Neurophysiological and autonomic patterns associated with heartfulness and bell meditation: a three-arm exploratory study.
Frontiers in Psychology January 1, 2026 Sushil Prasad Mahato, M Anjaladevi, Abinash Roy et al.
A small pilot study compared heartfulness meditation, bell meditation, and a control condition in nine healthy male university students over 21 days. Heartfulness meditation was associated with observed increases in gamma and low-beta brain activity, while bell meditation showed a small increase in low-beta activity with minimal gamma change. Heart rate decreased across all groups. Heart-rate variability measures showed declines in low-frequency percentage for both meditation groups but an increase in the control group, and HRV amplitude decreased in all groups. These preliminary observations suggest potential trends toward neural-autonomic regulation, with heartfulness emphasizing attentional engagement and bell emphasizing relaxation, but the very small sample size and brief duration limit confidence.