I will be presenting an overview over the European Office's Project Portfolio, which, since the beginning of the Institute in 2000 has been working both on foundational issues and clinical applications. Our activities can be, broadly speaking, divided into the following activities:
- Basic theoretical research on potential theoretical models of brain-mind-body interactions, distant intentionality and healing: This is based on the theoretical model of Generalised Entanglement, which is now being substantially funded by the Fetzer-Memorial Trust. Ideally, it would yield a theoretical basis for understanding how the mind and the body are non-locally coordinated and how intentionality can impact over a distance.
- Practical applications of a new culture of consciousness: This is a broad range of studies on mindfulness practice and meditation. One group (Harald Walach & Siobhan Lynch) has developed a Mindfulness Based Coping with University Life training, which is a student focused training program in mindfulness and meditation for students under high stress. Another group (Stefan Schmidt, Jose Raoul Naranjoy and colleagues) is researching different aspects of mindfulness, from clinical studies, to fundamental research to objective markers of mindfulness in the EEG.
- Development of a neuro-feedback device for higher states of consciousness (Thilo Hinterberger) and online signatures of different states of consciousness using EEG ("coma detector").
- Functional neuroanatomical patterns and psychological ramifications of spirituality and spiritual experiences (Niko Kohls).
All these activities are centred around the topic of mindfulness, cultivating a new culture of consciousness and potential applications, both for patients and in teaching and learning. The general thrust of these activities is to make these topics more prominent in mainstream science, especially in the secular European culture and move towards a general shift in perception in the general public, as well as in academic circles. To that effect we have started to launch a high-profile expert workshop series on Neuroscience, Consciousness and spirituality, are cooperating in new teaching programs and conference projects and have started to build a network of interested parties across the UK and the German speaking countries, reaching out towards other European countries. Another important aspect is networking with new and emerging opportunities in the process of the foundation of a new European University of Health Studies in Berlin, where two of us (HW and SM) are involved