Meditation and neurofeedback

Temporal Coordination # Continue PAPER_TPL BIO

Alpha/theta EEG rhythms are emphasized in both meditation and neurofeedback, aligning with rhythm-based timing/segmentation of mental content.

"It is worth noting that the alpha and theta frequency bands trained in most cog- nitive enhancement neurofeedback pro- tocols (Zoefel et al., 2011) share many similarities with the EEG frequency bands that show the most significant change dur- ing the early stages of meditation prac- tice (Braboszcz and Delorme, 2011; Cahn et al., 2013)."

Meditation and neurofeedback, p. 1

By linking alpha/theta bands used in neurofeedback with those prominently modulated during early meditation practice, the article highlights rhythmic timing mechanisms as a shared scaffold for temporal coordination of content in conscious processing .

Limitations: This is an opinion article synthesizing prior findings; no new quantitative analysis is presented and specific timing (ms-scale) relationships are not reported.

Causal Control # Continue PAPER_TPL BIO

Proposed neurofeedback alarms or subtle cues would intervene to reduce mind-wandering during meditation, altering attentional state.

"A neurofeedback device could provide an alarm to users when their mind starts to wander, therefore supporting and improving upon their meditation practice."

Meditation and neurofeedback, p. 2

This explicitly proposes an intervention that would causally influence cognitive state by detecting and counteracting mind-wandering, directly aligning with causal control as a consciousness-relevant manipulation in humans .

Limitations: Intervention is proposed but not empirically tested in this article; effectiveness, specificity, and potential confounds are not established.

Valence and Welfare # Continue PAPER_TPL BIO

Meditation and neurofeedback are suggested to enhance attention and emotion regulation, implicating affective components relevant to welfare.

"One hypothesis to explain the similarity between meditation and neurofeedback is that both techniques facilitate and improve concentration and emotion regulation, for which both attentional control and cogni- tive control are necessary."

Meditation and neurofeedback, p. 1

Improved emotion regulation links these practices to affective valence, a key dimension for welfare and potential suffering, situating them within a framework for studying how training modulates affective components of conscious experience .

Limitations: Statement is hypothesized rather than demonstrated; mechanisms and measures of affective change (e.g., ACC/insula coupling) are not directly reported here.

Emergent Dynamics # Continue PAPER_TPL BIO

Meditation practice is suggested to induce brain plasticity, pointing to higher-order, training-driven changes in neural dynamics.

"With the general aim of understanding how meditation affects the mind, brain, body and general health, particularly interest- ing findings in recent research suggest that the mental activity involved in meditation practices may induce brain plasticity (Lutz et al., 2004)."

Meditation and neurofeedback, p. 1

By indicating meditation-driven plasticity, the article points to emergent dynamics where training sculpts system-wide patterns of neural activity relevant to evolving conscious capacities over time .

Limitations: Plasticity claim references prior work rather than presenting new longitudinal or mechanistic data here; no quantitative complexity metrics (e.g., PCI/LZC) are provided.