(Engbeck, 2023, In Press) Universal Law … unfettered by human attempts at interpretation… suggests a new political conceptology of Earth is overdue. The paradox of therapeutics in this all new era of extreme change and mixed and hybrid Bayesian contemplation, “Cognitive Behavior Therapy” (CBT), which has proven successful for former recidivist inmates of the correctional systems, stands appropriately out in front of the sleepwalking mobs and throngs of socially anxious and disordered human beings and similar, like “Tianonmen Squares.”
There is no “arms race” to conscious superiority “after-death,” … yet existentially speaking, and while that is where the power really is, consciousness does not actually promulgate “power over.” That...is a psycho-logical construct. Rather, ther4e is a seeking of authentic immersion in and with The True Spirit of and with Nature trans-personally. The children of the world and all nations must be protected from the neuro-psychological attacks of an apparently ancient evil which conveys as Thalamo and Frontal-Temporal Dysfunction. The conscious viral attacks limit the victims’ access to higher forms of consciousness and vibration ...a frequency of limitation and possession … oppression and slavery … exhibiting when certain vibratory brain functions are blocked. Were the “mainstream” actshoeally concerned with Truth more than funding… the formal use of a cloud-based human peer review of EEG energetic profiles could be implemented to protect, fortify, and guide researchers and leaders alike before-the-fact aka “Pro-Actively.”
Towards Earthly politics in education: Going beyond national, global and planetary environmental imaginaries
Z Millei, S Lappalainen - European Educational Research Journal, 2023
Abstract
Early childhood/educational environmental imaginations transmit national, global and planetary views of the world through texts, visual representations and material objects. These representations produce politics, including nationalism and globalism, and play a part in policy making as well as in how children learn to view and relate to the world. Education, however, needs a new political attractor during anthropogenic climate change that differently orients political engagement with the world for education. In this article, we think with the four political attractors Latour describes: the national, global, planetary and Earth, and Cobb’s notion of the child’s primary relatedness to the world. We explore children’s environmental imagination in their drawings and associated stories to highlight the kinds of politics present in their views promoted by current imaginations. Then, we spin these stories further with speculative experiences our own relation with the world with Latour’s ideas and point to a new political object the Earth and Earthly politics for education.
Keywords Nationalism, globalisation, politics and childhood, lifeworld, research practice, place-making, drawings
The Jeffreys–Lindley paradox: an exchange
J Gray, JL Cherry, EJ Wagenmakers, A Ly - Archive for History of Exact Sciences, 2023
Abstract
This Editorial reports an exchange in form of a comment and reply on the article “History and Nature of the Jeffreys-Lindley Paradox” (Arch Hist Exact Sci 77:25, 2023) by Eric-Jan Wagenmakers and Alexander Ly
The Jeffreys–Lindley paradox involves disagreements between classical and Bayesian null hypothesis tests applied to the same observations. The two approaches can lead to opposite conclusions: the classical p-value may be low enough that the null hypothesis would be rejected while the Bayesian posterior probability favors the null. The paradox, according to Lindley (1957), is that whatever the prior probability of the null, this disagreement can be arbitrarily strong for sufficiently large sample size. Equivalently, the Bayes factor in favor of the null (BF01) corresponding to any fixed p-value grows without bound as the sample size increases. This result holds for any alternative hypothesis satisfying reasonable conditions.
Baseline Severity as a Moderator of the Waiting List–Controlled Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With Symptom Change in Social Anxiety Disorder: A …
W Scholten, A Seldenrijk, A Hoogendoorn, R Bosman… - JAMA psychiatry, 2023
Abstract
Importance Social anxiety disorder (SAD) can be adequately treated with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). However, there is a large gap in knowledge on factors associated with prognosis, and it is unclear whether symptom severity predicts response to CBT for SAD.
Objective To examine baseline SAD symptom severity as a moderator of the association between CBT and symptom change in patients with SAD.
Data Sources For this systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis (IPDMA), PubMed, PsycInfo, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched from January 1, 1990, to January 13, 2023. Primary search topics were social anxiety disorder, cognitive behavior therapy, and randomized controlled trial.
Study Selection Inclusion criteria were randomized clinical trials comparing CBT with being on a waiting list and using the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) in adults with a primary clinical diagnosis of SAD.
Data Extraction and Synthesis Authors of included studies were approached to provide individual-level data. Data were extracted by pairs of authors following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses reporting guideline, and risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane tool. An IPDMA was conducted using a 2-stage approach for the association of CBT with change in LSAS scores from baseline to posttreatment and for the interaction effect of baseline LSAS score by condition using random-effects models.
Main Outcomes and Measures The main outcome was the baseline to posttreatment change in symptom severity measured by the LSAS.
Results A total of 12 studies including 1246 patients with SAD (mean [SD] age, 35.3 [10.9] years; 738 [59.2%] female) were included in the meta-analysis. A waiting list–controlled association between CBT and pretreatment to posttreatment LSAS change was found (b = –20.3; 95% CI, −24.9 to −15.6; P < .001; Cohen d = –0.95; 95% CI, −1.16 to −0.73). Baseline LSAS scores moderated the differences between CBT and waiting list with respect to pretreatment to posttreatment symptom reductions (b = –0.22; 95% CI, −0.39 to −0.06; P = .009), indicating that individuals with severe symptoms had larger waiting list–controlled symptom reductions after CBT (Cohen d = –1.13 [95% CI, −1.39 to −0.88] for patients with very severe SAD; Cohen d = –0.54 [95% CI, −0.80 to −0.29] for patients with mild SAD).
Conclusions and Relevance In this systematic review and IPDMA, higher baseline SAD symptom severity was associated with greater (absolute but not relative) symptom reductions after CBT in patients with SAD. The findings contribute to personalized care by suggesting that clinicians can confidently offer CBT to individuals with severe SAD symptoms.
The epistemologies of research on the survival of consciousness after death in the golden era of the Society for Psychical Research (1882–1930)
PHC Resende, A Moreira-Almeida, H Schubert Coelho - History of Psychiatry, 2023
Abstract
The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) of London was founded in 1882 with the purpose of investigating psychical phenomena, especially the theme of survival, with scientific rigour. Despite the recognized importance of the SPR for dynamic psychiatry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, there are few studies of its epistemological contributions to the theme of survival and its implications to science. In order to fill this gap, we have consulted the main journals of the SPR in its golden period, and highlight the epistemologies of Sidgwick, Myers, James, Podmore, Schiller, Lodge and Richet. We conclude that the authors, whether for or against survival, argued in defence of an expanded science, and looked forward to understanding the complexity of human experience.
Deep Ecology, Nature Spirits, and the Filipino Transpersonal Worldview
CL Cervantes - International Journal of Transpersonal Studies
Many Filipinos today still believe that the world is filled with invisible entities who can affect their lives in a tangible way. These beings usually reside in nature as the souls of ancestors or other mysterious spirits. This indigenous transpersonal worldview implies that the individual is part of a living world. The modern term “deep ecology” seems to be aligned with this worldview. This paper looks at the implications of the Filipino transpersonal worldview on policies related to the care for environment and biodiversity.
Psychometric evaluation of the computerized battery for neuropsychological evaluation of children (BENCI) among school aged children in the context of HIV in an …
M Rachel, H Jia, A Amina, M Perez-Garcia, M Kumar… - BMC Psychiatry, 2023
Abstract
Introduction
Culturally validated neurocognitive measures for children in Low- and Middle-Income Countries are important in the timely and correct identification of neurocognitive impairments. Such measures can inform development of interventions for children exposed to additional vulnerabilities like HIV infection. The Battery for Neuropsychological Evaluation of Children (BENCI) is an openly available, computerized neuropsychological battery specifically developed to evaluate neurocognitive impairment. This study adapted the BENCI and evaluated its reliability and validity in Kenya.
Methodology
The BENCI was adapted using translation and back-translation from Spanish to English. The psychometric properties were evaluated in a case–control study of 328 children (aged 6 – 14 years) living with HIV and 260 children not living with HIV in Kenya. We assessed reliability, factor structure, and measurement invariance with respect to HIV. Additionally, we examined convergent validity of the BENCI using tests from the Kilifi Toolkit.
Results
Internal consistencies (0.49 < α < 0.97) and test–retest reliabilities (-.34 to .81) were sufficient-to-good for most of the subtests. Convergent validity was supported by significant correlations between the BENCI’s Verbal memory and Kilifi’s Verbal List Learning (r = .41), the BENCI’s Visual memory and Kilifi’s Verbal List Learning (r = .32) and the BENCI’s Planning total time test and Kilifi’s Tower Test (r = -.21) and the BENCI’s Abstract Reasoning test and Kilifi’s Raven’s Progressive Matrix (r = .21). The BENCI subtests highlighted meaningful differences between children living with HIV and those not living with HIV. After some minor adaptions, a confirmatory four-factor model consisting of flexibility, fluency, reasoning and working memory fitted well (χ2 = 135.57, DF = 51, N = 604, p < .001, RMSEA = .052, CFI = .944, TLI = .914) and was partially scalar invariant between HIV positive and negative groups.
Conclusion
The English version of the BENCI formally translated for use in Kenya can be further adapted and integrated in clinical and research settings as a valid and reliable cognitive test battery.
Whole-brain analyses indicate the impairment of posterior integration and thalamo-frontotemporal broadcasting in disorders of consciousness.
R Panda, A López-González, M Gilson, O Gosseries… - Human Brain Mapping, 2023
Abstract
The study of the brain's dynamical activity is opening a window to help the clinical assessment of patients with disorders of consciousness. For example, glucose uptake and the dysfunctional spread of naturalistic and synthetic stimuli has proven useful to characterize hampered consciousness. However, understanding of the mechanisms behind loss of consciousness following brain injury is still missing. Here, we study the propagation of endogenous and in-silico exogenous perturbations in patients with disorders of consciousness, based upon directed and causal interactions estimated from resting-state fMRI data, fitted to a linear model of activity propagation. We found that patients with disorders of consciousness suffer decreased capacity for neural propagation and responsiveness to events, and that this can be related to severe reduction of glucose metabolism as measured with [18 F]FDG-PET. In particular, we show that loss of consciousness is related to the malfunctioning of two neural circuits: the posterior cortical regions failing to convey information, in conjunction with reduced broadcasting of information from subcortical, temporal, parietal and frontal regions. These results shed light on the mechanisms behind disorders of consciousness, triangulating network function with basic measures of brain integrity and behavior.
Three levels of information processing in the brain
AV Zhuravlev - Biosystems, 2023
Abstract
Information, the measure of order in a complex system, is the opposite of entropy, the measure of chaos and disorder. We can distinguish several levels at which information is processed in the brain. The first one is the level of serial molecular genetic processes, similar in some aspects to digital computations (DC). At the same time, higher cognitive activity is probably based on parallel neural network computations (NNC). The advantage of neural networks is their intrinsic ability to learn, adapting their parameters to specific tasks and to external data. However, there seems to be a third level of information processing as well, which involves subjective consciousness and its units, so called qualia. They are difficult to study experimentally, and the very fact of their existence is hard to explain within the framework of modern physical theory. Here I propose a way to consider consciousness as the extension of basic physical laws – namely, total entropy dissipation leading to a system simplification. At the level of subjective consciousness, the brain seems to convert information embodied by neural activity to a more simple and compact form, internally observed as qualia. Whereas physical implementations of both DC and NNC are essentially approximate and probabilistic, qualia-associated computations (QAC) make the brain capable of recognizing general laws and relationships. While elaborating a behavioral program, the conscious brain does not act blindly or gropingly but according to the very meaning of such general laws, which gives it an advantage compared to any artificial intelligence system.
Microsynt: exploring the syntax of EEG microstates
F Artoni, J Maillard, J Britz, D Brunet, C Lysakowski… - NeuroImage, 2023
Abstract
Microstates represent electroencephalographic (EEG) activity as a sequence of switching, transient, metastable states. Growing evidence suggests the useful information on brain states is to be found in the higher-order temporal structure of these sequences. Instead of focusing on transition probabilities, here we propose “Microsynt”, a method designed to highlight higher-order interactions that form a preliminary step towards understanding the syntax of microstate sequences of any length and complexity. Microsynt extracts an optimal vocabulary of “words” based on the length and complexity of the full sequence of microstates. Words are then sorted into classes of entropy and their representativeness within each class is statistically compared with surrogate and theoretical vocabularies. We applied the method on EEG data previously collected from healthy subjects undergoing propofol anaesthesia, and compared their “fully awake” (BASE) and “fully unconscious” (DEEP) conditions. Results show that microstate sequences, even at rest, are not random but tend to behave in a more predictable way, favoring simpler sub-sequences, or “words”. Contrary to high-entropy words, lowest-entropy binary microstate loops are prominent and favored on average 10 times more than what is theoretically expected. Progressing from BASE to DEEP, the representation of low-entropy words increases while that of high-entropy words decreases. During the awake state, sequences of microstates tend to be attracted towards “A – B – C” microstate hubs, and most prominently A – B binary loops. Conversely, with full unconsciousness, sequences of microstates are attracted towards “C – D – E” hubs, and most prominently C – E binary loops, confirming the putative relation of microstates A and B to externally-oriented cognitive processes and microstate C and E to internally-generated mental activity. Microsynt can form a syntactic signature of microstate sequences that can be used to reliably differentiate two or more conditions.
Keywords
EEG
Microstates
Syntax
Complexity
Entropy
Anesthesia
brainlife. io: A decentralized and open source cloud platform to support neuroscience research
S Hayashi, B Caron, AS Heinsfeld, S Vinci-Booher… - arXiv preprint arXiv …, 2023
ABSTRACT Neuroscience research has expanded dramatically over the past 30 years by advancing standardization and tool development to support rigor and transparency. Consequently, the complexity of the data pipeline has also increased, hindering access to FAIR data analysis to portions of the worldwide research community. brainlife.io was developed to reduce these burdens and democratize modern neuroscience research across institutions and career levels. Using community software and hardware infrastructure, the platform provides open-source data standardization, management, visualization, and processing and simplifies the data pipeline. brainlife.io automatically tracks the provenance history of thousands of data objects, supporting simplicity, efficiency, and transparency in neuroscience research. Here brainlife.io’s technology and data services are described and evaluated for validity, reliability, reproducibility, replicability, and scientific utility. Using data from 4 modalities and 3,200 participants, we demonstrate that brainlife. io’s services produce outputs that adhere to best practices in modern neuroscience research.
Peer review before trial conduct could increase research value and reduce waste
M Siebert, F Naudet, JPA Ioannidis - Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 2023
Abstract
Traditional peer-review of clinical trials happens too late, after the trials are already done. However, lack of methodological rigor and presence of many biases can be detected and remedied in advance. Here, we examine several options for review and improvement of trials before their conduct: protocol review by peers, sponsors, regulatory authorities, and institutional ethical committees; registration in registry sites; deposition of protocol and/or the statistical analysis plan in a public repository; peer-review and publication of the protocol and/or the statistical analysis plan in a journal; and Registered Reports. Some practices are considered standard (e.g. registration in trial registry), while others are still uncommon but are becoming more frequent (e.g. publication of full trial protocols and statistical analysis plans). Ongoing challenges hinder a large-scale implementation of some promising practices such as Registered Reports. Innovative ideas are necessary to advance peer-review efficiency and rigor in clinical trials but also to lower the cumulative burden for peer-reviewers. We make several suggestions to enhance pre-conduct peer-review. Making all steps of research process public and open may reverse siloed environments. Pre-conduct peer-review may be improved by making routinely publicly available all protocols that have gone through review by institutional review boards and regulatory agencies.
Key words
Clinical trials
Peer-review
preregistration
registered reports
protocol
methodology
ART: (https://www.gpisd.org/Page/39304, 2023)