Similar States, Different Paths: Neurodynamics of diverse meditation techniques
Prakash Shrimali, Arun Sasidharan, Saketh Malipeddi, Bianca Ventura, Rahul Venugopal, Ajay Kumar Nair, Ravindra P. Nagendra, Bindu M Kutty, Georg Northoff
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) June 26, 2025 preprint DOI: 10.1101/2025.06.20.660652 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 170 |
| Population | Advanced meditators and controls across four traditions |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Cognitive psychology Archaeology |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key findings | Meditative and non-meditative states can be distinguished with 91% accuracy using EEG features, with nonlinear features contributing most, and each tradition showing distinct neurodynamic profiles. |
Abstract
Abstract Meditation encompasses diverse practices that train attention inward, in contrast to externally oriented task states. However, the neurodynamic features distinguishing meditative states from non-meditative states across traditions remain unclear. We analyzed high-density EEG data (N=170; 121 advanced meditators, 49 controls) across four traditions: Vipassana, Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga, Heartfulness, and Isha Yoga. EEG features spanned oscillatory, aperiodic, nonlinear, and timescale components. Using random forest classifiers, we distinguished meditative from non-meditative states with robust classification performance (91%). Nonlinear features contributed the most, suggesting a core neurodynamic profile. Classification performance was higher in advanced meditators (92%) than in controls (85%), with distinct feature importance: nonlinear and aperiodic features dominated in meditators, and oscillatory and timescale features in controls. Each tradition showed distinct neurodynamic profiles, indicating technique-specific constellations. Our findings revealed shared yet distinct neurodynamic signatures across meditation techniques, suggesting that multiple neurodynamic pathways lead to meditative states.