This proposal is based on a running project, wherein 15 proficient mindfulness meditators were scanned for resting state and meditation in both fMRI (at the Weizmann Institute, as part of the postdoc project of the author, supervised by Prof. Rafael Malach and Dr. Amos Arieli) and MEG (Bar-Ilan University, in collaboration with the author, supervised by Prof. Joseph Glicksohn and Dr. Abraham Goldstein), as well as for induced states of self-experience in a neurophenomenological setting. The fMRI measurements were controlled by an age-matched control group. The fMRI data analyses are currently being carried out by the author. Support is requested for the MEG data analyses, and for expanding the role of the fMRI control group to act as controls for the MEG project as well. This project aims at two inter-related goals: the first is to study a possible state and trait transition from self-related to self-specific networks following mindfulness meditation practice; the second is to contribute to multimodality data integration, in particular, to the translation of the well-established BOLD-based default mode network (DMN) activity to its underlying oscillatory neuronal activity, as measured by MEG. The two goals combined enable a state-of-the-art report on mindfulness-induced alteration of DMN-based self networks.
