High-precision neurofeedback-guided meditation training optimises real-world self-guided meditation practice for well-being
Saampras Ganesan, Nicholas T. van Dam, Sunjeev K. Kamboj, Aki Tsuchiyagaito, Matthew D. Sacchet, Masaya Misaki, Bradford A. Moffat, Valentina Lorenzetti, Andrew Zalesky
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) October 26, 2024 preprint DOI: 10.1101/2024.10.25.618656 via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractPersonalized high-precision neurofeedback (NF) can help novice meditators better disengage from mental activity during meditation, improving emotional well-being and mindful awareness. In a single-blind, controlled study, 40 novices received two days of meditation training with feedback from either their own or a matched participant's posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) activity, measured using 7 Tesla fMRI. The experimental group showed stronger functional decoupling of PCC from dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, indicating improved control over disengagement. This led to greater improvements in emotional well-being and mindful awareness during a week of real-world self-guided meditation, supporting the utility of NF-guided meditation training.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Single-blind, controlled, longitudinal paradigm |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 40 |
| Population | Novice meditators |
| Duration | Two consecutive days of meditation training with intermittent feedback, plus one week of real-world self-guided meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Neurofeedback Disengagement theory Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex Posterior cingulate |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key finding | Personalized high-precision neurofeedback from the posterior cingulate cortex improved disengagement from mental activity during meditation and enhanced emotional well-being and mindful awareness in real-world practice. |
Abstract
Meditation can benefit well-being and mental health, but novices often struggle to effectively recognize and disengage from mental processes during meditation due to limited awareness, potentially diminishing meditation's benefits. We investigated whether personalised high-precision neurofeedback (NF) can improve disengagement from mental activity during meditation and enhance meditation's outcomes. In a single-blind, controlled, longitudinal paradigm, 40 novice meditators underwent two consecutive days of meditation training with intermittent visual feedback from either their own (N=20) or a matched participant's (N=20; control group) posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) activity measured using 7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging. During training, the experimental group showed stronger functional decoupling of PCC from dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, indicating better control over disengagement from mental processes during meditation. This led to greater improvements in emotional well-being and mindful awareness of mental processes during a week of real-world self-guided meditation. We provide compelling evidence supporting the utility of high-precision NF-guided meditation training to optimise real-world meditation practice for well-being.