Meditation Depth Enhances the Functional Signal-to-Noise Ratio of the Brain
bioRxiv Preprint Server June 30, 2026 Mihir Nath, Nicco Reggente, Neil Bailey et al. preprint
Deep meditation is associated with heightened mental clarity, which corresponds to a measurable increase in the brain's functional signal-to-noise ratio (f-SNR). In experienced Vipassana practitioners, deeper meditative states produced stronger and more consistent neural responses to auditory tones, as measured by event-related potentials and single-trial decodability. The findings suggest that deep meditation enhances the brain's ability to faithfully represent sensory signals while reducing irrelevant background neural activity.