Suspending the Embodied Self in Meditation Attenuates Beta Oscillations in the Posterior Medial Cortex.

Human experience is imbued by the sense of being an embodied agent. The investigation of such basic self-consciousness has been hampered by the difficulty of comprehensively modulating it in the laboratory while reliably capturing ensuing subjective changes. The present preregistered study fills this gap by combining advanced meditative states with principled phenomenological interviews: 46 long-term meditators (19 female, 27 male) were instructed to modulate and attenuate their embodied self-experience during magnetoencephalographic monitoring. Results showed frequency-specific (high-beta band) activity reductions in frontoparietal and posterior medial cortices (PMC). Importantly, PMC reductions were driven by a subgroup describing radical embodied self-disruptions, including suspension of agency and dissolution of a localized first-person perspective. Neural changes were correlated with lifetime meditation and interview-derived experiential changes, but not with classical self-reports. The results demonstrate the potential of integrating in-depth first-person methods into neuroscientific experiments. Furthermore, they highlight neural oscillations in the PMC as a central process supporting the embodied sense of self.

Self-Boundary Dissolution in Meditation: A Phenomenological Investigation.

A fundamental aspect of the sense of self is its pre-reflective dimension specifying the self as a bounded and embodied knower and agent. Being a constant and tacit feature structuring consciousness, it eludes robust empirical exploration. Recently, deep meditative states involving global dissolution of the sense of self have been suggested as a promising path for advancing such an investigation. To that end, we conducted a comprehensive phenomenological inquiry into meditative self-boundary alteration. The induced states were systematically characterized by changes in six experiential features including the sense of location, agency, first-person perspective, attention, body sensations, and affective valence, as well as their interaction with meditative technique and overall degree of dissolution. Quantitative analyses of the relationships between these phenomenological categories highlighted a unitary dimension of boundary dissolution. Notably, passive meditative gestures of "letting go", which reduce attentional engagement and sense of agency, emerged as driving the depth of dissolution. These findings are aligned with an enactive approach to the pre-reflective sense of self, linking its generation to sensorimotor activity and attention-demanding processes. Moreover, they set the stage for future phenomenologically informed analyses of neurophysiological data and highlight the utility of combining phenomenology and intense contemplative training for a scientific characterization of processes giving rise to the basic sense of being a bounded self.

The Imbalanced Plasticity Hypothesis of Schizophrenia-Related Psychosis: A Predictive Perspective.

A considerable number of studies have attempted to account for the psychotic aspects of schizophrenia in terms of the influential predictive coding (PC) hypothesis. We argue that the prediction-oriented perspective on schizophrenia-related psychosis may benefit from a mechanistic model that: 1) gives due weight to the extent to which alterations in short- and long-term synaptic plasticity determine the degree and the direction of the functional disruption that occurs in psychosis; and 2) addresses the distinction between the two central syndromes of psychosis in schizophrenia: disorganization and reality-distortion. To accomplish these goals, we propose the Imbalanced Plasticity Hypothesis - IPH, and demonstrate that it: 1) accounts for commonalities and differences between disorganization and reality distortion in terms of excessive (hyper) or insufficient (hypo) neuroplasticity, respectively; 2) provides distinct predictions in the cognitive and electrophysiological domains; and 3) is able to reconcile conflicting PC-oriented accounts of psychosis.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to Neurophenomenology - The Case of Studying Self Boundaries With Meditators.

This paper is a practical guide to neurophenomenology. Varela's neurophenomenological research program (NRP) aspires to bridge the gap between, and integrate, first-person (1P) and third-person (3P) approaches to understanding the mind. It does so by suggesting a methodological framework allowing these two irreducible phenomenal domains to relate and reciprocally support the investigation of one another. While highly appealing theoretically, neurophenomenology invites researchers to a challenging methodological endeavor. Based on our experience with empirical neurophenomenological implementation, we offer practical clarifications and insights learnt along the way. In the first part of the paper, we outline the theoretical principles of the NRP and briefly present the field of 1P research. We speak to the importance of phenomenological training and outline the utility of cooperating with meditators as skilled participants. We suggest that 1P accounts of subjective experience can be placed on a complexity continuum ranging between thick and thin phenomenology, highlighting the tension and trade-off inherent to the neurophenomenological attempt to naturalize phenomenology. We then outline a typology of bridges, which create mutual constraints between 1P and 3P approaches, and argue for the utility of alternating between the bridges depending on the available experimental resources, domain of interest and level of sought articulation. In the second part of the paper, we demonstrate how the theory can be put into practice by describing a decade of neurophenomenological studies investigating the sense of self with increasing focus on its embodied, and minimal, aspects. These aspects are accessed via the dissolution of the sense-of-boundaries, shedding new light on the multi-dimensionality and flexibility of embodied selfhood. We emphasize the evolving neurophenomenological dialogue, showing how consecutive studies, placed differently on the thin-to-thick 1P continuum, advance the research project by using the bridging principles appropriate for each stage.

Survivor-spouse dissociation and posttraumatic stress disorder: Personal and dyad relationships.

This study examined the relationships between dissociation and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among injured survivors of terror attacks and their spouses (N = 210), specifically exploring survivor-spouse dyadic associations. Structural equation modeling and the actor-partner interdependence model were used to test the bidirectional dyadic association of both the survivors' and the spouses' dissociation with PTSD symptoms. The results demonstrated a positive association both between the survivors' trait dissociation and PTSD symptoms and between the spouses' trait dissociation and their PTSD symptoms. However, no significant associations were found at the bidirectional level. Taken together, our findings shed new light on the role of trait dissociation in PTSD. Although trait dissociation is associated with higher PTSD symptoms for both survivors and their spouses, its role may be limited in the bidirectional partner context. Theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Self-specific processing in the meditating brain: a MEG neurophenomenology study.

Self-specific processes (SSPs) specify the self as an embodied subject and agent, implementing a functional self/nonself distinction in perception, cognition, and action. Despite recent interest, it is still undetermined whether SSPs are all-or-nothing or graded phenomena; whether they can be identified in neuroimaging data; and whether they can be altered through attentional training. These issues are approached through a neurophenomenological exploration of the sense-of-boundaries (SB), the fundamental experience of being an 'I' (self) separated from the 'world' (nonself). The SB experience was explored in collaboration with a uniquely qualified meditation practitioner, who volitionally produced, while being scanned by magnetoencephalogram (MEG), three mental states characterized by a graded SB experience. The results were then partly validated in an independent group of 10 long-term meditators. Implicated neural mechanisms include right-lateralized beta oscillations in the temporo-parietal junction, a region known to mediate the experiential unity of self and body; and in the medial parietal cortex, a central node of the self's representational system. The graded nature as well as the trainable flexibility and neural plasticity of SSPs may hold clinical implications for populations with a disturbed SB.

How does it feel to lack a sense of boundaries? A case study of a long-term mindfulness meditator.

This paper discusses the phenomenological nature of the sense of boundaries (SB), based on the case of S, who has practiced mindfulness in the Satipathana and Theravada Vipassana traditions for about 40years and accumulated around 20,000h of meditative practice. S's unique abilities enable him to describe his inner lived experience with great precision and clarity. S was asked to shift between three different stages: (a) the default state, (b) the dissolving of the SB, and (c) the disappearance of the SB. Based on his descriptions, we identified seven categories (with some overlap) that alter during the shifts between these stages, including the senses of: (1) internal versus external, (2) time, (3) location, (4) self, (5) agency (control), (6) ownership, and (7) center (first-person-egocentric-bodily perspective). Two other categories, the touching/touched structure and one's bodily feelings, do not fade away completely even when the sense-of-boundaries disappears.

Humor and Trauma-Related Psychopathology Among Survivors of Terror Attacks and Their Spouses.

The goal of this study was to examine the bidirectional relationships between humor and trauma-related psychopathology (posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], depression, and anxiety symptoms) among 105 dyads consisting of Israelis who were injured during terror attacks and their spouses (N = 210). An actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) was applied as part of a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis aimed at examining the associations between the use of different styles of humor and trauma-related psychopathology. Consistent with our hypotheses, results suggested that benign styles of humor were associated with survivors' lower levels of trauma-related symptoms (actor effects) and also had a buffering effect for the spouse (partner effects). More specifically, the use of self-enhancing humor by survivors was negatively associated with spousal symptoms and the use of affiliative humor by spouses was negatively associated with psychopathology symptoms reported by survivors. The results of this study shed light on the role that benign humor may play in coping with traumatic events while taking into account the dyadic relationships among survivors and their spouses. Theoretical and clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Acute peritraumatic dissociation: in favor of a phenomenological inquiry.

Fundamental aspects of trauma--among them dissociation during trauma, which is considered one of the strongest predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder-are not fully understood. This article argues that the application of the phenomenological structure of time and the phenomenological description of the self (minimal self, sense of ownership, sense of agency, sense of self) to dissociation during trauma can improve our understanding of this phenomenon-at its occurrence and during any possible ensuing symptoms. In addition, it is argued that the phenomenological approach, as a method that focuses on the bodily level of experience, in particular the body as it is experienced from within, enables us to penetrate the traumatic experience. Thus, by applying the phenomenological approach we may be able to improve our understanding of the traumatic experience and enable the development of better treatment.