Dream and daydream: differences and similarities

Did you know that daydreams reflect events from the previous two days and “night” dreams resemble a fictional plot?

Does your dog have social skills?

A study suggests that viewing the owner’s face works as a positive social reinforcement for dogs. Learn more about this and other surprising results about “man’s best friend”.

Brain differences between trance and mind-wandering states

In the scope of project 72/16 - A physiological examination of full-trance channeling, supported by the BIAL Foundation, Helané Wahbeh evaluated differences in the brain between trance and mind-wandering states, in thirteen participants who could enter trance states at will. Findings revealed increased delta and theta power in the frontal region and increased gamma in the centro-parietal region during mind-wandering, whereas trance showed increased beta and gamma power in the frontal region. No differences were observed in the alpha band. Connectivity was not different between the trance and mind-wandering states. However, there was a relationship between subjective ratings of trance depth and connectivity, with increased trance depth reflecting decreased whole-brain connectivity in all frequency bands. To know more about this study, read the book chapter Evaluating brain spectral and connectivity differences between silent mind-wandering and trance states published in Progress in Brain Research.

Nominations for BIAL Award in Biomedicine 2023 are open until June 30

The third edition of the BIAL Foundation's international award, the BIAL Award in Biomedicine, is open, with nominations until June 30. With the amount of 300.000 Euros, this award seeks to recognise a work published in the broad biomedical field within the last ten years, the results of which are considered of exceptional quality and scientific relevance.

The role of alpha in attentional processes

Alexander Jones and Jonathan Silas published in Cortex the paper Spatial attention is not affected by alpha or beta transcranial alternating current stimulation: A registered report resulting from the research project 150/16 - An investigation into the causal role of alpha oscillations in attention, supported by the BIAL Foundation. Using transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), the researchers tested whether somatosensory alpha oscillations are causally related to endogenous and exogenous attention and concluded that the manipulation of alpha by tACS does not cause changes in tactile spatial attention. These findings support an account of alpha power not being causally involved in attention.