This second 2025 issue of Cortica brings together a set of articles that all converge on the same question: how can neuroscience help us create safer inner worlds and fairer learning environments?
The first axis concerns justice and education. Drawing on the rich literature on school justice, Maamo examines how students’ perceptions of fairness shape motivation, engagement, and mental health, and calls for more systematic integration of justice into educational practice.
In parallel, Cavadini explore apprenance and adult learning through two playful devices—NeuroExplorer and NeuroEscape, that translate brain science into empowering, experiential pedagogy.
A second axis focuses on contemplative and non-ordinary states of consciousness. Two experimental studies by Azzi and Broillet compare immersive virtual-reality–based mindfulness to traditional video/audio formats, showing that while meditation itself produces robust benefits, VR may deepen emotional engagement and open new avenues for digital mental-health tools. Rajadurai’s systematic review and pilot EEG study on self-induced cognitive trance identifies theta oscillations as a promising marker of trance states, suggesting novel self-regulation protocols for trauma and dissociation.
Maeder’s meta-analysis of mindfulness-based and psychedelic-assisted interventions in PTSD further extends this clinical perspective.
Finally, several contributions return to the core of affective and cognitive neuroscience: Inta’s SDM-PSI meta-analysis clarifies how musical stimuli engage reward and autobiographical memory circuits in depression, while Schollaert investigates emotional memory, salience, and executive networks in schizophrenia. Together with the opening conceptual paper on synaptic pruning, volition, and the PRESENCE model, this issue illustrates Cortica’s mission: to bridge rigorous brain research with translational, accessible tools for clinicians, educators, and learners.
We hope these articles will inspire new collaborations and concrete innovations at the crossroads of neuroscience, education, and mental health.