Fig. 2.

The neurophenomenological experiment MIMOSA, the self-report data of which is used in the current article. A. Hierarchical structure of the experiment. After an initial resting state period (RS), the experiment was divided into 2 sessions, with a 5–20 min break in between. Each session was divided into 2 sequences: one of FA (focused attention) and one of OM (open monitoring), presented in a randomized order. Therefore, there were 4 different combinations for the state order across the experiment: FA-OM-FA-OM (illustrated here), OM-FA-OM-FA, FA-OM-OM-FA, OM-FA-FA-OM; state order was counterbalanced across each group of participants. Each sequence consisted of 4 blocks: a first 7 min block of “meditation only” (block 0) followed by three ∼6 min long blocks of “meditation + task” with dynamic stimuli (blocks 1-2-3). During the “meditation only”, a white disk was displayed on a black background and participants were instructed to either use it as a support of their attention (in the case of FA) or to maintain their gaze on it (in OM blocks). During subsequent blocks, participants had to maintain the state induced in block 0, while going through 41 trials of a visual conscious report task. B. One trial of the task. During the task, a black-and-colored checkerboard was continuously displayed at the center of the screen. Each trial consisted of a series of checkerboard reversals, the last color of which was systematically deviant from the previous ones of the series (passive color oddball paradigm). A trial lasted 3–7 reversals. In 36 of the 41 trials, a Gabor patch set at threshold contrast was flashed for 50 ms, any time between the second and the last reversal. At the end of the trial, a question mark prompted the participant to report whether they had consciously seen it or not. C. After each of the 17 blocks of the experiment, participants rated 6 different dimensions of their experience using a Likert item.