The art of permeability: A computational distinction between depersonalisation and advanced meditation
Fedal Saini, Hagar Tal, Ruben Laukkonen, Matthew D. Sacchet
October 20, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/mn6v2_v1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Proposes that DPD and advanced meditation sit at opposite ends of a single computational axis of interoceptive permeability: DPD involves defensive attenuation of ascending interoceptive precision that stabilises a detached self-model, while advanced meditation increases the influence of bodily evidence on higher-level inference, allowing interoceptive signals to reshape and at times loosen the processes sustaining the sense of self. Argues that meditation-related depersonalisation arises when interoceptive precision increases without the regulatory conditions that make it tolerable, and outlines an insula-prefrontal axis as a plausible substrate for this regulation. |
Abstract
First-person reports reveal a surprising convergence between symptoms of depersonalisation disorder (DPD) and certain forms of advanced meditation (AM). In both, individuals describe a fading, and even disappearance, of the ordinarily stable sense of being an embodied self. Yet the experiential tone and functional consequences strikingly differ. In DPD this alteration is endured as distressing alienation, while in AM it is deliberately cultivated towards psychological transformation and flourishing. We propose that this difference stems from opposite configurations of interoceptive permeability along the same computational axis. In DPD, defensive attenuation of ascending interoceptive precision limits the influence of bodily evidence on higher-level inference and stabilises a detached self-model. In AM, sustained practice increases the influence of bodily evidence on higher-level inference, allowing interoceptive signals to reshape and at times loosen the processes that sustain the sense of self. We account for meditation-related depersonalisation, a documented adverse effect of contemplative practice, by emphasising that increasing interoceptive precision without the regulatory conditions that render it tolerable reproduces the configuration that anchors the DPD pole. Finally, we outline the insula-prefrontal axis as a plausible substrate for this regulation. Clinical neuroscience has not characterised the regime in which bodily evidence constrains the self-model without recruiting defensive withdrawal, and advanced meditation provides a foundation from which to address this gap.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |