Our Lab
Welcome to the Consciousness and Cognition laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Our overarching interest is in answering the question of attention and cognition are modulated by different states of consciousness, and the transitions between them. Explore our website to find out more about our recent research projects and publications, our current and past lab members or on how to contact us.
Current opportunities:
Cambridge Meditation Study
When we deliver unfortunate news, we may be worried how a person will react to them. We may try to catch the person in a good mood, after offering them an act of generosity, or we may ask them to take a seat and treat them calmly. We do this, because we intuitively understand this basic concept: The current state of a person will affect how they will cognitively, and affectively, process new incoming information.
We intuitively understand that there are different states a person may inhabit at any given point in time. In current Neuroscience research however, the resting state of the mind is often treated as a single thing – despite findings showing that the brain inhabits a number of common states of activity during rest. Meditators develop the ability to be aware of the contents of their conscious experience in different states, and the vocabulary to report it.
In this study we are following meditators for eight weeks, studying the descriptions of their meditation experiences, their brain activity (using this portable EEG device) and some behaviour through online tasks. This is the first step towards developing a new and refined vocabulary to describe our states of consciousness and to improve our understanding of our own conscious experience of life.
If you want to find out more about the study, contact Barbara Jachs on bj273 at cam.ac.uk
We intuitively understand that there are different states a person may inhabit at any given point in time. In current Neuroscience research however, the resting state of the mind is often treated as a single thing – despite findings showing that the brain inhabits a number of common states of activity during rest. Meditators develop the ability to be aware of the contents of their conscious experience in different states, and the vocabulary to report it.
In this study we are following meditators for eight weeks, studying the descriptions of their meditation experiences, their brain activity (using this portable EEG device) and some behaviour through online tasks. This is the first step towards developing a new and refined vocabulary to describe our states of consciousness and to improve our understanding of our own conscious experience of life.
If you want to find out more about the study, contact Barbara Jachs on bj273 at cam.ac.uk
Family Tree
You can find the lab and some of its extended family on Neurotree.