BIAL Foundation

For 30 years awarding and supporting those who seek to advance in science
and knowledge in Portugal and around the world.
View more

Grants for Scientific Research

In Psychophysiology and Parapsychology
View more

Latest News

Read the Highlights and our Science Stories
View more



About us

View more



Awards

View more



Grants

View more



Symposia

View more

News

Top Stories

Web-based mindfulness intervention improves memory and attention in the elderly

A research team assessed cognitive, psychological and physiological outcomes of a mindfulness-based intervention in healthy older adults.

Know more

Identification of a molecule involved in fear extinction opens avenues for new therapies for anxiety

The discovery of mediator responsible for altering fear memories could contribute to the creation of new therapies for the treatment of anxiety disorders.

Know more

Does blindness affect the way we perceive whether an emotion is authentic or posed?

The results showed that the late-blind participants performed worse in the assessment of emotional authenticity.

Know more

News

Maria de Sousa Award 2024 was delivered at the BIAL Foundation's 30th-anniversary celebration

Young researchers were awarded for their work on stem cells, stroke, ageing, fungal respiratory disease, and inflammatory bowel disease.

Know more

What can explain the subjective differences in meditation experience?

In the scope of the research project 92/18 - Attending mindfully: A psychophysiology study of sensory processing in meditators, supported by the BIAL Foundation, Veena Kumari and colleagues examined the effect of regular meditation practice on startle modulation paradigms, specifically habituation and prepulse inhibition (PPI), by comparing the groups of meditators (n = 32) and non-meditators (n = 36). They found no significant differences, on average, between meditators and non-meditators in habituation or PPI, but meditators who reported being able to easily enter a state in which their awareness of the self and others/surroundings are perceived as one, without separation (non-dual awareness), during meditation practice, showed greater PPI, relative to those who could not. These results suggest that differential sensory processing characteristics of meditators may explain subjective differences in meditation experience. More information is available in the article Non-dual awareness and sensory processing in meditators: Insights from startle reflex modulation published in the scientific journal Consciousness and Cognition.

Know more

BIAL Foundation brings António Damásio to Portugal for conference "On the Physiology of the Mind"

To mark its 30th anniversary, the BIAL Foundation is bringing António Damásio and Hanna Damásio to Portugal for a conference on October 9 in Lisbon.

Know more