Senior Vipassana Meditation practitioners exhibit distinct REM sleep organization from that of novice meditators and healthy controls.
International review of psychiatry (Abingdon, England) June 1, 2016 Nirmala Maruthai, Ravindra P. Nagendra, Arun Sasidharan et al.
Senior Vipassana meditators show distinct changes in sleep organization, including enhanced slow wave sleep and REM sleep, fewer intermittent awakenings, and reduced non-REM stage 2 sleep compared to novice meditators and non-meditators. Their REM sleep organization differs significantly, with more REM episodes, longer episodes, and increased phasic and tonic rapid eye movement activity (REMA), along with enhanced burst events during the second and fourth REM episodes. No significant differences in REM sleep organization were observed between novice meditators and controls. These changes may reflect intense brain plasticity from meditative practices.