About this Research Topic

Background

The debate, which is far from being recent, on the mind-body problem arises from the attempt to explain the nature of the relationship between what we commonly define as "mind" and the “body” we use to interact with the physical world. After the contribution of eminent philosophers on this issue over the past centuries, the issue got popular again in recent decades both thanks to the development of new technologies that are increasingly able to simulate real experiences in virtual contexts, and thanks to the reformulation and empirical testing of hypotheses related to embodied cognition. This theory argues that all forms of human knowledge and cognition pass through bodily experience. In this view, processes such as perception, reasoning, and language, classically studied by cognitive science as rather abstract information processing, would depend on bodily properties that can be located beyond the boundaries established by the nervous system.

Although there is much scientific evidence showing that the development of cognitive abilities also depends on the morphological characteristics of the body, and on the degrees of freedom of our experience in the world, this integrated vision remains strictly confined to academic or philosophical fields, but also to holistic or spiritual disciplines, while it struggles to reach the awareness of a wider audience. The purpose of this Research Topic is to collect the most recent contributions on the relationship between cognition and movement, and more generally on the mind-body relationship, focusing on applied areas of study which can be familiar to most people in everyday life, which refer to the world of sport and movement in general, as well as of yoga and meditation practices. The aim is to foster a broader awareness about the need to adopt an integrated approach to the individual, enhancing the importance of movement for the improvement of cognitive processes, but also the appreciation of the role of cognitive and emotional processes in physical activity.

We aim to further the knowledge on the mind-body connection by gathering articles that investigate the effects of sports, movement, yoga, breathing, and meditation on physical and psychological wellbeing. Manuscripts that investigate the effects of movement-related experiences for a healthy development from a perspective of contamination between different disciplines are also very welcome. These could include the study of more artistic-expressive and creative aspects, including the dynamics of improvisation, natural movement, dance, without forgetting the importance of music. We welcome experimental papers with healthy but also pathological populations and about the whole life span, from early to old age. Reviews and opinion papers are also welcome. The final goal is to create an interdisciplinary discussion on this topic by involving different approaches, perspectives, and methods. Scholars from different fields – including psychology, cognitive science, neurobiology, sports and movement science, physiotherapy, but also arts and philosophy, are encouraged to contribute.

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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