Meditation research often describes effects as reduced self-referential processing, but this may actually cover several distinct brain states. This paper proposes a specific subclass called "tranquil states," defined as resting conditions where both the default mode network and salience network show reduced activity. Evidence strongly supports default mode attenuation across many studies, while salience network reduction is based mainly on expert meditator findings and is presented as a testable hypothesis. The authors argue that activity amplitude, internetwork connectivity, and baseline salience dynamics are separate dimensions, not a single change pattern. They propose a constraint-based framework generating six falsifiable predictions about brain network reorganization during meditation, distinguishing true tranquil states from simple default mode reduction.
Multiple theories of consciousness, such as Integrated Information Theory, Global Workspace Theory, and Predictive Processing, often appear incompatible. This paper argues that the incompatibility arises because each theory places a foundational explanatory construct, called an epistemic terminator, at a different level of biological organization and then generalizes from that level as if it alone characterizes consciousness. The authors propose situating these terminators within a biological hierarchy from metabolic regulation to large-scale integration, treating the subject of experience as a derived biological construct. Conscious states are described as having a triadic structure: sense of self, sense of environment, and their association. This framework explains why adversarial tests like COGITATE produce partial support for multiple theories and generates falsifiable predictions about metabolic thresholds and artificial systems lacking metabolic closure.
Tranquil states during meditation are characterized by the simultaneous quieting of two brain networks: the default mode network, linked to self-referential thought, and the salience network, which detects important stimuli. This neural configuration is distinct from general reductions in brain activity, personality traits, or other altered states. The proposed framework generates testable predictions about how these states differ from traits, the relationship between brain signal strength and network connectivity, the role of the thalamus, and how depth of tranquility changes gradually. This provides an operational, empirically testable definition of tranquil conscious states.