Abstract Neural oscillatory activity within the alpha and theta bands have long been considered putative markers of state mindfulness, yet understanding of their functional role has been limited by the challenges of linking objective brain indices with subjective experience. To address this gap, the current study applied longitudinal network analysis to a unique dataset from 16 novices who...
Network Neuroscience2026Hiba Sheheitli, Robert Hermosillo, Gracie Grimsrud et al.
Metastability of BOLD fMRI signals is a commonly used proxy of brain dynamics in behavioral and clinical studies. To date, little has been done to assess the confidence with which we can use estimates of metastability as reliable biomarkers of individual brain state. We analyze whole-brain and network-specific metastability for a highly sampled individual brain (84 sessions taken over 18...
Advanced meditation consists of states and stages of practice that unfold with mastery and time. Dynamic functional connectivity (DFC) analysis of fMRI could identify brain states underlying advanced meditation. We conducted an intensive DFC case study of a meditator who completed 27 runs of jhāna advanced absorptive concentration meditation (ACAM-J), concurrently with 7-T fMRI and...
Aberrant thalamocortical connectivity occurs together with visual hallucinations in various pathologies and drug-induced states, highlighting the need to better understand how thalamocortical interactions may contribute to hallucinatory phenomena. Flicker light stimulation (FLS) at 10-Hz reliably and selectively induces transient visual hallucinations in healthy participants. Arrhythmic flicker...
Most of the recent work in psychedelic neuroscience has been done using noninvasive neuroimaging, with data recorded from the brains of adult volunteers under the influence of a variety of drugs. While these data provide holistic insights into the effects of psychedelics on whole-brain dynamics, the effects of psychedelics on the mesoscale dynamics of neuronal circuits remain much less...
Contemplative neuroscience has increasingly explored meditation using neuroimaging. However, the brain mechanisms underlying meditation remain elusive. Here, we implemented a mechanistic framework to explore the spatiotemporal dynamics of expert meditators during meditation and rest, and controls during rest. We first applied a model-free approach by defining a probabilistic metastable substate...
Abstract The emerging neuroscientific frontier of brain fingerprinting has recently established that human functional connectomes (FCs) exhibit fingerprint-like idiosyncratic features, which map onto heterogeneously distributed behavioral traits. Here, we harness brain-fingerprinting tools to extract FC features that predict subjective drug experience induced by the psychedelic psilocybin....
Network NeuroscienceSeptember 15, 2023Daniela Jardim Pereira, João Pereira, Alexandre Sayal et al.5 citations
Abstract Real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (rt-fMRI) neurofeedback (NF), a training method for the self-regulation of brain activity, has shown promising results as a neurorehabilitation tool, depending on the ability of the patient to succeed in neuromodulation. This study explores connectivity-based structural and functional success predictors in an NF n-back working memory...
A promising idea in human cognitive neuroscience is that the default mode network (DMN) is responsible for coordinating the recruitment and scheduling of networks for computing and solving task-specific cognitive problems. This is supported by evidence showing that the physical and functional distance of DMN regions is maximally removed from sensorimotor regions containing environment-driven...
Abstract: Consciousness and cognition are an increasing focus of theoretical and experimental research in neuroscience, leveraging the methods and tools of brain dynamics and connectivity. This Focus Feature brings together a collection of articles that examine the various roles of brain networks in computational and dynamic models, and in studies of physiological and neuroimaging processes...
Abstract Psychedelic drugs show promise as safe and effective treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders, yet their mechanisms of action are not fully understood. A fundamental hypothesis is that psychedelics work by dose-dependently changing the functional hierarchy of brain dynamics, but it is unclear whether different psychedelics act similarly. Here, we investigated the changes in the...
Spontaneous brain activity changes across states of consciousness. A particular consciousness-mediated configuration is the anticorrelations between the default mode network and other brain regions. What this antagonistic organization implies about consciousness to date remains inconclusive. In this Perspective Article, we propose that anticorrelations are the physiological expression of the...
Adherence determines the success and benefits of mental training (e.g., meditation) programs. It is unclear why some participants engage more actively in programs for mental training than others. Understanding neurobiological factors that predict adherence is necessary for understanding elements of learning and to inform better designs for new learning regimens. Clustering patterns in brain...
We consider the implications of the mathematical modeling and analysis of large modular neuron-to-neuron dynamical networks. We explain how the dynamical behavior of relatively small-scale strongly connected networks leads naturally to nonbinary information processing and thus to multiple hypothesis decision-making, even at the very lowest level of the brain's architecture. In turn we build on...
Characterizing anesthesia-induced alterations to brain network dynamics provides a powerful framework to understand the neural mechanisms of unconsciousness. To this end, increased attention has been directed at how anesthetic drugs alter the functional connectivity between brain regions as defined through neuroimaging. However, the effects of anesthesia on temporal dynamics at functional...