Metastability demystified — the foundational past, the pragmatic present, and the potential future
Fran Hancock, Fernando E. Rosas, Mengsen Zhang, Pedro A. M. Mediano, Andrea I. Luppi, Joana Cabral, Gustavo Deco, Morton Kringelbach, Michael Breakspear, J. A. Scott Kelso, Federico Turkheimer
Preprints.org July 21, 2023 preprint DOI: 10.20944/preprints202307.1445.v1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Cognitive science Metastability Brain function Consciousness Function biology Cognition Cognitive psychology |
| Citations | 16 |
| Key findings | Metastability is a key signature of the balance between stable integration and desynchronization in healthy brain function, but its use in neuroscience is often heuristic or inaccurate, requiring clarification for future research. |
Abstract
Healthy brain functioning depends on balancing stable integration between brain areas for effective coordinated functioning, with bursts of desynchronisation to allow subsystems to reconfigure and express functional specialisation. Metastability, a concept originated in statistical physics and dynamical systems theory, has been proposed as a key signature that characterises this balance. Building on this principle, the neuroscience literature has employed markers of metastability to investigate various aspects of brain function including cognitive performance, healthy ageing, meditation, sleep, responses to pharmacological challenges, and to characterise psychiatric conditions or disorders of consciousness. However, this body of work often uses the notion of metastability heuristically, and sometimes inaccurately, making it hard for the uninitiated to navigate the vast literature, interpret findings, and foster further development of theoretical and experimental methodologies. In this paper we provide a comprehensive review of metastability and its applications in neuroscience, covering its scientific and historical foundations and the practical estimators used to estimate it in empirical data. We also provide a critical analysis of recent theoretical developments, clarifying common misconceptions and paving the road for future developments.
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 2
Cites 12
- Ongoing Cortical Activity at Rest: Criticality, Multistability, and Ghost Attractors Journal of Neuroscience March 7, 2012
- Theories and measures of consciousness: An extended framework Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences July 5, 2006
- Dynamic coupling of whole-brain neuronal and neurotransmitter systems Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences April 13, 2020
- Dynamical exploration of the repertoire of brain networks at rest is modulated by psilocybin. Neuroimage May 25, 2019
- Whole-Brain Multimodal Neuroimaging Model Using Serotonin Receptor Maps Explains Non-linear Functional Effects of LSD. Current Biology September 27, 2018
and 7 more in the library