bioRxiv Preprint Server
January 19, 2026
Chuong Ngo, Erkin Bek, Monika Stasytyte et al.
preprint
Focused-attention meditation provides a tractable model for examining how large-scale brain dynamics support attention and self-regulation. Using high-density EEG microstate analysis, we investigated how focused-attention meditation on the breath (Ānāpānasati) modulates intrinsic brain activity in 22 experienced practitioners, compared with baseline rest and deliberate mental imagery. Five...
Frontiers in Psychology
April 27, 2022
Lucie Bréchet, Christoph M. Michel
41 citations
Conscious experiences unify distinct phenomenological experiences that seem to be continuously evolving. Yet, empirical evidence shows that conscious mental activity is discontinuous and can be parsed into a series of states of thoughts that manifest as discrete spatiotemporal patterns of global neuronal activity lasting for fractions of seconds. EEG measures the brain’s electrical activity...
Brain Connectivity
March 1, 2021
Lucie Bréchet, David A Ziegler, Alexander J. Simon et al.
Sustained attention and working memory were improved in young adults after they engaged in a recently developed, closed-loop, digital meditation practice. Whether this type of meditation also has a sustained effect on dominant resting-state networks is currently unknown. In this study, we examined the resting brain states before and after a period of breath-focused, digital meditation training...
Scientific Reports
October 13, 2020
Lucie Bréchet, Denis Brunet, Lampros Perogamvros et al.
92 citations
Why do people sometimes report that they remember dreams, while at other times they recall no experience? Despite the interest in dreams that may happen during the night, it has remained unclear which brain states determine whether these conscious experiences will occur and what prevents us from waking up during these episodes. Here we address this issue by comparing the EEG activity preceding...
Neuroimage
July 1, 2019
Lucie Bréchet, Denis Brunet, Gwénaël Birot et al.
The temporal structure of self-generated cognition is a key attribute to the formation of a meaningful stream of consciousness. When at rest, our mind wanders from thought to thought in distinct mental states. Despite the marked importance of ongoing mental processes, it is challenging to capture and relate these states to specific cognitive contents. In this work, we employed ultra-high field...
Journal of Neuroscience
January 19, 2005
Olaf Blanke, Christine Mohr, Christoph M. Michel et al.
573 citations
The spatial unity of self and body is challenged by various philosophical considerations and several phenomena, perhaps most notoriously the "out-of-body experience" (OBE) during which one's visual perspective and one's self are experienced to have departed from their habitual position within one's body. Although researchers started examining isolated aspects of the self, the neurocognitive...
Fiorenzo Artoni, Julien Maillard, Juliane Britz et al.
preprint
Abstract It is commonly believed that the stream of consciousness is not continuous but parsed into transient brain states manifesting themselves as discrete spatiotemporal patterns of global neuronal activity. Electroencephalographical (EEG) microstates are proposed as the neurophysiological correlates of these transiently stable brain states that last for fractions of seconds. To further...