Storytelling has been pivotal for the transmission of knowledge across human history, yet the role of semantic control and its associated neural dynamics has been poorly investigated. Here, human participants generated stories that were either appropriate (ordinary), novel (random), or balanced (creative), while recording functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Deep language models confirmed participants adherence to task instructions. At the neural level, linguistic and visual areas exhibited neural synchrony across participants regardless of the semantic control level, with parietal and frontal regions being more synchronized during random ideation. Importantly, creative stories were differentiated by a multivariate pattern of neural activity in frontal and fronto-temporo-parietal cortices compared to ordinary and random stories. Crucially, similar brain regions were also encoding the features that distinguished the stories. Moreover, we found specific spatial frequency patterns underlying the modulation of semantic control during story generation, while functional coupling in default, salience, and control networks differentiated creative stories with their controls. Remarkably, the temporal irreversibility between visual and high-level areas was higher during creative ideation, suggesting the enhanced hierarchical structure of causal interactions as a neural signature of creative storytelling. Together, our findings highlight the neural mechanisms underlying the regulation of semantic exploration during narrative ideation.

This study explores the use of immersive Virtual Reality (VR) cave environments to investigate hypotheses concerning altered states of consciousness, creativity, and flexible thinking in archaeological contexts. Building on the premise that ancient humans used caves as sites for rituals involving altered consciousness, we recreated a virtual cave environment to simulate these experiences and examine their impact on participants’ cognitive processes. Participants engaged in pareidolic tasks within both a virtual cave and a virtual open-space environment, allowing for comparative analysis of semantic network organization and subjective experiences. Our findings show that the cave environment elicited higher emotional arousal and spiritual engagement, as well as an improvement in the aspects of creativity and flexible thinking. These results suggest that VR can serve as a powerful tool in archaeology for reconstructing early humans’ experiences and investigating their psychological and cognitive states, thus providing new insights into their use of caves for mind-altering or ritualistic purposes. This interdisciplinary approach contributes to both cognitive archaeology and the development of immersive VR technologies in scientific research.

This study explores the use of immersive Virtual Reality (VR) cave environments to investigate hypotheses concerning altered states of consciousness, creativity, and flexible thinking in archaeological contexts. Building on the premise that ancient humans used caves as sites for rituals involving altered consciousness, we recreated a virtual Cave environment to simulate these experiences and examine their impact on participants' cognitive processes. Participants engaged in pareidolic tasks within both a virtual cave and a virtual open-space environment, allowing for comparative analysis of semantic network organization and subjective experiences. Our findings show that the Cave environment elicited higher emotional arousal and spiritual engagement, as well as an improvement in the aspects of creativity and flexible thinking. These results suggest that VR can serve as a powerful tool in archaeology for reconstructing early humans’ experiences and to investigate their psychological and cognitive states, thus providing new insights into their use of caves for mind-altering or ritualistic purposes. This interdisciplinary approach contributes to both cognitive archaeology and the development of immersive VR technologies in scientific research.

Background and aims: Social media increasingly shapes body image by promoting often unattainable beauty ideals. Concurrently, targeted online marketing of image- and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs) exploits these vulnerabilities, intensifying anxiety and fostering maladaptive behaviours such as problematic usage of the internet (PUI), compulsive exercise, and IPEDs consumption. This study explores these behaviours across nine countries and examines how PUI, excessive exercise, and IPEDs use predict appearance anxiety, aiming to inform targeted prevention strategies for at-risk populations. Methods: A total of 3,514 participants from nine countries completed a web-based survey assessing sociodemographic data, appearance anxiety (AAI), problematic internet use (PIUQ-9), excessive exercise (EAI-R), and IPEDs intake. Results: Appearance-related anxiety was observed in 12% of the participants, with the highest prevalence in Mexico (20.7%), Japan (13.8%) and Italy (13.6%). Median PUI scores were highest in Mexico (22.57) and Singapore (21.59). Excessive exercise was reported by 3.6% with no significant country differences. IPEDs use was reported by 28.3% of the sample, with the highest rates in Japan (60.6%). Logistic regression analyses revealed that PUI, excessive exercise and IPEDs use were significant predictors of appearance-related anxiety. Discussion and conclusions: The strong associations between PUI, excessive exercise, IPEDs use, and appearance anxiety underscore the complex interplay between online exposure, body image concerns and mental health. Cross-country differences suggest that socio-cultural factors influence appearance-related anxiety. These findings highlight the need for culturally sensitive interventions and policy measures that address the impact of digital media on body image, particularly to protect vulnerable populations.

Lucid dreaming, defined as the experience of becoming aware of dreaming while dreaming, offers a unique window into a state of consciousness characterised by a blending of the sensory vividness of REM sleep with the self‐awareness of wakefulness. While past functional imaging has shed light on the neural activity supporting lucid dreaming, the structural brain correlates of lucid dream frequency as an individual trait varying in the normal population, remain largely unexplored. Moreover, the possibility of separating ordinary dreams from lucid dreaming has been only partially explored. In this exploratory study, we employed a data‐driven, multimodal neuroimaging approach known as mCCA + jICA, to identify joint and modality‐specific grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) morphometric features associated with the individual differences in lucid and non‐lucid dream recall measured by a validated self‐report measure. Results revealed that lucid dreaming frequency was associated with one joint GM–WM component, encompassing frontal, temporal, parietal, and cerebellar regions implicated in metacognition, imagery, and volitional control, as well as one GM‐specific component involving visual and attentional areas including the cuneus. In contrast, ordinary dream recall frequency was associated exclusively with two WM‐specific components, showing no overlap with those linked to lucid dreaming. These findings suggest that the tendency to experience lucid dreams is rooted in distributed, structurally covarying brain systems, distinct from those underlying general dream recall. The presence of joint components supports the view that lucid dreaming depends on the integration of cortical and subcortical systems mediating self‐awareness and internal simulation.

Lucid dreaming, defined as the experience of becoming aware of dreaming while still immersed in a dream, offers a unique window into a state of consciousness characterized by a blending of the sensory vividness of REM sleep with the self-awareness of wakefulness. While past functional imaging has shed light on the neural activity supporting lucid dreaming, the structural brain correlates of lucid dream frequency as an individual trait varying in the normal population, remain largely unexplored. Moreover, the possibility to separate ordinary dreams from lucid dreaming has been only partially explored. In this exploratory study, we employed a data-driven, multimodal neuroimaging approach known as mCCA + jICA, to identify joint and modality-specific gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) morphometric features associated with the individual differences in lucid and non-lucid dream recall measured by a validated self-report measure. Results revealed that lucid dreaming frequency was predicted by one joint GM–WM component, encompassing frontal, temporal, parietal, and cerebellar regions implicated in metacognition, imagery, and volitional control, as well as one GM-specific component involving visual and attentional areas including the cuneus. In contrast, ordinary dream recall frequency was associated exclusively with two WM-specific components, showing no overlap with those linked to lucid dreaming. These findings suggest that the tendency to experience lucid dreams is rooted in distributed, structurally covarying brain systems, distinct from those underlying general dream recall. The presence of joint components supports the hypothesis that lucid dreaming depends on the integration of cortical and subcortical systems mediating self-awareness and internal simulation. Our results advance the understanding of lucid dreaming as a trait-like capacity and highlight the value of multimodal morphometric fusion in mapping the neuroanatomical architecture of altered states of consciousness.