Functional neuroanatomy of meditation: A review and meta-analysis of 78 functional neuroimaging investigations

Meditation is a family of mental practices that encompasses a wide array of techniques employing distinctive mental strategies. We systematically reviewed 78 functional neuroimaging (fMRI and PET) studies of meditation, and used activation likelihood estimation to meta-analyze 257 peak foci from 31 experiments involving 527 participants. We found reliably dissociable patterns of brain activation and deactivation for four common styles of meditation (focused attention, mantra recitation, open monitoring, and compassion/loving-kindness), and suggestive differences for three others (visualization, sense-withdrawal, and non-dual awareness practices). Overall, dissociable activation patterns are congruent with the psychological and behavioral aims of each practice. Some brain areas are recruited consistently across multiple techniques - including insula, pre/supplementary motor cortices, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and frontopolar cortex - but convergence is the exception rather than the rule. A preliminary effect-size meta-analysis found medium effects for both activations (d = .59) and deactivations (d = -.74), suggesting potential practical significance. Our meta-analysis supports the neurophysiological dissociability of meditation practices, but also raises many methodological concerns and suggests avenues for future research

Human brain effects of DMT assessed via EEG-fMRI.

Psychedelics have attracted medical interest, but their effects on human brain function are incompletely understood. In a comprehensive, within-subjects, placebo-controlled design, we acquired multimodal neuroimaging [i.e., EEG-fMRI (electroencephalography-functional MRI)] data to assess the effects of intravenous (IV) N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) on brain function in 20 healthy volunteers. Simultaneous EEG-fMRI was acquired prior to, during, and after a bolus IV administration of 20 mg DMT, and, separately, placebo. At dosages consistent with the present study, DMT, a serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) agonist, induces a deeply immersive and radically altered state of consciousness. DMT is thus a useful research tool for probing the neural correlates of conscious experience. Here, fMRI results revealed robust increases in global functional connectivity (GFC), network disintegration and desegregation, and a compression of the principal cortical gradient under DMT. GFC × subjective intensity maps correlated with independent positron emission tomography (PET)-derived 5-HT2AR maps, and both overlapped with meta-analytical data implying human-specific psychological functions. Changes in major EEG-measured neurophysiological properties correlated with specific changes in various fMRI metrics, enriching our understanding of the neural basis of DMT's effects. The present findings advance on previous work by confirming a predominant action of DMT-and likely other 5-HT2AR agonist psychedelics-on the brain's transmodal association pole, i.e., the neurodevelopmentally and evolutionarily recent cortex that is associated with species-specific psychological advancements, and high expression of 5-HT2A receptors

A Closer Look at Transitions Between the Generative and Evaluative Phases of Creative Thought

Creative thinking is often viewed as a dynamic process that involves shifts between two distinct modes (or phases) of thought – a generative and an evaluative mode. The generative mode involves the generation of new ideas, whereas the evaluative mode involves cognitive and affective evaluations of these ideas. Although the neurocognitive underpinnings of these two thought modes have received significant attention, the dynamics of transitions between them have remain largely unexplored. Here, we focus on these dynamics and review current evidence from psychology and cognitive neuroscience about the relationships and transitions between the two purported modes of thought. We suggest that two types of evaluative processing—automatic-affective and deliberate (i.e., based in cognitive control)—play pivotal roles in supporting transitions between the generative and evaluative modes. Ultimately, we contend that future research into creative thought should focus on clarifying the timescales at which the two modes of thought may unfold, how the transition rate between them may relate to creative outcomes, and the nature of automatic-affective evaluations made towards thoughts

Trait absorption is not reliably associated with brain structure or resting-state functional connectivity

Trait ‘absorption’ is a psychological construct with a rich history that was initially born from early work on hypnotic suggestibility. Absorption characterizes an individual's tendency to become effortlessly engrossed in the contents of experience, whether in terms of external sensory phenomena or internal imagery and fantasy, and is reliably associated with a constellation of psychological, cognitive, and behavioral traits. Here, we conducted a comprehensive neuroimaging investigation of associations between trait absorption and the brain. In particular, we assessed multivariate relationships between absorption scores and neuroimaging measures of grey matter density, as well as static and dynamic resting-state functional connectivity. We investigated these relationships using partial least squares in a discovery dataset (n = 201) and then attempted to reproduce results in an independent replication dataset (n = 68). Results revealed a lack of significant associations between absorption and grey matter density across both datasets, and a significant association between absorption and static resting-state functional connectivity in the discovery dataset which was not replicated in the replication dataset. Additional control analyses further indicated the lack of a reliable brain-absorption relationship, whereas we found a replicable association between the closely related trait of ‘openness to experience’ and resting-state functional connectivity. We conclude that absorption is not reliably associated with brain structure or function in the present datasets and discuss factors that may have contributed to this result. This study serves as the first comprehensive and adequately powered investigation of the neural correlates of absorption and motivates future studies to refine the conceptualization of this perplexing trait

Inter-regional BOLD signal variability is an organizational feature of functional brain networks

Neuronal variability patterns promote the formation and organization of neural circuits. Macroscale similarities in regional variability patterns may therefore be linked to the strength and topography of inter-regional functional connections. To assess this relationship, we used multi-echo resting-state fMRI and investigated macroscale connectivity-variability associations in 154 adult humans (86 women; mean age = 22yrs). We computed inter-regional measures of moment-to-moment BOLD signal variability and related them to inter-regional functional connectivity. Region pairs that showed stronger functional connectivity also showed similar BOLD signal variability patterns, independent of inter-regional distance and structural similarity. Connectivity-variability associations were predominant within all networks and followed a hierarchical spatial organization that separated sensory, motor and attention systems from limbic, default and frontoparietal control association networks. Results were replicated in a second held-out fMRI run. These findings suggest that macroscale BOLD signal variability is an organizational feature of large-scale functional networks, and shared inter-regional BOLD signal variability may underlie macroscale brain network dynamics

A role for the serotonin 2A receptor in the expansion and functioning of human transmodal cortex

Integrating independent but converging lines of research on brain function and neurodevelopment across scales, this article proposes that serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) signaling is an evolutionary and developmental driver and potent modulator of the macroscale functional organization of the human cerebral cortex. A wealth of evidence indicates that the anatomical and functional organization of the cortex follows a unimodal-to-transmodal gradient. Situated at the apex of this processing hierarchy - where it plays a central role in the integrative processes underpinning complex, human-defining cognition - the transmodal cortex has disproportionately expanded across human development and evolution. Notably, the adult human transmodal cortex is especially rich in 5-HT2AR expression, and recent evidence suggests that, during early brain development, 5-HT2AR signaling on neural progenitor cells stimulates their proliferation - a critical process for evolutionarily-relevant cortical expansion. Drawing on multimodal neuroimaging and cross-species investigations, we argue that, by contributing to the expansion of the human cortex, and being prevalent at the apex of its hierarchy in the adult brain, 5-HT2AR signaling plays a major role in both human cortical expansion and functioning. Due to its unique excitatory and downstream cellular effects, neuronal 5-HT2AR agonism promotes neuroplasticity, learning, and cognitive and psychological flexibility in a context-(hyper)sensitive manner with therapeutic potential. Overall, we delineate a dual role of 5-HT2ARs in enabling both the expansion and modulation of the human transmodal cortex

A role for the serotonin 2A receptor in the expansion and functioning of human transmodal cortex

Integrating independent but converging lines of research on brain function and neurodevelopment across scales, this article proposes that serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) signalling is an evolutionary and developmental driver and potent modulator of the macroscale functional organization of the human cerebral cortex. A wealth of evidence indicates that the anatomical and functional organization of the cortex follows a unimodal-to-transmodal gradient. Situated at the apex of this processing hierarchy—where it plays a central role in the integrative processes underpinning complex, human-defining cognition—the transmodal cortex has disproportionately expanded across human development and evolution. Notably, the adult human transmodal cortex is especially rich in 5-HT2AR expression and recent evidence suggests that, during early brain development, 5-HT2AR signalling on neural progenitor cells stimulates their proliferation—a critical process for evolutionarily-relevant cortical expansion. Drawing on multimodal neuroimaging and cross-species investigations, we argue that, by contributing to the expansion of the human cortex and being prevalent at the apex of its hierarchy in the adult brain, 5-HT2AR signalling plays a major role in both human cortical expansion and functioning. Owing to its unique excitatory and downstream cellular effects, neuronal 5-HT2AR agonism promotes neuroplasticity, learning and cognitive and psychological flexibility in a context-(hyper)sensitive manner with therapeutic potential. Overall, we delineate a dual role of 5-HT2ARs in enabling both the expansion and modulation of the human transmodal cortex.</p