Journal of Neuroscience
January 19, 2005
Olaf Blanke, Christine Mohr, Christoph M. Michel et al.
573 citations
The temporoparietal junction (TPJ) is crucial for the conscious experience of the self as spatially united with the body. Using evoked potential mapping, the TPJ was selectively activated 330-400 milliseconds after stimulus onset when healthy volunteers imagined themselves in the position and visual perspective typical of out-of-body experiences (OBEs). Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the TPJ at this time impaired mental transformation of one's own body but not of external objects. In an epileptic patient with OBEs originating from the TPJ, partial activation of the seizure focus occurred during mental transformations mimicking her OBE perceptions. These findings suggest that impaired processing at the TPJ may lead to pathological selves such as OBEs.
Scientific Reports
October 13, 2020
Lucie Bréchet, Denis Brunet, Lampros Perogamvros et al.
92 citations
During non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, brief brain states lasting less than a second, called EEG microstates, determine whether a person will recall a dream upon waking. Two microstates (3 and 4) dominated NREM sleep compared to wakefulness. Within NREM sleep, microstate 3 was more present before dream recall, while microstate 4 was less present. Microstate 3 involved the medial frontal lobe, suggesting deeper local deactivation and executive disconnection that keeps the brain asleep. Microstate 4 involved the occipital cortex, thalamus, and brainstem, and its reduced presence may indicate local activation enabling rich perceptual dream content. The temporal dynamics of these alternating brain states determine whether conscious experience arises during NREM sleep.
Frontiers in Psychology
April 27, 2022
Lucie Bréchet, Christoph M. Michel
41 citations
Conscious experience feels continuous but actually consists of brief, discrete brain states lasting 60–120 milliseconds, called EEG microstates. These stable scalp electric field patterns, measured with high temporal resolution, may represent the basic building blocks of thought. Altered states of consciousness—including sleep, anesthesia, meditation, and psychiatric conditions—change the dynamics of these microstates. This perspective argues that studying EEG microstates can reveal underlying features of self-consciousness, summarizing recent findings on microstate alterations during mind-wandering, meditation, sleep, and anesthesia.
bioRxiv Preprint Server
January 19, 2026
Chuong Ngo, Erkin Bek, Monika Stasytyte et al.
preprint
Focused-attention meditation on the breath reorganizes large-scale brain dynamics by reducing activity in neural networks linked to self-referential and memory-based processing while increasing activity in networks supporting attentional stability and internal monitoring. In 22 experienced practitioners, high-density EEG microstate analysis identified five canonical brain states. Meditation robustly reduced Microstate C, generated in medial and lateral temporal regions including the hippocampus, and increased Microstates D and E, generated in posterior midline regions and frontoparietal networks respectively. These changes suggest that focused-attention meditation downregulates self-referential processing and enhances neural states for attention and internal awareness.
Brain Topography
April 24, 2026
Chuong Ngo, Erkin Bek, Monika Stasytyte et al.
Focused-attention meditation on the breath (Ānāpānasati) reorganizes large-scale brain dynamics by reducing a specific pattern of neural activity linked to self-referential and memory-based processing while increasing patterns associated with attentional stability and internal monitoring. In 22 experienced practitioners, EEG microstate analysis identified five canonical brain states (A-E). Meditation robustly reduced Microstate C—generated in temporal regions including the hippocampus—and increased Microstates D and E, which involve posterior midline and frontoparietal networks. These results indicate that focused attention shifts the temporal architecture of intrinsic brain activity away from default-mode-like processing toward states supporting sustained attention.
Brain Connectivity
March 1, 2021
Lucie Bréchet, David A Ziegler, Alexander J. Simon et al.
After six weeks of breath-focused, digital meditation training, young adults showed changes in resting-state brain networks measured by EEG microstates, particularly in the right insula, superior temporal gyrus, superior parietal lobule, and superior frontal gyrus bilaterally. These topographical changes were not seen in an active placebo control group. The results suggest that this low-cost, digital meditation practice can reorganize brain network connectivity and may offer a novel, noninvasive approach for treating neuropathological conditions.
Fiorenzo Artoni, Julien Maillard, Juliane Britz et al.
preprint
The stream of consciousness is thought to be composed of discrete brain states, reflected in EEG microstates—transient, stable patterns of global neuronal activity lasting fractions of seconds. In 23 surgical patients, high-density EEG was recorded continuously from wakefulness to unconsciousness induced by step-wise increasing propofol concentrations. Under surgical anesthesia, microstate sequences became sparser, longer-lasting, and less complex. However, moderate sedation initially increased the temporal dynamics and complexity of microstates, producing a distinctive U-shaped pattern that may correspond to paradoxical excitation. These findings suggest that normal consciousness relies on a metastable balance between order and chaos, enabling flexible state transitions, and that altered consciousness reflects changes in this balance.