Beyond the veil of duality—topographic reorganization model of meditation
Austin Clinton Cooper, Bianca Ventura, Georg Northoff
Neuroscience of Consciousness 2022 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niac013 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Duality order theory Epistemology Aesthetics Mathematical economics |
| Citations | 54 |
| Key findings | Meditation induces a topographic reorganization of the brain's default mode and central executive networks, associated with decreased mental-self-processing and synchronization with nondual layers of self-processing, leading to explicit nondual awareness. |
Abstract
Abstract Meditation can exert a profound impact on our mental life, with proficient practitioners often reporting an experience free of boundaries between a separate self and the environment, suggesting an explicit experience of “nondual awareness.” What are the neural correlates of such experiences and how do they relate to the idea of nondual awareness itself? In order to unravel the effects that meditation has on the brain’s spatial topography, we review functional magnetic resonance imaging brain findings from studies specific to an array of meditation types and meditator experience levels. We also review findings from studies that directly probe the interaction between meditation and the experience of the self. The main results are (i) decreased posterior default mode network (DMN) activity, (ii) increased central executive network (CEN) activity, (iii) decreased connectivity within posterior DMN as well as between posterior and anterior DMN, (iv) increased connectivity within the anterior DMN and CEN, and (v) significantly impacted connectivity between the DMN and CEN (likely a nonlinear phenomenon). Together, these suggest a profound organizational shift of the brain’s spatial topography in advanced meditators—we therefore propose a topographic reorganization model of meditation (TRoM). One core component of the TRoM is that the topographic reorganization of DMN and CEN is related to a decrease in the mental-self-processing along with a synchronization with the more nondual layers of self-processing, notably interoceptive and exteroceptive-self-processing. This reorganization of the functionality of both brain and self-processing can result in the explicit experience of nondual awareness. In conclusion, this review provides insight into the profound neural effects of advanced meditation and proposes a result-driven unifying model (TRoM) aimed at identifying the inextricably tied objective (neural) and subjective (experiential) effects of meditation.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical populations | 2003 | Review | |
| Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects | 2007 | Review | |
| Mindfulness Interventions | 2016 | Review | |
| Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation | 2017 | Review | |
| Mindfulness and acceptance: expanding the cognitive-behavioral tradition | 2005 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 38
- Connecting brain and mind through temporo-spatial dynamics: Towards a theory of common currency. Physics of Life Reviews March 1, 2025
- Intrinsic neural timescales exhibit different lengths in distinct meditation techniques. Neuroimage August 15, 2024
- Bridging the gap of brain and experience - Converging Neurophenomenology with Spatiotemporal Neuroscience. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews June 1, 2025
- A novel ego dissolution scale: A construct validation study. Consciousness and Cognition March 1, 2023
- Multimodal neurophenomenology of advanced concentration absorption meditation: An intensively sampled case study of Jhana. Neuroimage December 14, 2024
and 33 more in the library
Cites 147
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- Interoceptive inference, emotion, and the embodied self Trends in Cognitive Sciences October 12, 2013
- Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 23, 2011
- Attending to the present: mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience August 13, 2007
- Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 23, 2012
and 142 more in the library