Biology subjects

Kamboj, S. K.

Publications and source records attributed to Kamboj, S. K..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

High-precision neurofeedback-guided meditation training optimises real-world self-guided meditation practice for well-being

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 meditations benefits. We investigated whether personalised high-precision neurofeedback (NF) can improve disengagement from mental activity during meditation and enhance meditations 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 participants (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.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Complex slow waves radically reorganise human brain dynamics under 5-MeO-DMT

5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) is a psychedelic drug known for its uniquely profound effects on subjective experience, reliably eradicating the perception of time, space, and the self. However, little is known about how this drug alters large-scale brain activity. We collected naturalistic electroencephalography (EEG) data of 29 healthy individuals before and after inhaling a high dose (12mg) of vaporised synthetic 5-MeO-DMT. We replicate work from rodents showing amplified low-frequency oscillations, but extend these findings with novel tools for characterising the organisation and dynamics of complex low-frequency spatiotemporal fields of neural activity. We find that 5-MeO-DMT radically reorganises low-frequency flows of neural activity, causing them to become incoherent, heterogeneous, viscous, fleeting, nonrecurring, and to cease their typical travelling forwards and backwards across the cortex compared to resting state. Further, we find a consequence of this reorganisation in broadband activity, which exhibits slower, more stable, low-dimensional behaviour, with increased energy barriers to rapid global shifts. These findings provide the first detailed empirical account of how 5-MeO-DMT sculpts human brain dynamics, revealing a novel set of cortical slow wave behaviours, with significant implications for extant neuroscientific models of serotonergic psychedelics.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

Long-term Behavioural Rewriting of Maladaptive Drinking Memories via Reconsolidation-Update Mechanisms

BackgroundAlcohol use disorders can be conceptualised as a learned pattern of maladaptive alcohol-consumption behaviours. The memories encoding these behaviours centrally contribute to long-term excessive alcohol consumption and are a key therapeutic target. The transient period of memory instability sparked during memory reconsolidation offers a therapeutic window to directly rewrite these memories using targeted behavioural interventions. However, clinically-relevant demonstrations of the efficacy of this approach are few. We examined key retrieval parameters for destabilising naturalistic drinking memories and the ability of subsequent counterconditioning to effect long-term reductions in drinking. MethodsHazardous/harmful beer-drinking volunteers (N=120) were factorially randomised to retrieve (RET) or not retrieve (No RET) alcohol reward memories with (PE) or without (No PE) alcohol reward prediction error. All participants subsequently underwent disgust-based counterconditioning of drinking cues. Acute responses to alcohol were assessed pre- and post-manipulation and drinking levels assessed up to 9 months. ResultsGreater long-term reductions in drinking were found when counterconditioning was conducted following retrieval (with and without PE), despite a lack of short-term group differences in motivational responding to acute alcohol. Large variability in acute levels of learning during counterconditioning were noted. Responsiveness to counterconditioning predicted subsequent responses to acute alcohol in RET+PE only, consistent with reconsolidation-update mechanisms. ConclusionsThe longevity of behavioural interventions designed to reduce problematic drinking levels may be enhanced by leveraging reconsolidation-update mechanisms to rewrite maladaptive memory. However, inter-individual variability in levels of corrective learning is likely to determine the efficacy of reconsolidation-updating interventions and should be considered when designing and assessing interventions.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Modulation of naturalistic maladaptive memories using behavioural and pharmacological reconsolidation-interfering strategies: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical and ‘sub-clinical’ studies

Consolidated memories can undergo enduring modification through retrieval-dependent treatments that modulate reconsolidation. This has been suggested to represent a potentially transformative clinical strategy for weakening or overwriting the maladaptive memories that underlie substance use and anxiety/trauma-related disorders. However, the ability to modulate naturalistic maladaptive memories may be limited by boundary conditions imposed on reconsolidation by the nature of these memories. As such, the true potential of reconsolidation therapy is currently unknown. Here, we report a meta-analyses of behavioural and pharmacological studies examining retrieval-dependent modulation of reward and threat memories in (sub)clinical substance use and anxiety/trauma respectively.\n\nOf 4936 publications assessed for eligibility, 7 studies of substance use, and 9 of anxiety (phobia) and trauma-related symptoms were included in the meta-analyses. Overall, the findings were in the predicted direction, with the majority of effect sizes favouring the Retrieval + Treatment condition. However, the magnitude of effects depended upon the nature of the treatment type, with pharmacological interventions (relative to behavioural strategies) showing a clearer beneficial effect in studies of phobia/trauma and post-retrieval behavioural strategies, a (significantly) larger effect in substance use studies. However, high levels of heterogeneity and small sample sizes limit the strength of conclusions that can be drawn at this stage of inquiry. We hope this review will provide an impetus to address these issues in future research.

neuroscience↗