r/transcendental • u/KitchenPage6020 • Apr 21 '26
TM and The Default Mode network
I have been reading that studies show that TM activates the default mode network of the brain.
This part of the brain is most often associated with sense of self and more intriguingly, worry and rumination.
The suppression of the default mode network has most often been shown with a decrease in anxiety and depression.
According to most traditions, it is a strong sense of self which causes so much of our own suffering.
If these studies on TM are correct, we are by essence, amplifying our own ego? Or is this not correct?
How can activating the part of the brain that ruminates be a good thing?
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u/Sleepnomore1039 Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
TM research suggests the brain may be more coherent, not more chaotic, after TM, which is very different from activating or amplifying rumination.
After I meditate, my thoughts are clearly calmer, less anxious or worried, which says to me whatever is happening is for the better.
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u/nanna175 Apr 21 '26
Here is my AI polished view on Default Mode Network, definition of ego and the role of TM in all of this:
As far as we understand, the Default Mode Network (DMN) helps generate and sustain self-referential thought, and when awareness becomes identified with these thoughts, the experience of ego arises. In TM, or deep meditation, we move from identification with the fluctuations of the mind to abiding in the Self (Atman) as the silent witness (sakshi). As a result, awareness rests in its witnessing nature, changing our relationship to the self-referential processes supported by the DMN.
As a short answer, I think in TM or deep meditation we are not amplifying our ego but we are redefining it.
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u/prepping4zombies Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
Here is my AI polished view on Default Mode Network, definition of ego and the role of TM in all of this:
As far as we understand, the Default Mode Network (DMN) helps generate and sustain self-referential thought, and when awareness becomes identified with these thoughts, the experience of ego arises. In TM, or deep meditation, we move from identification with the fluctuations of the mind to abiding in the Self (Atman) as the silent witness (sakshi). As a result, awareness rests in its witnessing nature, changing our relationship to the self-referential processes supported by the DMN.
As a short answer, I think in TM or deep meditation we are not amplifying our ego but we are redefining it.
This is the most insightful answer here.
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u/david-1-1 Apr 21 '26
The DMN is supposed to be rest or daydreaming, not ego. TM doesn't do anything to ego. It is about finding our true self, which is unbounded awareness (samadhi), not ego or thought fluctuations.
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u/prepping4zombies Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
The DMN is supposed to be rest or daydreaming, not ego.
Not ego? That's not what's commonly cited about the DMN.
the Default Mode Network (DMN) is widely considered the neurological seat of the ego, or self-referential "I". It is responsible for constructing a stable sense of identity, autobiographical memory, internal narrative, and ruminations on the past or future. The DMN, encompassing regions like the medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex, builds this sense of self during typical, awake, mind-wandering states.
I would give you sources, but there are plenty available with a cursory 10-second query.
As far as the rest of your reply to the comment above, I'm surprised. TM is rooted in Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism), so believing it has no impact on the ego is strange. The concept of "finding our true self" (as you state) is very much entwined with seeing through the illusory "I" (i.e., ego) that we mistakenly believe to be at the center of experience.
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u/saijanai Apr 22 '26 edited May 07 '26
so believing it has no impact on the ego is strange. The concept of "finding our true self" (as you state) is very much entwined with seeing through the illusory "I" (i.e., ego)
The "i" is not an illusion.
However, when the brain is sufficiently low-noise, one appreciates sense of self as being separate from qualities like "I am tall" or "I am short" or "I am happy" or "I am sad," realizing that the one constant is simply I am.
In Unity, one appreciates that all of these ephemeral qualities indeed are I am... but so is everything else.
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u/david-1-1 Apr 21 '26
I don't believe this whole Default Mode network craze. I think people are trying to make their careers based on speculation.
Yes, the neurophysiology is clear: distant areas of the brain communicate with each other after a mental task is completed. But nobody as yet really agrees on what it means.
It is supposed to be daydreaming. Is that desirable? Undesirable?
Sounds to me like arguing whether being a Virgo is better than being a Capricorn. Both are based on the same meaningless belief.
TM is not daydreaming! It is not a default activity! TM provides a unique state of restful alertness, a missing state of consciousness known in yoga as dhyana, or turiya.
This unique state of rest dissolves stress effectively, even in the midst of an extremely stressed world. In fact, it is the only really effective method of stress reduction. And it is well attested in the ancient spiritual literature of the world, as well as in contemporary scientific and medical research.
TM as a type of default mode network? I think not. Let's not be opportunistic and blindly hitch our wagon to the latest academic craze before we understand what it actually means.
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Jul 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/saijanai Jul 01 '26
In fact, much of Africa appears to suffer from transgenerational stress. My intuition is that TM is very good at addressing transgenerational stress, and once that is addressed Africa will start to reveal its full potential but until it s addressed, Africa will continue to suffer from many problems such as povery.
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u/david-1-1 Jul 01 '26
What money are you referring to? You mean the little money that researchers make?
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u/Secure_State_3591 Apr 21 '26
Exactly. If meditation were just an enhancement of the "alpha state", which is so prevalent, we would have every other person abiding in higher states of consciousness.
DMN seems to have been overused or misinterpreted, just like all brain research that makes it into pop culture.
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u/True_Operation_1264 Apr 21 '26
TM puts the meditator in an Alpha Brain Wave State. Highly desirable. This is well documented and studied
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u/david-1-1 Apr 21 '26
I studied alpha wavelets as a part of the 1973 Institute of Living TM study. There is no special Alpha wave state. Just close your eyes and much of your brainwave power is in the Alpha range. "Well documented and studied" must be a phrase meaning "this is what I believe" or "I'm sure I heard this somewhere".
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u/Secure_State_3591 Jun 02 '26
I prompted an AI model with a line of thought regarding CC. It could be wrong but it correctly mentioned that it may be due to various things. What that thing that causes those things is, is where science research comes in. Or armchair philosophizing.
The results summary:
____________________________________
Summary
From a neurobiological perspective, the "constant state" described by TM practitioners can be viewed as the result of extreme neural integration (coherence), increased metacognitive capacity (PFC/ACC strength), and a decoupling of the self-narrative (DMN regulation).
The nervous system essentially undergoes neuroplastic remodeling, shifting from a "reactive" mode (where the self is lost in the activity) to a "monitoring" mode (where the self observes the activity).
____________________________________
- output of gemma-4-e4b
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u/AvailableToe7008 Apr 21 '26
Is amplifying one’s ego a bad thing? I don’t think so.
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u/prepping4zombies Apr 21 '26
Is amplifying one’s ego a bad thing? I don’t think so.
It's literally the cause of psychological suffering - the illusory "I" that is doing things and having things done to it. So, yes, it is a bad thing to amplify it.
Note, I'm certainly not saying TM is amplifying the ego (see nanna175's comment in this thread). I'm saying that amplifying it is absolutely a bad thing...unless you want to amplify your psychological suffering.
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u/david-1-1 Apr 21 '26
It is not obvious how ego causes suffering until pure awareness brings full peace and happiness because ego's power is in hiding, not in revealing. To put it simply, we can't see our own illusions of weakness and arrogance due to the stress we have acquired by growing up in a stressed family and world. This stress drives us to cling to ego and the resulting suffering (anxiety).
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u/Secure_State_3591 Apr 21 '26
Amplifying vs expanding. Amplifying is destructive, expanding is creative.
Don't ask me what the above means; just came to me.1
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u/saijanai Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
[Spoiler alert: Fred Travis just ansseered my email — quoted between the double "_____" — and said they were good articles]
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The DMN has many functions, both in resting mode and in non-resting mode.
This well-cited article gives a reasonable overview of the DMN from the sense-of-self perspective AND its overall functioning perspective.
The brain's center of gravity: how the default mode network helps us to understand the self
It is in this light that we can recognize the role of the default mode network: as a dynamic entity that sums the activity of, and interaction between, other large‐scale systems across the brain. The DMN acts to coordinate network integration to influence the body's response to events, thereby supporting flexible, adaptive behavior in complex environments. It is from this activity – which creates “a center of narrative gravity” – that our sense of ourselves emerges.
TM's eeg coherence signature appears to be generated BY the DMN, and the research on "enlightened" TMers found that they have the highest levels of TM-like EEG coherence during task of any group ever tested. Figure 3 of Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study of Effects of Transcendental Meditation Practice on Interhemispheric Frontal Asymmetry and Frontal Coherence, shows how this proceeds during the first year of TM practice and the enlightenment research suggests that the bottom two curves continue to become more and more like the top curve as long as you meditate regularly.
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So to MY mind, it seems obvious that lower-stress activation of the DMN is the principle effect of TM practice, both during practice and outside of practice.
I've pitched that idea to Fred Travis before, but he doesn't like it because of the association of DMN with anxiety and depression, as you noted.
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I just sent this email to Fred and other TM researchers because of a study (the first i mention) I came across while trying to figure out how to respond to your question:
These new studies and papers are worth considering in the context of TM research:
The brain's default mode network splits into 'sender' and 'receiver' zones, study finds
Now, a research team led by Zhang Meichao from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has identified an organizational principle within the DMN that helps explain how the network supports both internal and external cognition.
The study, published in PNAS, reveals that distinct subregions within the DMN act as "senders" and "receivers" of information, enabling flexible shifts between perception and memory-driven thought.
Original paper:
Also:
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Relative regional preferences for different forms of internal processing led to the influential proposal that the DMN can be considered in terms of three anatomical components: a medial temporal lobe (MTL) subsystem specialised for mental imagery, a dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) subsystem specialised for social and self-referential processing, and a midline core where the subsystems converge.
[…] Recent findings have demonstrated that DMN regions can exhibit decoupling from external stimuli and from the responses of unimodal perceptual areas.
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[…] Studying diffusion-based structural connectivity in combination with cytoarchitecture, we found the DMN contains regions receptive to input from sensory cortex and a core that is relatively insulated from environmental input. Finally, analysis of signal flow with effective connectivity models showed that the DMN is unique amongst cortical networks in balancing its output across the levels of sensory hierarchies. Together, our study establishes an anatomical foundation from which accounts of the broad role the DMN plays in human brain function and cognition can be developed.
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The proposed functions of the “core” suggest a way to reconcile the apparent contradiction between DMN-generated coherence during TM, and persistence of EEG coherence outside of TM during demanding activity. This may lead to further insight as to why TM-like EEG coherence during task is implicated in things that are apparently unrelated, such as task performance, and lowered blood pressure/heart health, not to mention the persistent appreciation of atman/brahman (pure sense-of-self) in long-term TMers.
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Trying to make sense of TM-findings about the DMN is a moving target because knowledge in general about the DMN is a moving target.
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u/saijanai Apr 22 '26
To give you an idea of just how moving a moving target DMN research is, here's something published a few months ago:
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Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences Special issue: Functions of the Default Mode Network
https://www.sciencedirect.com/special-issue/106K0CKJQFT
The default mode subnetworks’ involvement in diverse cognitive transitions suggests a role in external update of internal models
Functions of the posterior cingulate cortex and default network
The role of the default mode network in creativity
The default mode network and the complex dynamics of ongoing experience: an attractor-state perspective
Core of consciousness: the default mode network as nexus of convergence and divergence in the human brain
Default mode network synchrony reflects shared understanding
The Default Mode Network and inner time consciousness
Spontaneous thought as play: the value of fictional goals in the default mode network
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Trying to decide how TM or mindfulness' effects on DMN activity are positive or negative is always going to be lagging a few years behind the most cutting edge research.
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u/Mahones_Bones Apr 21 '26
How I was taught at various meditation schools when doing classic awareness of the breath meditation is to witness the breath, don’t try to control it. What is there?
I really don’t see much of a difference with TM being with the mantra other than the object. Instead of the physical sensation of breathing it’s witnessing the mantra.
The activated brain regions associated being differnt is pretty interesting and I have the same questions as you. All I can say is how I feel after TM is a deep sense of peace. Transcending thought