Revealing Changes in Brain Functional Networks Caused by Focused-Attention Meditation Using Tucker3 Clustering
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience January 22, 2020 Takuma Miyoshi, Kensuke Tanioka, Shoko Yamamoto et al.
A clustering method called Tucker3 simultaneously selects brain regions and feature metrics that distinguish resting from meditative states. Breath-counting meditation, a focused-attention practice, was studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging in novice meditators. Clustering coefficients increased in eight brain regions—including parts of the frontal, occipital, and cingulate cortex, the cerebellum, and the parahippocampal gyrus—during meditation compared to rest. The work offers a data-driven framework for analyzing functional brain states and demonstrates its utility in studying the neural basis of focused-attention meditation.