Within-subject reliability of brain networks during advanced meditation: An intensively sampled 7 Tesla MRI case study.
Saampras Ganesan, Winson F.z. Yang, Avijit Chowdhury, Andrew Zalesky, Matthew D. Sacchet
Human Brain Mapping May 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26666 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Within-subject reliability study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | Adept practitioner of jhana meditation |
| Intervention | Jhana meditation |
| Duration | 5 days (27 fMRI runs) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Advanced meditation Consciousness Intraclass correlation icc Jhana Neurophenomenology Within‐subject reliability |
| Citations | 23 |
| Key points | Thalamus and several cortical networks demonstrated good within-subject reliability across all jhanas, and adjusting for self-reported phenomenology increased reliability in attention and salience networks. |
Abstract
Advanced meditation such as jhana meditation can produce various altered states of consciousness (jhanas) and cultivate rewarding psychological qualities including joy, peace, compassion, and attentional stability. Mapping the neurobiological substrates of jhana meditation can inform the development and application of advanced meditation to enhance well-being. Only two prior studies have attempted to investigate the neural correlates of jhana meditation, and the rarity of adept practitioners has largely restricted the size and extent of these studies. Therefore, examining the consistency and reliability of observed brain responses associated with jhana meditation can be valuable. In this study, we aimed to characterize functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) reliability within a single subject over repeated runs in canonical brain networks during jhana meditation performed by an adept practitioner over 5 days (27 fMRI runs) inside an ultra-high field 7 Tesla MRI scanner. We found that thalamus and several cortical networks, that is, the somatomotor, limbic, default-mode, control, and temporo-parietal, demonstrated good within-subject reliability across all jhanas. Additionally, we found that several other relevant brain networks (e.g., attention, salience) showed noticeable increases in reliability when fMRI measurements were adjusted for variability in self-reported phenomenology related to jhana meditation. Overall, we present a preliminary template of reliable brain areas likely underpinning core neurocognitive elements of jhana meditation, and highlight the utility of neurophenomenological experimental designs for better characterizing neuronal variability associated with advanced meditative states.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cited by 24
- Volitional mental absorption in meditation: Toward a scientific understanding of advanced concentrative absorption meditation and the case of jhana. Heliyon May 14, 2024
- Advanced and long-term meditation and the autonomic nervous system: A review and synthesis. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews June 1, 2025
- Multimodal neurophenomenology of advanced concentration absorption meditation: An intensively sampled case study of Jhana. Neuroimage December 14, 2024
- Investigating the complex cortical dynamics of an advanced concentrative absorption meditation called jhanas (ACAM-J): a geometric eigenmode analysis. Cerebral Cortex February 5, 2025
- Neurophysiological mechanisms of focused attention meditation: A scoping systematic review Imaging Neuroscience 2025
and 19 more in the library
Cites 21
- The Brain's Default Mode Network Annual Review of Neuroscience May 4, 2015
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences June 28, 2007
- Resting-state fMRI functional connectivity and mindfulness in clinical and non-clinical contexts: A review and synthesis. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews February 22, 2022
- From many to (n)one: Meditation and the plasticity of the predictive mind. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews September 1, 2021
and 16 more in the library