This placebo-controlled study (n=36) investigated fMRI data from experienced meditators undergoing focused attention and open monitoring meditation before and after a five-day psilocybin-assisted (22mg/70kg on day 4) meditation retreat. Psilocybin-induced positive derealization, coupled with enhanced open-monitoring meditation, correlated with the optimal transport distance between open monitoring and resting state. This suggests that enhanced meta-awareness through meditation combined with psilocybin may mediate insightfulness, offering potential novel brain markers for positive synergistic effects between mindfulness practices and psychedelics.
Abstract of Psilocybin enhances insightfulness in meditation: a perspective on the global topology of brain imaging during meditation
“In this study, for the first time, we explored a dataset of functional magnetic resonance images collected during focused attention and open monitoring meditation before and after a five-day psilocybin-assisted meditation retreat using a recently established approach, based on the Mapper algorithm from topological data analysis. After generating subject-specific maps for two groups (psilocybin vs. placebo, 18 subjects/group) of experienced meditators, organizational principles were uncovered using graph topological tools, including the optimal transport (OT) distance, a geometrically rich measure of similarity between brain activity patterns. This revealed characteristics of the topology (i.e. shape) in space (i.e. abstract space of voxels) and time dimension of whole-brain activity patterns during different styles of meditation and psilocybin-induced alterations. Most interestingly, we found that (psilocybin-induced) positive derealization, which fosters insightfulness specifically when accompanied by enhanced open-monitoring meditation, was linked to the OT distance between open-monitoring and resting state. Our findings suggest that enhanced meta-awareness through meditation practice in experienced meditators combined with potential psilocybin-induced positive alterations in perception mediate insightfulness. Together, these findings provide a novel perspective on meditation and psychedelics that may reveal potential novel brain markers for positive synergistic effects between mindfulness practices and psilocybin.”
Authors: Singer Berit, Daniel Meling, Matthias Hirsch-Hoffmann, Lars Michels, Michael Kometer, Lukasz Smigielski, Dario Dornbierer, Erich Seifritz, Franz X. Vollenweider & Milan Scheidegger
Summary of Psilocybin enhances insightfulness in meditation: a perspective on the global topology of brain imaging during meditation
Meditation and psychedelics have attracted increasing scientific interest in recent years. This article targets an alternative approach in which a novel topological data analysis method is applied.
Meditation can be understood as a form of mental training with various aims, including improving cognitive and emotional self-regulation, changing attitudes toward the self and others, and cultivating positive emotional states. Psychedelics are a class of consciousness-modulating substances.
Meditation has been shown to improve mental health and psychological well-being in many randomized controlled studies. However, an increasing amount of evidence indicates potential adverse effects related to meditation practice, as well as potential benefits from psychedelics use.
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https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-55726-x
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Cite this paper (APA)
Berit, S., Meling, D., Hirsch-Hoffmann, M., Michels, L., Kometer, M., Smigielski, L., ... & Scheidegger, M. (2024). Psilocybin enhances insightfulness in meditation: a perspective on the global topology of brain imaging during meditation. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 7211.
Study details
Compounds studied
Psilocybin
Placebo
Topics studied
Healthy Subjects
Study characteristics
Placebo-Controlled
Double-Blind
Participants
36
Humans
Compound Details
The psychedelics given at which dose and how many times
Psilocybin 22 mg | 1xLinked Clinical Trial
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