Introduction

2017 ◽  
pp. xl-6
Author(s):  
Vicky Karkou ◽  
Sue Oliver ◽  
Sophia Lycouris
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Reasoning ◽  
The Body ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Primary Location

This first part intends to set the scene in its rightful home: the body. As such, it treats the body as the primary ‘location’ of dance, where wellbeing, measured or felt, can be found. The chapters refer to neuroscientific, physiological, psychological, philosophical, and spiritual approaches to movement and dance, and reflect a continuum from objective to subjective experiences and from scientific reasoning to transpersonal discourses. In all cases, contributions are brought together to reflect multiple and comprehensive ways in which dance can contribute to wellbeing.

Contesting Aristotle: Science, Theology and the Resurrection of the Body in Methodius of Olympus’ De Resurrectione and the Dialogue of Adamantius

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Dawn LaValle Norman
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Scientific Reasoning ◽  
The Body ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Scientific Authority ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Parallel Text ◽  
Entire Text

Abstract The contest over the resurrection of the body used the scientific authority of Aristotle as ammunition on both sides. Past scholars have read Methodius of Olympus as displaying an anti-Aristotelian bias. In contrast, through close reading of the entire text with attention to characterization and development of argument, I prove that Methodius of Olympus’ dialogue the De Resurrectione utilizes Aristotelian biology as a morally neutral tool. To put this into higher relief, I compare Methodius’ dialogue with the anonymous Dialogue of Adamantius, a text directly dependent upon the Methodius’ De Resurrectione, but which rejects arguments based on scientific reasoning. Reading Methodius’ De Resurrectione with greater attention to the whole and putting it in the context of its nearest parallel text retells the traditional story of early Christian resistance to Aristotle. Methodius of Olympus’ characters, although they view scientific knowledge as subordinate to philosophy, see it as neutral in and of itself.

#MeToo: (Re)Shaping sexual research pedagogies through a new material autoethnographic analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. e20210020
Author(s):  
Angela Underhill
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
Human Sexuality ◽  
The Body ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Academic Identities ◽  
Real People ◽  
New Material ◽  
Sexual Research ◽  
Pedagogical Approaches

Historically (and presently), ‘Western’ academic spaces have prioritized certain traits and bodies based on problematic, hierarchical dichotomies. These dichotomies influence ideas around normativity and superiority; for example, truth and reason were historically conceptualized as mutually exclusive from, and of more value than, emotional, subjective experiences, and the body. Such dichotomies perpetuate systems of power and oppression, and they overlook real people who could be in the room who have experienced the ‘abstract’ topic being discussed. In this paper, I extend a call for a shift to embodied pedagogical approaches to the field of human sexuality—a field that comes with heightened risks and opportunities given the nature of topics covered. Through exploring my own experiences within sexuality classrooms at various stages of my academic career, I interrogate the ‘safety’ of distancing academic identities from embodied knowledge; who is actually protected by these practices; who is more at risk? A shift in pedagogical approaches may allow students (and educators) to better engage with, and appreciate, the importance of confronting knowledge that may be emotionally challenging.

Out-of-Body-Like Experiences are More Probable in People with Elevated Complex Partial Epileptic-Like Signs during Periods of Enhanced Geomagnetic Activity: A Nonlinear Effect

1995 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 563-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Persinger
Keyword(s):  
Correlation Coefficient ◽  
Geomagnetic Activity ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Nonlinear Effect ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Self ◽  
Experimental Setting ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Men And Women

The ratings of subjective experiences of the self “leaving” or of being detached from the body were obtained (over a 3-yr. period) for a total of 128 men and women who had been exposed only once to an experimental setting which enhances the awareness of cognitive processes. As hypothesized, the individuals who exhibited the greatest proportion of complex partial epileptic-like signs also reported the most intense experiences of detachment from the body; however, these occurred primarily when the geomagnetic activity on the day of the experiment exceeded about 15 nT but was less than about 45 nT. Geomagnetic activity for the day after or the three days before the experiment was not associated with these experiences. The effect was equivalent to a correlation coefficient ( eta) of .38.

scholarly journals The stethoscope goes digital: Learning through attention, distraction and distortion

Gesnerus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-148
Author(s):  
Melissa Van Drie ◽  
Anna Harris
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Medical Training ◽  
The Body ◽  
Digital Learning ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
Methodological Reflection ◽  
Nature Of Teaching ◽  
Do So

For centuries, those training doctors have been faced with the challenges of standardising subjective experiences and constructing “the universal body” in learning situations. Various technologies have been introduced to address these challenges, with varying degrees of success. In this article we focus on the stethoscope, specifically the electrical and digital stethoscope models. Historical and social studies of medicine have already underlined the sociomateriality of learning in medicine. In this article we underscore the per formative nature of teaching and learning in the sociomaterial context. We do so by juxtaposing ethnographic and historical events that stage electrical and digital stethoscopes. These are not documentations of everyday practices but rather reconstructions of choreographed performances for learning about the body. In these stagings, the novice is taught to focus attention and avoid distraction, when learning the sounds of “the body”. Through engaging with, and comparing, different ethnographic and historic materials and artefacts, and through methodological reflection, we examine the importance not only of attention and distraction in learning a bodily skill, but also of dealing with distortion. We argue that these ethnographic and historic insights into distortion illuminate a neglected aspect of medical training, and more generally, in shaping sensory perceptions.

Experiences of Meditation on Twin Hearts by Naive Practitioners

2022 ◽  
pp. 288-300
Author(s):  
Moulya Ramesh Kumar ◽  
Nityashree L. K. ◽  
Srikanth Nagaraja Jois
Keyword(s):  
Study Design ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
The Body ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Physiological Benefits

Meditators' subjective experiences mostly focus on the psychological and physiological benefits the practice offers. While most investigations understand meditation to have commonly induced a meditative state, the bioplasmic experiences are vital in sensitizing the practitioner to the subtle changes in the body that are often overlooked, and Meditation on Twin Hearts serves as a platform to highlight these experiences. The present study aims to understand the bioplasmic experiences and other sensations of the participants during Meditation on Twin Hearts in a two-hour session. Using an exploratory study design, 24 participants', aged between 28 to 59 years, responses were analyzed, and results were drawn using thematic analysis. The results indicate that 70.8% of participants experienced bioplasmic energy in novel forms. Further, it can be elucidated that in the meditation process, one's awareness of the subtle bioplasmic or transcendental changes is also enhanced.

ATR/TEM8 is highly expressed in epithelial cells liningBacillus anthracis’three sites of entry: implications for the pathogenesis of anthrax infection

2005 ◽  
Vol 288 (6) ◽  
pp. C1402-C1410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria Bonuccelli ◽  
Federica Sotgia ◽  
Philippe G. Frank ◽  
Terence M. Williams ◽  
Cecilia J. de Almeida ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Endothelial Cells ◽  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Vascular System ◽  
Splice Variants ◽  
The Body ◽  
Bacterial Invasion ◽  
Type I ◽  
Anthrax Infection ◽  
Primary Location ◽  
Systemic Infections

Anthrax is a disease caused by infection with spores from the bacteria Bacillus anthracis. These spores enter the body, where they germinate into bacteria and secrete a tripartite toxin that causes local edema and, in systemic infections, death. Recent studies identified the cellular receptor for anthrax toxin (ATR), a type I membrane protein. ATR is one of the splice variants of the tumor endothelial marker 8 (TEM8) gene. ATR and TEM8 are identical throughout their extracellular and transmembrane sequence, and both proteins function as receptors for the toxin. ATR/TEM8 function and expression have been associated with development of the vascular system and with tumor angiogenesis. TEM8 is selectively upregulated in endothelial cells during blood vessel formation and tumorigenesis. However, selective expression of TEM8 in endothelial cells contradicts the presumably ubiquitous expression of the receptor. To resolve this controversial issue, we evaluated the distribution of ATR/TEM8 in a variety of tissues. For this purpose, we generated and characterized a novel anti-ATR/TEM8 polyclonal antibody. Here, we show that this novel antibody recognizes all three ATR/TEM8 isoforms, which are widely and differentially expressed in various tissue types. We found that ATR/TEM8 expression is not only associated with tumor endothelial cells, as previously described. Indeed, ATR/TEM8 is highly and selectively expressed in the epithelial cells lining those organs that constitute the anthrax toxin's sites of entry, i.e., the lung, the skin, and the intestine. In fact, we show that ATR/TEM8 is highly expressed in the respiratory epithelium of the bronchi of the lung and is particularly abundant in the ciliated epithelial cells coating the bronchi. Furthermore, immunostaining of skin biopsies revealed that ATR/TEM8 is highly expressed in the keratinocytes of the epidermis. Finally, we show that the epithelial cells lining the small intestine strongly express ATR/TEM8 isoforms. This is the first demonstration that the ATR/TEM8 protein is highly expressed in epithelial cells, which represent the primary location for bacterial invasion. These results suggest that the ATR/TEM8 expression pattern that we describe here is highly relevant for understanding the pathogenesis of anthrax infection.

scholarly journals The neural subjective frame: from bodily signals to perceptual consciousness

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1641) ◽  
pp. 20130208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyeong-Dong Park ◽  
Catherine Tallon-Baudry
Keyword(s):  
Perceptual Experience ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Internal State ◽  
The Body ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Posterior Insula ◽  
External Stimuli ◽  
Neural Maps

The report ‘I saw the stimulus’ operationally defines visual consciousness, but where does the ‘I’ come from? To account for the subjective dimension of perceptual experience, we introduce the concept of the neural subjective frame. The neural subjective frame would be based on the constantly updated neural maps of the internal state of the body and constitute a neural referential from which first person experience can be created. We propose to root the neural subjective frame in the neural representation of visceral information which is transmitted through multiple anatomical pathways to a number of target sites, including posterior insula, ventral anterior cingulate cortex, amygdala and somatosensory cortex. We review existing experimental evidence showing that the processing of external stimuli can interact with visceral function. The neural subjective frame is a low-level building block of subjective experience which is not explicitly experienced by itself which is necessary but not sufficient for perceptual experience. It could also underlie other types of subjective experiences such as self-consciousness and emotional feelings. Because the neural subjective frame is tightly linked to homeostatic regulations involved in vigilance, it could also make a link between state and content consciousness.

scholarly journals The life and death construct in heart transplant patients

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana M Palmar-Santos ◽  
Azucena Pedraz-Marcos ◽  
Juan Zarco-Colón ◽  
Milagros Ramasco-Gutiérrez ◽  
Eva García-Perea ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heart Transplant ◽  
Organ Transplant ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
The Body ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Definition Of Death ◽  
Transplant Patients ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Definition Of

Background: The technological advances of medicine, and specifically the techniques of organ transplants, have allowed crossing the border of life and death. This is especially relevant in the case of heart transplant, since its symbolism requires a redefinition not only of these traditional concepts, but also of the body or of one’s own identity. Aims: To explore the experiences of patients after receiving a heart from a donor. Methods: A phenomenological qualitative approach, through Merleau Ponty and Levinas perspectives, was conducted to capture the subjective experiences of heart transplant patients. We conducted 22 in-depth interviews: 12 with heart transplant patients from two hospitals in Madrid (Spain), and 10 with relatives who lived with them. Results: The line between life and death is erased for heart transplant patients. Three main themes arose from the analysis: towards death, the frontier between life and death, and towards life. The need to redefine the concepts of life and death is structured around issues such as the thought of facing one’s own death and the concept of gift and resurrection. Conclusion: Organ transplant techniques open the door to a new definition of death, of the identity of the body and its parts and the limits of life. Considering the cultural, legal, psychological, social and symbolic elements involved in the heart transplant process, a qualitative approach provides new avenues of understanding the clinical process from the patients’ perspective.

Relative Right Temporal-Lobe Theta Activity Correlates with Vingiano's Hemispheric Quotient and the “Sensed Presence”

1992 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 899-903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Munro ◽  
M. A. Persinger
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Lobe ◽  
Theta Rhythm ◽  
Sensory Deprivation ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
The Body ◽  
Theta Activity ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Temporal Lobes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rhythm Activity

Measures of monopolar alpha and theta rhythm activity over the left and right temporal lobes were correlated with the subjects' hemisphericity (Vingiano) scores, temporal lobe signs, and concurrent subjective experiences during partial sensory deprivation. There was a positive association ( rho = .49) between the scores for right hemisphericity and the relative amount of right/left theta rhythm but not right/ left alpha rhythm activity. Significant intercorrelations between right hemisphericity, an history of ego-alien intrusions and experiences of a sensed presence, “detachment from the body,” and fear during the recordings were noted. These results support the hypothesis that this class of mystical experiences is encouraged by hemispheric mismatch in temporal-lobe theta activity.

scholarly journals Embodiment of Wearable Technology: Qualitative Longitudinal Study (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth C Nelson ◽  
Anneke M Sools ◽  
Miriam M R Vollenbroek-Hutten ◽  
Tibert Verhagen ◽  
Matthijs L Noordzij
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Studies ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Prosthetic Devices ◽  
Technology Innovations ◽  
Longitudinal Investigation ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Fitness Trackers ◽  
Limb Prosthesis

BACKGROUND Current technology innovations, such as wearables, have caused surprising reactions and feelings of deep connection to devices. Some researchers are calling mobile and wearable technologies cognitive prostheses, which are intrinsically connected to individuals as if they are part of the body, similar to a physical prosthesis. Additionally, while several studies have been performed on the phenomenology of receiving and wearing a physical prosthesis, it is unknown whether similar subjective experiences arise with technology. OBJECTIVE In one of the first qualitative studies to track wearables in a longitudinal investigation, we explore whether a wearable can be embodied similar to a physical prosthesis. We hoped to gain insights and compare the phases of embodiment (ie, initial adjustment to the prosthesis) and the psychological responses (ie, accept the prosthesis as part of their body) between wearables and limb prostheses. This approach allowed us to find out whether this pattern was part of a cyclical (ie, period of different usage intensity) or asymptotic (ie, abandonment of the technology) pattern. METHODS We adapted a limb prosthesis methodological framework to be applied to wearables and conducted semistructured interviews over a span of several months to assess if, how, and to what extent individuals come to embody wearables similar to prosthetic devices. Twelve individuals wore fitness trackers for 9 months, during which time interviews were conducted in the following three phases: after 3 months, after 6 months, and at the end of the study after 9 months. A deductive thematic analysis based on Murray’s work was combined with an inductive approach in which new themes were discovered. RESULTS Overall, the individuals experienced technology embodiment similar to limb embodiment in terms of adjustment, wearability, awareness, and body extension. Furthermore, we discovered two additional themes of engagement/reengagement and comparison to another device or person. Interestingly, many participants experienced a rarely reported phenomenon in longitudinal studies where the feedback from the device was counterintuitive to their own beliefs. This created a blurring of self-perception and a dilemma of “whom” to believe, the machine or one’s self. CONCLUSIONS There are many similarities between the embodiment of a limb prosthesis and a wearable. The large overlap between limb and wearable embodiment would suggest that insights from physical prostheses can be applied to wearables and vice versa. This is especially interesting as we are seeing the traditionally “dumb” body prosthesis becoming smarter and thus a natural merging of technology and body. Future longitudinal studies could focus on the dilemma people might experience of whether to believe the information of the device over their own thoughts and feelings. These studies might take into account constructs, such as technology reliance, autonomy, and levels of self-awareness.

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