Journal Article Epublish
PubMed: 42029842 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-026-01199-2
Microstate Dynamics of Focused Attention Meditation.
Brain Topogr 39(3)
Authors: Chuong Ngo, Erkin Bek, Monika Stasytytė, Lionel A Newman, Rodrigo Elizalde, Amit Kanthi, N K Manjunath, Christoph M Michel
Affiliations
- All Here SA, Geneva, Switzerland. Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Geneva, Switzerland.
- All Here SA, Geneva, Switzerland.
- Divison of Life Sciences, Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, Bengaluru, India.
- Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Abstract
Focused-attention meditation provides a tractable model for examining how large-scale brain dynamics support attention and self-regulation. Using high-density EEG microstate analysis, we investigated how focused-attention meditation on the breath (Ānāpānasati) modulates intrinsic brain activity in 22 experienced practitioners, compared with baseline rest and deliberate mental imagery. Five canonical microstate classes (A-E) were identified. Meditation produced a robust reduction of Microstate C across coverage, duration, and occurrence, accompanied by increased presence of Microstates D and E (all Microstate x Condition interactions p < 0.0001). Source localization revealed that Microstate C was generated primarily in medial and lateral temporal regions including the hippocampus and parahippocampal cortex, whereas Microstate D involved posterior midline regions including the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus, and Microstate E engaged frontoparietal and orbitolimbic networks. Together, these results indicate that focused-attention meditation reorganizes the temporal architecture of large-scale brain dynamics by downregulating microstate patterns associated with self-referential and memory-based processing while enhancing neural states supporting attentional stability and internal monitoring.
MeSH
Meditation, Brain, Electroencephalography