If you’ve ever thought about trying meditation, you might imagine it as simply relaxing and clearing your mind of distracting thoughts. Many newcomers see meditation as the brain at rest, but a recent international study reveals that this ancient practice is quite the opposite. Meditation actually represents a state of heightened brain activity that significantly changes how the brain operates.
Researchers from the University of Montreal and Italy’s National Research Council studied 12 monks from the Thai Forest Tradition at the Santacittārāma Buddhist monastery near Rome. In a lab in Chieti-Pescara, scientists examined the brain activity of these meditation practitioners using magnetoencephalography (MEG), a technology that accurately records the brain’s electrical signals.
The study focused on two traditional forms of meditation: Samatha, which centers on focused attention to a specific object—often steady breathing—with the goal of calming the mind and achieving a deep focus, and Vipassana, which involves observing sensations, thoughts, and emotions without attachment to develop mental clarity and a deeper understanding of experiences.
“With Samatha, you narrow your attention, similar to a focused flashlight beam; with Vipassana, you expand that beam,” explains Karim Jerbi, a psychology professor at the University of Montreal and a coauthor of the study. “Both practices actively engage attention mechanisms. While Vipassana can be tougher for beginners, mindfulness programs often alternate between the two techniques.”
The researchers recorded various indicators of brain dynamics, including neural oscillations, measures of signal complexity, and parameters related to “criticality.” This concept, borrowed from statistical physics and applied to neuroscience for two decades, describes systems that balance between order and chaos. In neuroscience, it’s viewed as an optimal state for processing information in a healthy brain.
“A brain that lacks flexibility adapts poorly, while too much chaos can lead to issues like epilepsy,” Jerbi noted in a press release. “At the critical point, neural networks are stable enough to transmit information reliably, yet flexible enough to adapt quickly to new situations. This balance enhances the brain’s processing, learning, and response abilities.”
During the study, the monks’ brain activity was recorded using a high-resolution MEG system as they switched between meditation types with short breaks in between. The data was then analyzed using advanced signal analysis and machine learning tools to identify various indicators of neural complexity and dynamics.
Striking a Balance
Findings published in the journal Neuroscience of Consciousness indicate that both forms of meditation increase the complexity of brain signals compared to a resting brain. This suggests that the brain doesn’t just calm down during meditation; instead, it enters a dynamic state filled with information. Simultaneously, the researchers noted reductions in certain parameters related to the overall organization of neural activity.
One particularly compelling finding was the clear distinction between Samatha and Vipassana in the analysis of the criticality deviation coefficient. This suggests that even though both practices enhance brain complexity, they do so in different ways that align with the practitioners’ experiences. Specifically, Vipassana brings the practitioner closer to a balance of stability and flexibility, while Samatha tends to create a more stable and focused state. According to the researchers, the closer the brain gets to this critical state of balance, the more effectively and responsively it operates. This is illustrated by aspects such as improved task-switching ability and information storage.
