Mining the Mind: Linear Discriminant Analysis of MEG source reconstruction time series supports dynamic changes in deep brain regions during meditation sessions
arXiv Preprint Archive January 29, 2021 D. Calvetti, B. Johnson, A. Pascarella et al.
Meditation practices like focused attention (Samatha) and open monitoring (Vipassana) produce distinct brain activity patterns detectable in real time. Using MEG data from experienced Buddhist monks, brain activity was mapped to regions of a standard atlas and analyzed via spectral analysis and linear discriminant analysis. The method successfully distinguished between meditative states and resting state with eyes closed. Key brain regions contributing to this separation include the cingulate cortex, insular cortex, and internal structures such as the accumbens, caudate, putamen, thalamus, and amygdalae. These findings align with earlier longitudinal studies reporting meditation-induced morphological changes, offering objective evidence beyond subjective self-reporting.