Dissociative Experiences Among Transgender Women: A Phenomenological Study.

There is little published research on dissociative experiences among transgender people, and none from an in-depth qualitative perspective. In-depth, open-ended interviews (N = 7, 6 trans women, 1 trans man) were conducted to explore how dissociation is experienced (particularly among trans women) and its possible relation to negative emotions. There were several similarities across the dissociative experiences described by participants: six felt themselves disconnected from their body as a whole (in contrast to feeling disconnected to a specific body part), and from the world around them and/or themselves. Four acted out different personalities, and five felt emotionally numb when they were dissociating. Six participants described that their dissociation lessened after they started hormone therapy. Respondents tended to distinguish between dysphoric and dissociative experiences: dysphoric phenomena were more clearly distressful while dissociative ones were more emotionally numb.

A spontaneous dissociative episode during an EEG experiment.

A depersonalization episode occurred unexpectedly during an electroencephalogram (EEG) recording for a study. Experience reports tracked the time course of this event and, in conjunction, with EEG data, were analyzed. The source activity across canonical frequency bands was analyzed across four periods ended by retrospective experience reports (depersonalization was reported in the 2nd period). Delta and theta decreases occurred across all time periods with no relation to reported events. Theta and alpha increases occurred in right secondary visual areas following depersonalization, which also coincided with surges in beta and gamma. The largest increases occurred in bilateral fronto-polar and medial prefrontal cortex, followed by inferior left lateral fronto-insula-temporal cortices and right secondary visual cortex. A high frequency functional network with a principal hub in left insula closely overlapped inferior left cortical gamma band-power increases. Bilateral frontal increases in gamma are consistent with studies of dissociation. We interpret gamma and later beta, alpha, and theta band increases as arising from the generation of visual priors, in the absence of precise visual signals, which constrain interoceptive and proprioceptive predictions to reestablish a stable sense of physiological-self. Beta showed local increases following the pattern of gamma but showed no changes in functional connectivity.

A neurophenomenological fMRI study of a spontaneous automatic writer and a hypnotic cohort.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the neurophenomenology of automatic writing (AW) in a spontaneous automatic writer (NN) and four high hypnotizables (HH). METHODS: During fMRI, NN and the HH were cued to perform spontaneous (NN) or induced (HH) AW, and a comparison task of copying complex symbols, and to rate their experience of control and agency. RESULTS: Compared to copying, for all participants AW was associated with less sense of control and agency and decreased BOLD signal responses in brain regions implicated in the sense of agency (left premotor cortex and insula, right premotor cortex, and supplemental motor area), and increased BOLD signal responses in the left and right temporoparietal junctions and the occipital lobes. During AW, the HH differed from NN in widespread BOLD decreases across the brain and increases in frontal and parietal regions. CONCLUSIONS: Spontaneous and induced AW had similar effects on agency, but only partly overlapping effects on cortical activity.

Nonlinear brain correlates of trait self-boundarylessness.

Alterations of the sense of self induced by meditation include an increased sense of boundarylessness. In this study, we investigated behavioural and functional magnetic resonance imaging correlates of trait self-boundarylessness during resting state and the performance of two experimental tasks. We found that boundarylessness correlated with greater self-endorsement of words related to fluidity and with longer response times in a math task. Boundarylessness also correlated negatively with brain activity in the posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus during mind-wandering compared to a task targeting a minimal sense of self. Interestingly, boundarylessness showed quadratic relations to several measures. Participants reporting low or high boundarylessness, as compared to those in between, showed higher functional connectivity within the default mode network during rest, less brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex during self-referential word processing, and less self-endorsement of words related to constancy. We relate these results to our previous findings of a quadratic relation between boundarylessness and the sense of perspectival ownership of experience. Additionally, an instruction to direct attention to the centre of experience elicited brain activation similar to that of meditation onset, including increases in anterior precentral gyrus and anterior insula and decreases in default mode network areas, for both non-meditators and experienced meditators.

"I would love to be 'discredited' like this more often": An interview with Irving Kirsch.

This interview with Professor Irving Kirsch took place in late August, 2022. He recently turned 80 years old and agreed to focus his interview on topics and areas that illustrate his influence on the field of hypnosis. Professor Kirsch discusses the influences that shaped him as a person and scientist; what unites his theoretical and research work on hypnosis, placebo, and antidepressants. He also addresses the importance of response expectancies, why clinicians should learn hypnosis and what he considers the source of his greatest personal and professional fulfillments.

Irving Kirsch: a life beyond expectations.

This paper provides an overview of the life of the eminent psychologist and hypnosis researcher and theoretician Irving Kirsch. It describes the strenuous lives and legacy of his immigrant parents, his lesser know activities as a satirical editor of a tape that was nominated for a Grammy, and as a violin player. The trajectory of his professional life evidences his courage to question conventional ideas and psychotherapeutic and pharmaceutical practices. He has also been consistently a supportive and warm friend and colleague to many in the hypnosis and other fields.

Mind wandering and sleep in daily life: A combined actigraphy and experience sampling study.

Individuals who sleep poorly report spending more time mind wandering during the day. However, past research has relied on self-report measures of sleep or measured mind wandering during laboratory tasks, which prevents generalization to everyday contexts. We used ambulatory assessments to examine the relations between several features of sleep (duration, fragmentation, and disturbances) and mind wandering (task-unrelated, stimulus-independent, and unguided thoughts). Participants wore a wristband device that collected actigraphy and experience-sampling data across 7 days and 8 nights. Contrary to our expectations, task-unrelated and stimulus-independent thoughts were not associated with sleep either within- or between-persons (n = 164). Instead, individual differences in unguided thoughts were associated with sleep disturbances and duration, suggesting that individuals who more often experience unguided train-of-thoughts have greater sleep disturbances and sleep longer. These results highlight the need to consider the context and features of mind wandering when relating it to sleep.

Dissociation and its biological and clinical associations in functional neurological disorder: systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Studies have reported elevated rates of dissociative symptoms and comorbid dissociative disorders in functional neurological disorder (FND); however, a comprehensive review is lacking. AIMS: To systematically review the severity of dissociative symptoms and prevalence of comorbid dissociative disorders in FND and summarise their biological and clinical associations. METHOD: We searched Embase, PsycInfo and MEDLINE up to June 2021, combining terms for FND and dissociation. Studies were eligible if reporting dissociative symptom scores or rates of comorbid dissociative disorder in FND samples. Risk of bias was appraised using modified Newcastle-Ottawa criteria. The findings were synthesised qualitatively and dissociative symptom scores were included in a meta-analysis (PROSPERO CRD42020173263). RESULTS: Seventy-five studies were eligible (FND n = 3940; control n = 3073), most commonly prospective case-control studies (k = 54). Dissociative disorders were frequently comorbid in FND. Psychoform dissociation was elevated in FND compared with healthy (g = 0.90, 95% CI 0.66-1.14, I2 = 70%) and neurological controls (g = 0.56, 95% CI 0.19-0.92, I2 = 67%). Greater psychoform dissociation was observed in FND samples with seizure symptoms versus healthy controls (g = 0.94, 95% CI 0.65-1.22, I2 = 42%) and FND samples with motor symptoms (g = 0.40, 95% CI -0.18 to 1.00, I2 = 54%). Somatoform dissociation was elevated in FND versus healthy controls (g = 1.80, 95% CI 1.25-2.34, I2 = 75%). Dissociation in FND was associated with more severe functional symptoms, worse quality of life and brain alterations. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the potential clinical utility of assessing patients with FND for dissociative symptomatology. However, fewer studies investigated FND samples with motor symptoms and heterogeneity between studies and risk of bias were high. Rigorous investigation of the prevalence, features and mechanistic relevance of dissociation in FND is needed.

The relation between peritraumatic dissociation and coping strategies: A network analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Peritraumatic dissociation (PD) and coping strategies (CS) around the time of trauma are significant predictors of acute and long-term posttraumatic symptomatology (PTS), but it is unclear how they relate to each other. The aim of this study was to examine their association using a nationwide, representative sample following the September 11 attacks in the United States (N = 3,134). METHOD: We used exploratory and confirmatory network analyses to estimate reliable associations between PD and CS, as well as looking at those variables as predictors of PTS at 2, 6, and 12 months after the attack. RESULTS: Analyses showed that: (a) PD formed 3 factors (alterations of consciousness, depersonalization, and compartmentalization) distinct from coping strategies; (b) PD related only to some CS; (c) coping through denial had a particularly strong link to alterations of consciousness among adults. Both altered consciousness and denial predicted PTS significantly 2, 6, and 12 months after the attack, with altered consciousness being the stronger predictor (and a better predictor of PTS than other types of PD). For teens, the only significant link between PD and CS was for compartmentalization and substance abuse. CONCLUSION: PD and CS were related in adults and contributed independently to later PTS. Future research should evaluate longitudinally the interactions between specific types of PD and CS. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).