Characterizing the Dynamical Complexity underlying Meditation
Anira Escrichs, Ana Sanjuán, Selen Atasoy, Ane López‐González, César Garrido, Estela Càmara, Gustavo Deco
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractMeditation shifts the brain's global dynamics toward a less complex, more stable state compared to resting. Experienced meditators scanned with fMRI while meditating (focused attention on breathing) showed lower dynamical complexity than during rest, a difference not seen in non-meditators. At rest, meditators' brains exhibited higher metastability—a wider range of dynamic activity over time—than controls. These findings suggest that the meditation state operates in a distinct dynamical regime from the resting state, helping clarify how meditation alters whole-brain communication.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort |
|---|---|
| Population | Experienced meditators and controls |
| Key finding | Meditation state shows lower dynamical complexity than resting-state in meditators, while at rest meditators show higher metastability than controls. |
Abstract
Abstract Over the past 2,500 years, contemplative traditions have explored the nature of the mind using meditation. More recently, neuroimaging research on meditation has revealed differences in brain function and structure in meditators. Nevertheless, the underlying neural mechanisms are still unclear. In order to understand how meditation shapes global activity through the brain, we investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics across the whole-brain functional network using the Intrinsic Ignition Framework. Recent neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that different states of consciousness differ in their underlying dynamical complexity, i.e., how the broadness of communication is elicited and distributed through the brain over time and space. In this work, controls and experienced meditators were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during resting-state and meditation (focused attention on breathing). Our results evidenced that the dynamical complexity underlying meditation shows less complexity than during resting-state in the meditator group but not in the control group. Furthermore, we report that during resting-state, the brain activity of experienced meditators showed higher metastability (i.e., a wider dynamical regime over time) than the one observed in the control group. Overall, these results indicate that the meditation state operates in a different dynamical regime than the resting-state.