Potash Ruby M, van Mil Sean D, Estarellas Mar, Canales-Johnson Andres, Sacchet Matthew D
Meditation Research Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
These authors contributed equally to this work.
bioRxiv. 2025 Mar 27:2024.11.29.626048. doi: 10.1101/2024.11.29.626048.
We present a neurophenomenological case study investigating distinct neural connectivity regimes during an advanced concentrative absorption meditation called jhana (ACAM-J),characterized by highly-stable attention and mental absorption. Using EEG recordings and phenomenological ratings (29 sessions) from a meditator with +20,000 hours of practice, we evaluated connectivity metrics tracking distinct large-scale neural interactions: nonlinear (WSMI and Directed Information), capturing non-oscillatory dynamics; and linear (WPLI) connectivity metrics, capturing oscillatory synchrony. Results demonstrate ACAM-J are better distinguished by non-oscillatory compared to oscillatory dynamics across multiple frequency ranges. Furthermore, combining attention-related phenomenological ratings with WSMI improves Bayesian decoding of ACAM-J compared to neural metrics alone. Crucially, deeper ACAM-J indicate an equalization of feedback and feedforward processes, suggesting a balance of internally- and externally-driven information processing. The results from this intensively sampled case study are a promising initial step in revealing the distinct neural dynamics during ACAM-J, offering insights into refined conscious states and highlighting the value of nonlinear neurophenomenological approaches to studying attentional states.
我们展示了一项神经现象学案例研究，该研究调查了在一种名为“禅那”（ACAM-J）的高级专注吸收冥想过程中不同的神经连接状态，其特点是高度稳定的注意力和精神专注。我们使用来自一位有超过20000小时冥想练习经验的冥想者的脑电图记录和现象学评分（29次记录），评估了追踪不同大规模神经相互作用的连接性指标：非线性指标（加权符号有向互信息和直接信息），用于捕捉非振荡动力学；以及线性指标（加权相位滞后指数），用于捕捉振荡同步性。结果表明，与多个频率范围内的振荡动力学相比，非振荡动力学能更好地区分ACAM-J状态。此外，与仅使用神经指标相比，将与注意力相关的现象学评分与加权符号有向互信息相结合，能改善对ACAM-J的贝叶斯解码。至关重要的是，更深层次的ACAM-J状态表明反馈和前馈过程达到平衡，这意味着内部驱动和外部驱动的信息处理达到平衡。这项密集采样的案例研究结果是揭示ACAM-J过程中独特神经动力学的有前景的初步步骤，为深入了解意识状态提供了见解，并突出了非线性神经现象学方法在研究注意力状态方面的价值。
