something of an illusion. From "The Developing Brain & Consciousness" BaarsLab.com course — The Story of Spikes and Waves.

17/03/2025

There seems to be a tug of war between those deep midbrain nuclei and the control system which involves the prefrontal cortex. Various areas of the prefrontal cortex have somewhat different effects, but prefrontal is associated with self-regulation, while midbrain nuclei have to do with impulses, motivations, emotions, and so on. The prefrontal cortex is sometimes called the “organ of civilization” or as Dr. Heather Berlin dubs it, “the brake system”.

In the last two decades a whole new generation of brain instruments has come to light.

Exploring deep midbrain nuclei and the control system, which involves the prefrontal cortex.

28/02/2025

🧠 “Consciousness” has several meanings.

It is used in biomedical science to refer to the state of waking consciousness, as assessed by responsiveness to questions, commands, and mild pain, by the classical scalp EEG of waking, and by the ability to describe oneself and current events.

However, in scientific work “consciousness” is also used to refer to the “dimension of conscious vs. unconscious brain events” - that is, as an experimental variable that allows us to study brain differences attributable to consciousness.

This usage is profoundly different from the first, since it involves...

🧠 Keep reading at bernardbaars.substack.com !! 🧠

07/02/2025

Sleep Strengthens Emotionally Charged Memories During Non-REM Phase

A new study reveals that positive emotions enhance perceptual memories during sleep, specifically in the non-REM stage.

Researchers trained mice to associate a texture with a positive experience and found that this memory lasted longer than neutral ones.

The amygdala, along with the motor and sensory cortices, plays a key role in reinforcing these memories.

07/02/2025

"We found that loving kindness meditation is associated with changes in the strength and duration of certain types of brain waves called beta and gamma waves,” said Ignacio Saez, PhD, Associate Professor of Neuroscience, Neurosurgery, and Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine and senior author of the paper. “These kinds of brain waves are affected in mood disorders like depression and anxiety, so the possibility of being able to willfully control these through meditation is pretty amazing, and may help explain the positive impact that these practices have on individuals.”

The study is unique in that it used advanced invasive neural recording techniques, which provide much more detailed and precise insight into the brain compared to traditional techniques like scalp EEG. The study took place in the Quantitative Biometrics Laboratory at Mount Sinai West, a lab designed to provide patients with a relaxing environment to receive therapeutic treatment that is free from typical distractions associated with a hospital setting or traditional lab. This naturalistic setting enabled study participants to meditate in a calm environment that is more reflective of real-world experiences, improving the study’s ecological validity.

“Traditionally, it has been challenging to study these deep limbic brain regions in humans using standard methods like scalp EEG. Our team was able to overcome this challenge by leveraging data collected from a unique patient population: epilepsy patients with surgically implanted devices that allow for chronic EEG recording from electrodes implanted deep in the amygdala and hippocampus,” said Christina Maher, a neuroscience PhD student in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine and first author of the paper. “It was quite amazing to uncover changes in brain wave activity in these key regions, even during first-time meditation.”

Alea Skwara Consciousness Studies Brain World Magazine Brain Cafe

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1153504106783264&set=a.489198276547187

PRESS RELEASE!

New Research Reveals That Meditation Induces Changes in Deep Brain Areas Associated with Memory and Emotional Regulation | Findings provide insight about its potential as a noninvasive therapy
👉 https://www.mountsinai.org/about/newsroom/2025/new-research-reveals-that-meditation-induces-changes-in-deep-brain-areas-associated-with-memory-and-emotional-regulation

Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, using intracranial electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings from deep within the brain, found that meditation led to changes in activity in the amygdala and hippocampus, key brain regions involved in emotional regulation and memory.

The study is unique in that it used advanced invasive neural recording techniques, which provide much more detailed and precise insight into the brain compared to traditional techniques like scalp EEG and may help explain the positive impact these practices have and could contribute to the development of meditation-based approaches for improving memory and emotional regulation.

“This study provides a foundation for future research that could contribute to developing meditation-based interventions to help individuals modulate brain activity in areas involved in memory and emotional regulation... Meditation is noninvasive, widely accessible, and doesn’t require specialized equipment or medical resources, making it an easy-to-use tool for improving mental well-being. However, it is crucial to note that meditation is not a replacement for traditional therapies. Instead, it could serve as a complementary low-cost option for individuals experiencing challenged with memory or emotional regulation.” - Dr. Ignacio Saez.

Full Study in PNAS
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2409423122

Intracranial substrates of meditation-induced neuromodulation in the amygdala and hippocampus
- Christina Maher, Lea Tortolero, Soyeon Jun, Daniel Cummins, Adam Saad, James Young, Lizbeth Nuñez Martinez, Zachary Schulman, Lara Marcuse, Allison C. Waters, PhD; Helen Mayberg, MD; Richard J. Davidson, Fedor Panov, and Ignacio Saez, PhD



The Mount Sinai Hospital Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine Mount Sinai West
University of Wisconsin-Madison

07/02/2025

DON'T MISS "How Stress-Related Immune Activation May Alter the Brain and Impair Behavior" in the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF) Blog.

In the fall of 2021, BBRF Scientific Council member Scott J. Russo, Ph.D., and colleagues at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai launched the Brain and Body Research Center at that institution. It is composed of researchers and clinicians from diverse specialties, from neuroscience and neurology to cardiology, gastroenterology, dermatology, and immunology, who, says Dr. Russo, “are pioneering a holistic approach to revealing the intricate connections between the brain and body that drive health and disease.”

Central in this effort, which Dr. Russo directs, is to “decode the brain’s conversations” with other organ systems, including the heart, gut, and skin.

“We are trying to understand how the brain and peripheral organ systems interact and, importantly, to understand why there are so many co-morbidities between mental illnesses, neurological conditions, and systemic organ diseases.” - Dr. Scott Russo

Tracing potentially causal relationships like this is at the heart of why Dr. Russo and colleagues have formed their new research center.

Learn More at the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
https://bbrfoundation.org/blog/how-stress-related-immune-activation-may-alter-brain-and-impair-behavior



Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai The Mount Sinai Hospital Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine

19/01/2025

🪶💦🌊 "A layered body-wide multiscale network of connective tissue that allows tensional loading and shearing mobility along its interfaces." The layering is of collagen (stiff) layers interwoven with hyaluronic acid (fluid) interstitial layers. The site specific organization of these determines the site specific balance between "tensional loading" and "shearing mobility." Very excited to be part of this!

We propose that the fasciae and the fascial interstitia within are an anatomical system, a body-wide multiscale network of connective tissue allowing tensional loading and shearing mobility. Its four...

15/12/2024

One of our favorite episodes of the On and the !

Taken from episode 26: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnDnsPDxWMwIn this clip:Dr. Stuart Firestein specializes in the olfactory system ⎯ why and how our br...

06/11/2024

Gut Bacteria Modulate Stress Responses Over Time

A new study reveals that gut bacteria play a significant role in regulating the body’s response to stress by interacting with circadian rhythms, highlighting a potential pathway for developing microbiome-based mental health therapies.

Researchers found that depleting certain gut bacteria can lead to heightened stress responses through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis at specific times of day, suggesting that these bacteria act as modulators of stress and are influenced by natural daily cycles.

The research identified the bacterium Limosilactobacillus reuteri as a key player in this process, helping to modulate stress hormones.

This finding underscores the importance of maintaining a balanced gut microbiome for mental well-being.

05/11/2024

Amygdala Cells Linked to Anxiety

Researchers have identified distinct cell types in the amygdala, a brain region central to processing fear and anxiety, which could enable more targeted treatments for anxiety disorders.

Using gene expression analysis in human and macaque brains, scientists discovered specific cells, including FOXP2-expressing “gatekeeper” cells that help regulate emotional responses.

This study shows that each cell type has unique functions, with some types linked to genes associated with anxiety and potential drug receptors.

These insights may help pinpoint specific “chokepoints” in the amygdala’s cellular networks that contribute to extreme anxiety.

Targeting these cell types could lead to more effective treatments.

The findings bridge human and animal research, offering a clearer path for developing new therapies.

https://neurosciencenews.com/amygdala-cells-anxiety-27966/