Abstract

Meditation is one of the few distinct and reversible states of consciousness, and it therefore provides the chance to study neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) from a different angle. In this study, we explored meditation by using graph theoretical methods on rs-fMRI data of Taoist meditators. Although common network metrics were well preserved during the meditation state, Taoist meditation was characterized by an extensive and expertise-dependent reorganization of the hubs. Furthermore, we demonstrated that axis reorganization of brain networks underpinned the observed hub reorganization. Without global wiring cost changes, meditation state introduced a new balance between grid-like long-range transverse and longitudinal network edges. We propose that this large-scale reorganization of network hubs and directionality might be a prerequisite for the shift in consciousness during meditation state.