Anna Rusinova - The Consciousness Library

Short-term meditation training alters brain activity and sympathetic responses at rest, but not during meditation

Scientific Reports May 15, 2024 Anna Rusinova, Maria Volodina, Alexei Ossadtchi

After eight weeks of Taoist meditation training, beginners showed changes in resting-state brain activity and heart rate variability linked to sympathetic system activation compared to a control group that listened to audiobooks. However, no significant changes in central or autonomic nervous system activity occurred during the meditation sessions themselves in either group. This suggests that 16 hours of practice is insufficient for forming distinct individual strategies during meditation and casts doubt on the effectiveness of wearable biofeedback devices for tracking progress in novice meditators. Monitoring resting-state activity may be a better way to evaluate early changes from meditation practice.

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-60932-8

Short-Term Meditation Training Alters Brain Activity and Sympathetic Responses at Rest, but not during the meditation

bioRxiv Preprint Server December 1, 2023 Anna Rusinova, Maria Volodina, Alexei Ossadtchi preprint

Meditation is widely used for well-being, but it is unclear how quickly physiological changes appear in non-devoted practitioners. This work asks whether changes during meditation can be observed and used with biofeedback or neurofeedback to improve training outcomes.

DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.01.569603 Full text

Papers

Short-term meditation training alters brain activity and sympathetic responses at rest, but not during meditation

Short-Term Meditation Training Alters Brain Activity and Sympathetic Responses at Rest, but not during the meditation