The Balanced Mind and its Intrinsic Neural Timescales in Advanced Meditators

Malipeddi, S.; Sasidharan, A.; Venugopal, R.; Ventura, B.; Bauer, C. C.; P.N., R.; Mehrotra, S.; John, J. P.; Kutty, B. M.; Northoff, G.

doi:10.1101/2024.08.29.609126

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2024.08.29.609126

The Balanced Mind and its Intrinsic Neural Timescales in Advanced Meditators

Malipeddi, S.·Sasidharan, A.·Venugopal, R.·Ventura, B.·Bauer, C. C.·P.N., R.·Mehrotra, S.·John, J. P.·Kutty, B. M.·Northoff, G.

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Abstract

A balanced mind, or equanimity, cultivated through meditation and other spiritual practices, is considered one of the highest mental states. Its core features include deidentification and non-duality. Despite its significance, its neural correlates remain unknown. To address this, we acquired 128-channel EEG data (n = 103) from advanced and novice meditators (from the Isha Yoga tradition) and controls during an internal attention (breath-watching) and an external attention task (visual-oddball paradigm). We calculated the auto-correlation window (ACW), a measure of brains intrinsic neural timescales (INTs) and assessed equanimity through self-report questionnaires. Advanced meditators showed higher levels of equanimity and shorter duration of INTs (shorter ACW) during breath-watching, indicating deidentification with mental contents. Furthermore, they demonstrated no significant differences in INTs between tasks, indicating non-dual awareness. Finally, shorter duration of INTs correlated with the participants subjective perceptions of equanimity. In conclusion, we show that the shorter duration of brains INT may serve as a neural marker of equanimity.

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Malipeddi, S., Sasidharan, A., Venugopal, R., Ventura, B., Bauer, C. C., P.N., R., Mehrotra, S., John, J. P., Kutty, B. M., Northoff, G.. 2024-08-30. The Balanced Mind and its Intrinsic Neural Timescales in Advanced Meditators. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.29.609126

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