Neurofeedback of meditation states to close the loop between subjective experience and brain activity: Evaluating four neural markers
Abstract
Neurofeedback creates a closed loop between subjective experience and brain activity. Such a feedback loop might allow establishing direct neuro-experiential correspondences, thereby narrowing the gap between the seemingly irreconcilable domains of private conscioussness and external measurement. We introduce a repeated-probing paradigm that allows systematic testing of such neuro-experiential correspondences within individuals by randomizing and blinding the feedback signal direction across trials, combined with semi-structured phenomenological interviews following unblinded regulation sessions. We apply this paradigm to electroencephalography (EEG) neurofeedback in experienced meditators across two studies. Study 1 (n=9) aimed to replicate the previously reported correspondence between posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) gamma activity and effortless awareness, extending the paradigm from visual to auditory feedback. An exploratory Study 2 (n=4) evaluated three additional markers: occipital alpha, midfrontal theta, and PCC high-beta power. In Study 1, participants identified the expected correspondence significantly above chance for both visual and auditory feedback (mean accuracy=72.5%). Additionally, gamma power was significantly reduced during neurofeedback-assisted meditation. In Study 2, no marker yielded significant neuro-experiential correspondences, although alpha power increased and high-beta power decreased during neurofeedback-assisted meditation. Phenomenological interviews revealed distinct meditative strategies, with releasing effort and control predominating in gamma neurofeedback. However, whole-brain and control analyses raised concerns about the spatial specificity and potential muscular contamination of the gamma signal. Our findings introduce a novel neurophenomenological neurofeedback paradigm, replicate and extend previous findings on the correspondence between effortless awareness and gamma feedback, and highlight important limitations in interpreting these effects as reflecting neural rather than muscular activity.
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BibTeX
@misc{rohr2026neurofeedback,
title = {{Neurofeedback of meditation states to close the loop between subjective experience and brain activity: Evaluating four neural markers}},
author = {Henrik Röhr and Nursena Armagan and Luca Saini and Andreas Tzschaschel and Gabriel Salwey and Lukas Hecker and Daniel Andrew Atad and Marieke K. van Vugt and Stefan Schmidt and Fynn-Mathis Trautwein},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/a6j89_v2},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/a6j89_v2/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Neurofeedback of meditation states to close the loop between subjective experience and brain activity: Evaluating four neural markers
AU - Henrik Röhr
AU - Nursena Armagan
AU - Luca Saini
AU - Andreas Tzschaschel
AU - Gabriel Salwey
AU - Lukas Hecker
AU - Daniel Andrew Atad
AU - Marieke K. van Vugt
AU - Stefan Schmidt
AU - Fynn-Mathis Trautwein
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/a6j89_v2
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/a6j89_v2/
AB - Neurofeedback creates a closed loop between subjective experience and brain activity. Such a feedback loop might allow establishing direct neuro-experiential correspondences, thereby narrowing the gap between the seemingly irreconcilable domains of private conscioussness and external measurement. We introduce a repeated-probing paradigm that allows systematic testing of such neuro-experiential correspondences within individuals by randomizing and blinding the feedback signal direction across trials, combined with semi-structured phenomenological interviews following unblinded regulation sessions. We apply this paradigm to electroencephalography (EEG) neurofeedback in experienced meditators across two studies. Study 1 (n=9) aimed to replicate the previously reported correspondence between posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) gamma activity and effortless awareness, extending the paradigm from visual to auditory feedback. An exploratory Study 2 (n=4) evaluated three additional markers: occipital alpha, midfrontal theta, and PCC high-beta power. In Study 1, participants identified the expected correspondence significantly above chance for both visual and auditory feedback (mean accuracy=72.5%). Additionally, gamma power was significantly reduced during neurofeedback-assisted meditation. In Study 2, no marker yielded significant neuro-experiential correspondences, although alpha power increased and high-beta power decreased during neurofeedback-assisted meditation. Phenomenological interviews revealed distinct meditative strategies, with releasing effort and control predominating in gamma neurofeedback. However, whole-brain and control analyses raised concerns about the spatial specificity and potential muscular contamination of the gamma signal. Our findings introduce a novel neurophenomenological neurofeedback paradigm, replicate and extend previous findings on the correspondence between effortless awareness and gamma feedback, and highlight important limitations in interpreting these effects as reflecting neural rather than muscular activity.
ER -