Experiences and their correlates
An altered sense of self can be studied through reports, behavior, and physiology. Compare these measures carefully: a similar description does not guarantee an identical mechanism, and different descriptions may still share some measurable features.
Two entry points
A 2011 study examined differences in default mode network activity and connectivity associated with meditation experience. A 2024 psilocybin imaging study reported widespread changes in brain-network synchronization. Both offer concrete examples of connecting subjective changes with brain measures.
Read the boundaries of a study
Who participated? Was the comparison group appropriate? Was the outcome specified in advance? Could expectation influence the report? A study of experienced meditators, for example, answers different questions from a randomized study of a training program.
Selected starting points.
These links lead to primary papers, reviews, or institutional research pages. A reading path does not imply that every source is already indexed in the Noetic Map library.
Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivityBrewer and colleagues · PNAS · 2011 · Primary researchPsilocybin desynchronizes the human brainSiegel and colleagues · Nature · 2024 · Primary research