Toward an Empirical Specification of Tranquil States: A Co-Attenuation Framework for Meditation and Consciousness

Meditation research often describes effects as reduced self-referential processing, but this may actually cover several distinct brain states. This paper proposes a specific subclass called "tranquil states," defined as resting conditions where both the default mode network and salience network show reduced activity. Evidence strongly supports default mode attenuation across many studies, while salience network reduction is based mainly on expert meditator findings and is presented as a testable hypothesis. The authors argue that activity amplitude, internetwork connectivity, and baseline salience dynamics are separate dimensions, not a single change pattern. They propose a constraint-based framework generating six falsifiable predictions about brain network reorganization during meditation, distinguishing true tranquil states from simple default mode reduction.

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Abstract

Meditation research is frequently framed in terms of reduced self-referential processing, yet converging evidence suggests that this description encompasses multiple mechanistically distinct states. The present work proposes a specific subclass, termed tranquil states, defined as resting-state conditions characterized by concurrent attenuation of default mode network activity — a finding replicated across paradigms — and salience-network drive, which is currently anchored primarily in expertise-related anterior insula findings and is advanced here as a testable extension rather than an established signature.Across experimental paradigms, meditation is associated with reduced default mode activity relative to both active tasks and rest, while mindfulness training is associated with increased functional connectivity between default mode and salience networks. In parallel, expertise-related findings indicate reduced baseline salience-network activity alongside preserved or enhanced responsivity under salient conditions. Taken together, these observations suggest that activity amplitude, internetwork connectivity, and baseline salience dynamics represent partially separable dimensions of large-scale network organization rather than a single axis of change, with current evidence supporting the amplitude dimension considerably more strongly than the baseline salience dimension.A constraint-based framework is proposed in which tranquil states correspond to a coordinated configuration across these dimensions rather than to default mode attenuation alone. The framework generates six falsifiable predictions that distinguish amplitude-based attenuation from connectivity-based reorganization, commit to phase-specific effects across state, trait, and transition epochs, specify graded dynamics within resting-state conditions, and identify a potential stabilizing role for thalamo-cortical systems. If these predictions fail in aggregate, the framework should be revised or abandoned in favor of less constrained accounts of meditation-related network reorganization.The analysis is intentionally restricted to empirically tractable relationships between experimentally manipulable conditions and measurable neural outcomes. Within these constraints, tranquil states are positioned as a candidate for a definable and testable neurobiological target rather than as a broad metaphysical or doctrinal construct.