Suspending the Embodied Self in Meditation Attenuates Beta Oscillations in the Posterior Medial Cortex.

Human experience is imbued by the sense of being an embodied agent. The investigation of such basic self-consciousness has been hampered by the difficulty of comprehensively modulating it in the laboratory while reliably capturing ensuing subjective changes. The present preregistered study fills this gap by combining advanced meditative states with principled phenomenological interviews: 46 long-term meditators (19 female, 27 male) were instructed to modulate and attenuate their embodied self-experience during magnetoencephalographic monitoring. Results showed frequency-specific (high-beta band) activity reductions in frontoparietal and posterior medial cortices (PMC). Importantly, PMC reductions were driven by a subgroup describing radical embodied self-disruptions, including suspension of agency and dissolution of a localized first-person perspective. Neural changes were correlated with lifetime meditation and interview-derived experiential changes, but not with classical self-reports. The results demonstrate the potential of integrating in-depth first-person methods into neuroscientific experiments. Furthermore, they highlight neural oscillations in the PMC as a central process supporting the embodied sense of self.

Weight loss in animals and humans treated with "weighlevel", a combination of four medicinal plants used in traditional arabic and islamic medicine.

Weighlevel, a mixture of extract of four plants used in traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine as well as in European herbal medicine, was prepared and assessed for its safety and efficacy in weight loss. Leaves of Alchemilla vulgaris, Olea europaea and Mentha longifolia L., as well as seeds of Cuminum cyminum, were used. Cultured human fibroblasts treated with Weighlevel did not exhibit any sign of toxicity as evidenced by lactate dehydrogenase release. These results were confirmed in experimental studies on rats where an LD(50) of 15.3 g kg(-1) was observed. Significant antioxidant properties were seen at very low concentrations of Weighlevel (10 µg ml(-1)) as measured by the lipid peroxidation method. Progressive and significant weight loss was observed in chickens given this mixture weekly for 4 weeks compared with controls. Furthermore, a 3-fold increase in the thermogenesis was seen in rat interscapular brown adipose tissue following exposure to different concentrations of Weighlevel extract as determined by measurement of increased oxygen consumption. In addition, a clinical study was carried out among 80 human volunteers with a body mass index (BMI) of 30.67 ± 2.14 kg m(-2). All 80 subjects were asked to continue their usual diet but to eat only three main meals daily and to take one Weighlevel tablet 30 min before each meal. Fourteen subjects were excluded for not following the protocol, and 66 subjects were all evaluated for efficacy and tolerability of Weighlevel monthly for 3 months. Weighlevel was well tolerated by all subjects, and no side effects were reported. A progressive and significant weight loss was seen in these subjects during the whole study period. Higher levels of weight loss were seen in people with BMI of 25-30 kg m(-2) (overweight) compared to people with BMI >30 kg m(-2) (obese). The BMI was reduced after 3 months from 28.5 ± 1.2 and 32.1 ± 1.8 kg m(-2) to 24.5 ± 1.4 and 27.5 ± 2.2 kg m(-2) in overweight and obese group, respectively. Results indicate safety, tolerability and efficacy of Weighlevel.

Self-Boundary Dissolution in Meditation: A Phenomenological Investigation.

A fundamental aspect of the sense of self is its pre-reflective dimension specifying the self as a bounded and embodied knower and agent. Being a constant and tacit feature structuring consciousness, it eludes robust empirical exploration. Recently, deep meditative states involving global dissolution of the sense of self have been suggested as a promising path for advancing such an investigation. To that end, we conducted a comprehensive phenomenological inquiry into meditative self-boundary alteration. The induced states were systematically characterized by changes in six experiential features including the sense of location, agency, first-person perspective, attention, body sensations, and affective valence, as well as their interaction with meditative technique and overall degree of dissolution. Quantitative analyses of the relationships between these phenomenological categories highlighted a unitary dimension of boundary dissolution. Notably, passive meditative gestures of "letting go", which reduce attentional engagement and sense of agency, emerged as driving the depth of dissolution. These findings are aligned with an enactive approach to the pre-reflective sense of self, linking its generation to sensorimotor activity and attention-demanding processes. Moreover, they set the stage for future phenomenologically informed analyses of neurophysiological data and highlight the utility of combining phenomenology and intense contemplative training for a scientific characterization of processes giving rise to the basic sense of being a bounded self.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to Neurophenomenology - The Case of Studying Self Boundaries With Meditators.

This paper is a practical guide to neurophenomenology. Varela's neurophenomenological research program (NRP) aspires to bridge the gap between, and integrate, first-person (1P) and third-person (3P) approaches to understanding the mind. It does so by suggesting a methodological framework allowing these two irreducible phenomenal domains to relate and reciprocally support the investigation of one another. While highly appealing theoretically, neurophenomenology invites researchers to a challenging methodological endeavor. Based on our experience with empirical neurophenomenological implementation, we offer practical clarifications and insights learnt along the way. In the first part of the paper, we outline the theoretical principles of the NRP and briefly present the field of 1P research. We speak to the importance of phenomenological training and outline the utility of cooperating with meditators as skilled participants. We suggest that 1P accounts of subjective experience can be placed on a complexity continuum ranging between thick and thin phenomenology, highlighting the tension and trade-off inherent to the neurophenomenological attempt to naturalize phenomenology. We then outline a typology of bridges, which create mutual constraints between 1P and 3P approaches, and argue for the utility of alternating between the bridges depending on the available experimental resources, domain of interest and level of sought articulation. In the second part of the paper, we demonstrate how the theory can be put into practice by describing a decade of neurophenomenological studies investigating the sense of self with increasing focus on its embodied, and minimal, aspects. These aspects are accessed via the dissolution of the sense-of-boundaries, shedding new light on the multi-dimensionality and flexibility of embodied selfhood. We emphasize the evolving neurophenomenological dialogue, showing how consecutive studies, placed differently on the thin-to-thick 1P continuum, advance the research project by using the bridging principles appropriate for each stage.

In Vitro and Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial to Determine the Efficacy and Safety of Nine Antiacne Medicinal Plants.

The present in vitro and randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial aims to determine the efficacy and safety of nine Mediterranean antiacne medicinal plants. The antimicrobial, antisebum, and anti-inflammatory activities of the plant extracts were evaluated in cells from the immortalized human keratinocytes (HaCaT) and human monocytic cell line (THP-1) as well as in a double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled trial. Most of the extracts showed no significant cytotoxic effects on HaCaT cells up to 250 µg/ml. Inula helenium (IH) and Saponaria officinalis (SO) inhibited sebum production at 90 µg/ml and 30 µg/ml, respectively. The inhibition effect of SO on the growth of Cutibacterium acnes was 1.2 times higher than that of chloramphenicol. IH and SO extracts significantly inhibited the lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced IL-6 and TNF-α production in THP-1 cells reaching the control levels of untreated cells at a concentration of 250 µg/ml. SO, IH, and Solanum nigrum (SN) extracts inhibited the nitric oxide (NO) production in a dose-dependent manner. Based on these results, an antiacne herbal cream (AHC) was prepared from different portions of extracts from SO, IH, and SN, and its efficacy was evaluated in a double-blind, randomized, and controlled efficacy study with 41 acne patients, ages 18-24, who were asked to apply AHC (n = 27) or a placebo (n = 14) two to three times daily for six weeks. Results obtained indicate that the AHC has unique synergistic effects that halt sebum production, combined with highly antiseptic and anti-inflammatory activity, in which 54.95% (t = 19.37 P < 0.001) of acne inflammatory and noninflammatory lesions disappeared after two weeks, 85.3%, after five weeks (t = 14.19 P < 0.001), and 91.4%, at the end of the sixth week of application (t = 5.7 P < 0.001). In conclusion, SO, IH, and SN as single extracts and in combination as AHC showed significant antimicrobial, antisebum, and anti-inflammatory activities in vitro and in a double-blind, randomized, and controlled antiacne efficacy. Therefore, AHC represents an interesting alternative treatment for acne.

Self-specific processing in the meditating brain: a MEG neurophenomenology study.

Self-specific processes (SSPs) specify the self as an embodied subject and agent, implementing a functional self/nonself distinction in perception, cognition, and action. Despite recent interest, it is still undetermined whether SSPs are all-or-nothing or graded phenomena; whether they can be identified in neuroimaging data; and whether they can be altered through attentional training. These issues are approached through a neurophenomenological exploration of the sense-of-boundaries (SB), the fundamental experience of being an 'I' (self) separated from the 'world' (nonself). The SB experience was explored in collaboration with a uniquely qualified meditation practitioner, who volitionally produced, while being scanned by magnetoencephalogram (MEG), three mental states characterized by a graded SB experience. The results were then partly validated in an independent group of 10 long-term meditators. Implicated neural mechanisms include right-lateralized beta oscillations in the temporo-parietal junction, a region known to mediate the experiential unity of self and body; and in the medial parietal cortex, a central node of the self's representational system. The graded nature as well as the trainable flexibility and neural plasticity of SSPs may hold clinical implications for populations with a disturbed SB.

Maintaining a physiological blood glucose level with 'glucolevel', a combination of four anti-diabetes plants used in the traditional arab herbal medicine.

Safety and anti-diabetic effects of Glucolevel, a mixture of dry extract of leaves of the Juglans regia L, Olea europea L, Urtica dioica L and Atriplex halimus L were evaluated using in vivo and in vitro test systems. No sign of toxic effects (using LDH assay) were seen in cultured human fibroblasts treated with increasing concentrations of Glucolevel. Similar observations were seen in vivo studies using rats (LD50: 25 g/kg). Anti-diabetic effects were evidenced by the augmentation of glucose uptake by yeast cells (2-folds higher) and by inhibition of glucose intestinal absorption ( approximately 49%) in a rat gut-segment. Furthermore, treatment with Glucolevel of Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats for 2-3 weeks showed a significant reduction in glucose levels [above 400 +/- 50 mg/dl to 210 +/- 22 mg/dl (P < 0.001)] and significantly improved sugar uptake during the glucose tolerance test, compared with positive control. In addition, glucose levels were tested in sixteen human volunteers, with the recent onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus, who received Glucolevel tablets 1 x 3 daily for a period of 4 weeks. Within the first week of Glucolevel consumption, baseline glucose levels were significantly reduced from 290 +/- 40 to 210 +/- 20 mg/dl. At baseline, a subgroup of eleven of these subjects had glucose levels below 300 mg% and the other subgroup had levels >/= 300 mg%. Clinically acceptable glucose levels were achieved during the 2-3 weeks of therapy in the former subgroup and during the 4th week of therapy in the latter subgroup. No side effect was reported. In addition, a significant reduction in hemoglobin A1C values (8.2 +/- 1.03 to 6.9 +/- 0.94) was found in six patients treated with Glucolevel. Results demonstrate safety, tolerability and efficacy of herbal combinations of four plants that seem to act differently but synergistically to regulate glucose-homeostasis.