Selected Neuroexistential Publications
Full list available in membership
Publications within this framework typically fall into, or creatively combine, five interrelated domains:
1) Neuropsychological foundations that substantiate and refine established existential psychotherapeutic approaches.
2) Existential formulations that maintain conceptual and empirical coherence with contemporary neuroscience.
3) Analyses of how existential thought deepens and expands the theoretical and clinical horizons of neuropsychology.
4) Examinations of how neuropsychological findings enrich and nuance existential inquiry and practice.
5) Innovative models and methods that arise from sustained dialogue between existential philosophy/psychology and neuroscience.
6) Quantitative neuropsychological research as it relates to existential conditions
Neuropsychology and Existential Psychotherapy
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Chan A., Underwood J, Craig E, Schneider K, Hauptfeld A, Ledesma C., Ouyang J, Seyedi A and Basso S (2026) Neuroexistential psychotherapy: bridging the gap. Front. Psychol. 17:1805267. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1805267
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Leidig, G. (2025). The existential neurology of meaning: a predictive processing synthesis of langle’s existential analysis and Frankl’s logotherapy. Preprints doi: 10.20944/preprints202509.0616.v1
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Balogh, L., Tanaka, M., Török, N., Vécsei, L., & Taguchi, S. (2021). Crosstalk between existential phenomenological psychotherapy and neurological sciences in mood and anxiety disorders. Biomedicines, 9(4), 340. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines904034
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Hoffman, L., & Dyer-Thrash, C. (2010, August). Using neuropsychology to enhance existential psychotherapy [Conference paper]. 118th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, San Diego, CA.
Neuroscience, philosophy and the brain
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Quirin, M., & Northoff, G. (2026). Existential neuroscience: Bridging philosophy, psychology, and the brain. In K. E. Vail III, D. R. Van Tongeren, R. J. Schlegel, J. Greenberg, L. A. King, & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of the science of existential psychology (pp. 188–204). The Guilford Press.
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Northoff, G. (2016). Neuroscience and Whitehead I: Neuro-ecological model of brain. Axiomathes, 26(3), 219–252. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10516-016-9286-2
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Northoff, G. (2016). Neuroscience and Whitehead II: Process-based ontology of brain. Axiomathes, 26(3), 253–276. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10516-016-9287-1
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Pąchalska, M., MacQueen, B. D., & Brown, J. W. (2012). Microgenetic theory: Brain and mind in time. In R. W. Rieber (Ed.), Encyclopedia of the history of psychological theories (pp. 675–708). Springer.
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Pąchalska, M. (2019). Integrated self system: A microgenetic approach. Acta Neuropsychologica, 17(4), 349–393. https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0013.6198
Existential Neuroscience
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Huang, C., Penney, E. K., Sedikides, C., & Kelley, N. J. (2025). Authenticity is more than self-enhancement: Behavioral and neurophysiological evidence. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 20(1), nsaf103.
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Huang, C., Zhou, Z., Angus, D. J., Sedikides, C., & Kelley, N. J. (2025). Exercising self-control increases responsivity to hedonic and eudaimonic rewards. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 20(1), nsaf016.
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Huang, C., Sedikides, C., Angus, D. J., Davis, W. E., Butterworth, J. W., Jeffers, A., Schlegel, R., & Kelley, N. (2025). Demystifying authenticity: Behavioral and neurophysiological signatures of self-positivity for authentic and presented selves. NeuroImage, 307, Article 121046. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121046
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Klackl, J., Jonas, E., & Kronbichler, M. (2014). Existential neuroscience: Self-esteem moderates neuronal responses to mortality-related stimuli. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9(11), 1754–1761
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Klackl, J., Jonas, E., & Fritsche, I. (2018). Neural evidence that the behavioral inhibition system is involved in existential threat processing. Social Neuroscience, 13(3), 355–371.
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Klackl, J., Jonas, E., & Kronbichler, M. (2013). Existential neuroscience: Neurophysiological correlates of proximal defenses against death-related thoughts. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 8(3), 333–340
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Kelley, N. J., & Schmeichel, B. J. (2015). Thinking about death reduces delay discounting. PLOS ONE, 10(12), e0144228.
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Kelley, N. J., Finley, A. J., & Schmeichel, B. J. (2019). After-effects of self-control: The reward responsivity hypothesis. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 19, 600–618.
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Kelley, N. J., Gallucci, A., Riva, P., Romero Lauro, L. J., & Schmeichel, B. J. (2019). Stimulating self-regulation: A review of non-invasive brain stimulation studies of goal-directed behavior. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 12, 337.
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Quirin M, Loktyushin A, Arndt J, Küstermann E, Lo YY, Kuhl J, Eggert L. Existential neuroscience: a functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation of neural responses to reminders of one's mortality. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2012 Feb;7(2):193-8. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsq106. Epub 2011 Jan 25. PMID: 21266462; PMCID: PMC3277371.
Relevant Books
Brown, J. W. (2010). Neuropsychological foundations of conscious experience. Les Éditions Chromatika.
Brown, J. W. (2015). Microgenetic theory and process thought. Imprint Academic.
Chan, A (2021) Reassembling Models of Reality: Theory and Clinical Practice. W. W. Norton, New York, NY. Fwd by Louis Cozolino, Ph.D., Awd: Daniel J. Siegel, M.D.
Chan, A (2025) 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return. Miami ,Fl., CNC Press.
Northoff, G. (2004). Philosophy of the brain: The brain problem. John Benjamins Publishing Company
Northoff, G. (2014a). Minding the brain: A guide to philosophy and neuroscience. Palgrave Macmillan
Northoff, G. (2016). Neuro-philosophy and the healthy mind: Learning from the unwell brain. W. W. Norton & Company
Northoff, G. (2018). The spontaneous brain: From the mind–body to the world–brain problem. MIT Press.
Northoff, G. (2023b). Neurowaves: Brain, time, and consciousness. McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Northoff, G. (2024). From brain dynamics to the mind: Spatiotemporal neuroscience. Academic Press
Tse, P. U. (2013). The neural basis of free will: Criterial causation. MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262019101.001.0001
Tse, P. U. (2024). A neurophilosophy of libertarian free will. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198876953.001.0001