During breath counting (a meditation-like task), meditation-naïve males showed reduced functional connectivity between cognitive control and sensory perception areas in the brain, as measured by a method that corrects for common artifacts in EEG analysis. When using conventional head-surface coherence, the opposite pattern appeared—higher connectivity during the task. The reductions were similar to, but less widespread than, those previously reported in experienced meditators during meditation. The findings suggest that focusing attention on a bodily sensation without cognitive reasoning lowers connectivity between brain regions involved in executive control and sensory processing.
Across five different meditation traditions (Tibetan Buddhist, Qigong, Sahaja Yoga, Ananda Marga Yoga, and Zen), experienced meditators showed common changes in brain electrical activity when moving from resting to meditation. Compared to resting, meditation produced a significant decrease in alpha-2 brainwave power (10.5–12 Hz) and significant increases in beta-3 (21.5–30 Hz) and gamma (35–44 Hz) power. Theta band power (6.5–8 Hz) also increased but this change was not statistically significant. These shared patterns suggest that despite differing techniques, meditation traditions may engage common neural processes.
During meditation, the brain shows more independent processes than during ordinary rest. EEG recordings from experienced meditators in five traditions (Tibetan Buddhist, Qigong, Shaja Yoga, Ananda Marga Yoga, and Zen) were analyzed using Omega Complexity, a measure of how many independent processes generate the brain's electrical activity. Omega Complexity was higher during meditation than during resting in all five groups, with statistically significant increases for Tibetan Buddhists, Ananda Marga Yoga, and Zen. The subjectively pleasant feelings during meditation appear to accompany a brain state with more independent processes, not fewer.