Inducing a meditative state by artificial perturbations: a mechanistic understanding of brain dynamics underlying meditation

Dagnino, Paulina Clara; Galadí, Javier Alejandro; Càmara, Estela; Deco, Gustavo; Escrichs, Anira

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/netn_a_00366

Inducing a meditative state by artificial perturbations: a mechanistic understanding of brain dynamics underlying meditation

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Dagnino PC, Galadí JA, Càmara E, Deco G, Escrichs A. Inducing a meditative state by artificial perturbations: a mechanistic understanding of brain dynamics underlying meditation. Network Neuroscience. 2024 Feb 12;8(2):517-40. DOI: 10.1162/netn_a_00366

Abstract

Contemplative neuroscience has increasingly explored meditation using neuroimaging. However, the brain mechanisms underlying meditation remain elusive. Here, we implemented a mechanistic framework to explore the spatiotemporal dynamics of expert meditators during meditation and rest, and controls during rest. We first applied a model-free approach by defining a probabilistic metastable substate (PMS) space for each condition, consisting of different probabilities of occurrence from a repertoire of dynamic patterns. Moreover, we implemented a model-based approach by adjusting the PMS of each condition to a whole-brain model, which enabled us to explore in silico perturbations to transition from resting-state to meditation and vice versa. Consequently, we assessed the sensitivity of different brain areas regarding their perturbability and their mechanistic local-global effects. Overall, our work reveals distinct whole-brain dynamics in meditation compared to rest, and how transitions can be induced with localized artificial perturbations. It motivates future work regarding meditation as a practice in health and as a potential therapy for brain disorders.