Journal of cognitive neuroscience
May 14, 2025
Ruby M Potash, Sean D van Mil, Mar Estarellas et al.
7 citations
During an advanced concentrative absorption meditation called jhana, characterized by highly stable attention and mental absorption, the brain's nonoscillatory dynamics—captured by nonlinear connectivity metrics—distinguish the meditative state better than oscillatory synchrony. Combining attention-related phenomenological ratings with these nonlinear metrics improves the detection of the meditative state compared to using neural data alone. Deeper absorption states show an equalization of feedback and feedforward processes, suggesting a balance between internally and externally driven information processing. The findings, based on EEG recordings from a single meditator with over 20,000 hours of practice across 29 sessions, offer initial insights into the distinct neural dynamics of refined conscious states.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Ruby M. Potash, Sean D. Van Mil, Mar Estarellas et al.
4 citations
preprint
During a deep meditative state called jhana, the brain's non-oscillatory, nonlinear neural activity—rather than oscillatory synchrony—best distinguishes the state from ordinary waking consciousness. In a single highly experienced meditator (over 20,000 hours of practice) studied across 29 sessions, EEG recordings showed that combining subjective ratings of attention with a nonlinear connectivity metric improved the ability to decode the meditative state compared to using neural measures alone. Deeper jhana states were marked by a balance between feedback and feedforward neural processes, indicating an equalization of internally and externally directed information processing. These findings suggest that refined conscious states involve distinct large-scale neural dynamics not captured by traditional oscillatory measures.
Journal of cognitive neuroscience
May 27, 2026
Alejandro Chandia-Jorquera, Sean D van Mil, Mar Estarellas et al.
3 citations
Pure awareness, a state of minimal phenomenal experience, can be reliably studied through transcendental meditation. In 33 experienced TM practitioners compared to controls doing mental counting, TM produced significantly greater intensity and temporal variability of pure awareness, unrelated to years of practice. Using EEG and multivariate classification, a double dissociation emerged: temporal entropy and aperiodic dynamics best distinguished TM from counting, while low-frequency functional connectivity best distinguished TM from its own baseline. These differences reflected distributed neural patterns, not localized effects. TM showed little carryover into rest, unlike counting. The findings characterize pure awareness electrophysiologically and support neurophenomenology as a framework for studying minimal experience.