Cognitive Science Research

Overview

My previous research explored questions surrounding the nature of who we are, how we think and how we perceive the world.

As part of Dr Jane Aspell's Self & Body Lab at Anglia Ruskin University, my research focused on the bodily basis of self, including how neurophysiological conditions can impact the experience and representation of self during waking and dreaming. I was also interested in the theoretical and practical applications of using Virtual Reality to better understand and treat conditions associated with changes to the experience of self.

I worked on projects comparing alterations to self-consciousness during meditation, the Ganzfeld experiment and flotation-REST from phenomenological and predictive processing perspectives.

Key Projects

Living in a Dream

An international research project on consciousness and dream states, exploring how depersonalisation influences the sense of self during dreaming. This work investigates body and self experience during waking and dreaming states in people with depersonalisation.

Published in Nature Scientific Reports, 2023.

Floating Away

A comparative study of alterations to self-consciousness during mindfulness meditation and Flotation-REST, with psychedelic comparisons. Results showed that both floating and meditation led to greater ego-dissolution than ego-inflation, with mystical experiences comparable to low-to-medium dose psilocybin.

This project formed the basis of my Master's thesis.

Publications

• Examining the association between depersonalisation traits and the bodily self in waking and dreaming

• Alterations to self-consciousness during mindfulness meditation and Flotation-REST: a comparative study (Master's thesis)

Conferences and Events

• (April 2023) Living in a Dream — Cambridge Festival event
• (July 2022) ASSC 25, Amsterdam — poster presentation "Living in a Dream"
• (April 2022) Phenomenological Methods in Neuroscience & Consciousness Research, Zurich — poster presentation "Living in a Dream"
• (April 2022) Cambridge Festival interactive exhibit "Generating the Foundations of Self"

Research Team

• Research Lead: Matt Gwyther (Anglia Ruskin University)
• Supervisor: Dr Jane Aspell (Anglia Ruskin University)