Effective Deepening of Meditative-States with Focused Ultrasound Stimulation and its Moderation by Prior Experience
Cain, J.1, Simonian, N.1, Bystritsky, A. 1, May, J. 1, Reggente, N. 1
1Institute For Advanced Consciousness Studies, Santa Monica, CA, USA
PrePrint: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/y9b7q
Quick Summary
Focused ultrasound was utilized to precisely disrupt the Posterior cingulate cortex, head of the Caudate Nucleus, and the Ventral-Anterior Insula during 1-hour meditation sessions in 12 expert and 12 novice Vipassana meditators, while assessing changes in meditative depth and subjective intensity compared to baseline. Results indicate PCC and Caudate-FUS effectively induce greater meditative depth in experts versus a validated Sham-FUS procedure, with similar subjective intensity changes. Crucially, these effects were absent in trained novices, highlighting the importance of experience in modulating FUS-induced meditative states.