Influence of meditation on anti-correlated networks in the brain.
Frontiers in human neuroscience January 1, 2011 Zoran Josipovic, Ilan Dinstein, Jochen Weber et al. 164 citations
The human cortex is organized into two broad systems: an extrinsic system that responds to external stimuli and tasks, and an intrinsic system linked to internal, self-related experiences. These systems typically show anti-correlated activity, even at rest. This experiment tested whether meditation can alter that competition. Participants either fixated without meditation or practiced non-dual awareness or focused attention meditations. Anti-correlation between the extrinsic and intrinsic systems was stronger during focused attention and weaker during non-dual awareness compared to fixation. Correlations within each system did not change. The results indicate that the anti-correlation between these systems is not fixed and that different meditation practices can modulate this functional brain organization in distinct ways.