Your Brain on Meditation: Rebalancing of Attention Networks

Sollie, Thomas (2021) Your Brain on Meditation: Rebalancing of Attention Networks. Master's Thesis / Essay, Biomedical Sciences.

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Abstract

Meditation is an age-old practice with a recent surge in societal and scientific interest. Here, benefits on attention are laid out, zooming in on rebalancing of brain-wide networks. Attention is defined as a goal- oriented behavioral state with direction of cognitive resources towards a subset of stimuli. Lapses and deficits in attention are unwanted in daily life, and are the subject of a variety of psychiatric disorders. Practicing meditation aids in a variety of attention dependent tasks, mainly revolving around top-down, executive functioning. These benefits can be traced towards interactions between three networks: the Default Mode Network (DMN), Central Executive Network (CEN), and Salience Network (SN). The CEN is recruited when performing external tasks, while the DMN is active during internal mentation and mind-wandering. The SN offers a mediating role by updating other brain areas via salience determinance, and resolving cognitive conflict. Attention consists of a constant interplay between these networks. Lapses in attention coincide with insufficient activation of the CEN, alongside insufficient deactivation of the DMN. Meditation has the ability to rebalance this interplay by skewing involvement toward the CEN. The fundamental component of meditation of repeatedly reorienting and maintaining attention likely plays a role, with practice leading to improvements in cognitive control. Underlying these findings are alterations in functional connectivity between brain

Item Type:	Thesis (Master's Thesis / Essay)
Supervisor name:	Zee, E.A. van der
Degree programme:	Biomedical Sciences
Thesis type:	Master's Thesis / Essay
Language:	English
Date Deposited:	19 Jul 2021 13:13
Last Modified:	19 Jul 2021 13:13
URI:	https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/25297

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