Deconstructing the self and reshaping perceptions: An intensive whole-brain 7T MRI case study of the stages of insight during advanced investigative insight meditation
The stages of insight (SoI) are a series of psychological realizations experienced through advanced investigative insight meditation (AIIM). SoI provide a powerful structured framework of AIIM for understanding and evaluating insight-based meditative development through changes in perception, experi...
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Elsevier
2025-01-01
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| Series: | NeuroImage |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811924004658 |
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| author | Winson F.Z. Yang Avijit Chowdhury Terje Sparby Matthew D. Sacchet |
| author_facet | Winson F.Z. Yang Avijit Chowdhury Terje Sparby Matthew D. Sacchet |
| author_sort | Winson F.Z. Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The stages of insight (SoI) are a series of psychological realizations experienced through advanced investigative insight meditation (AIIM). SoI provide a powerful structured framework of AIIM for understanding and evaluating insight-based meditative development through changes in perception, experiences of self, cognition, and emotional processing. Yet, the neurophenomenology of SoI remains unstudied due to methodological difficulties, rarity of suitable advanced meditation practitioners, and dominant research emphasis on attention-based meditative practices. We investigated the neurophenomenology of SoI in an intensively sampled adept meditator case study (4 hr 7T fMRI collected in 26 runs with concurrent phenomenology) who performed SoI and rated specific aspects of experience immediately thereafter. Linear mixed models and correlations were used to examine relations among the cortex, subcortex, brainstem, and cerebellum, and SoI phenomenology. We identified distinctive whole-brain activity patterns associated with specific SoI, and that were different from two non-meditative control states. SoI consistently deactivated regions implicated in self-related processing, including the medial prefrontal cortex and temporal poles, while activating regions associated with awareness and perception, including the parietal and visual cortices, caudate, several brainstem nuclei, and cerebellum. Patterns of brain activity related to affective processing and SoI phenomenology were also identified. Our study presents the first neurophenomenological evidence that SoI shifts and deconstructs self-related perception and conceptualization, and increases general awareness and perceptual sensitivity and acuity. Our study provides SoI as a foundation for investigative, and advanced meditation in particular. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d15a692468364d2bbe648b628cac36e2 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1095-9572 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | NeuroImage |
| spelling | doaj-art-d15a692468364d2bbe648b628cac36e22025-01-11T06:38:32ZengElsevierNeuroImage1095-95722025-01-01305120968Deconstructing the self and reshaping perceptions: An intensive whole-brain 7T MRI case study of the stages of insight during advanced investigative insight meditationWinson F.Z. Yang0Avijit Chowdhury1Terje Sparby2Matthew D. Sacchet3Meditation Research Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02129, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02129, USAMeditation Research Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02129, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02129, USA; Depression and Anxiety Center for Discovery and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY 10029, USASteiner University College, 0260 Oslo, Norway; Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University, 58455 Witten, Germany; Integrated Curriculum for Anthroposophic Psychology, Witten/Herdecke University, 58455 Witten, GermanyMeditation Research Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02129, USA; Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02129, USA; Corresponding author.The stages of insight (SoI) are a series of psychological realizations experienced through advanced investigative insight meditation (AIIM). SoI provide a powerful structured framework of AIIM for understanding and evaluating insight-based meditative development through changes in perception, experiences of self, cognition, and emotional processing. Yet, the neurophenomenology of SoI remains unstudied due to methodological difficulties, rarity of suitable advanced meditation practitioners, and dominant research emphasis on attention-based meditative practices. We investigated the neurophenomenology of SoI in an intensively sampled adept meditator case study (4 hr 7T fMRI collected in 26 runs with concurrent phenomenology) who performed SoI and rated specific aspects of experience immediately thereafter. Linear mixed models and correlations were used to examine relations among the cortex, subcortex, brainstem, and cerebellum, and SoI phenomenology. We identified distinctive whole-brain activity patterns associated with specific SoI, and that were different from two non-meditative control states. SoI consistently deactivated regions implicated in self-related processing, including the medial prefrontal cortex and temporal poles, while activating regions associated with awareness and perception, including the parietal and visual cortices, caudate, several brainstem nuclei, and cerebellum. Patterns of brain activity related to affective processing and SoI phenomenology were also identified. Our study presents the first neurophenomenological evidence that SoI shifts and deconstructs self-related perception and conceptualization, and increases general awareness and perceptual sensitivity and acuity. Our study provides SoI as a foundation for investigative, and advanced meditation in particular.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811924004658Advanced meditationNeurophenomenologyStages of insight7T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)BrainstemCerebellum |
| spellingShingle | Winson F.Z. Yang Avijit Chowdhury Terje Sparby Matthew D. Sacchet Deconstructing the self and reshaping perceptions: An intensive whole-brain 7T MRI case study of the stages of insight during advanced investigative insight meditation NeuroImage Advanced meditation Neurophenomenology Stages of insight 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) Brainstem Cerebellum |
| title | Deconstructing the self and reshaping perceptions: An intensive whole-brain 7T MRI case study of the stages of insight during advanced investigative insight meditation |
| title_full | Deconstructing the self and reshaping perceptions: An intensive whole-brain 7T MRI case study of the stages of insight during advanced investigative insight meditation |
| title_fullStr | Deconstructing the self and reshaping perceptions: An intensive whole-brain 7T MRI case study of the stages of insight during advanced investigative insight meditation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Deconstructing the self and reshaping perceptions: An intensive whole-brain 7T MRI case study of the stages of insight during advanced investigative insight meditation |
| title_short | Deconstructing the self and reshaping perceptions: An intensive whole-brain 7T MRI case study of the stages of insight during advanced investigative insight meditation |
| title_sort | deconstructing the self and reshaping perceptions an intensive whole brain 7t mri case study of the stages of insight during advanced investigative insight meditation |
| topic | Advanced meditation Neurophenomenology Stages of insight 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) Brainstem Cerebellum |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811924004658 |
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