Simultaneous EEG and fMRI recordings in resting subjects with eyes open showed that fluctuations in frontal theta power are not positively correlated with brain activity in any area. Instead, strong negative correlations were found in regions that together form the default mode network, indicating that frontal theta activity serves as an EEG marker of default mode network deactivation.
Breath-focused mindfulness meditation, practiced daily for six weeks, alters brain wave patterns related to attention and awareness. In a randomized trial with 40 novice meditators, those who meditated daily showed a smaller reduction in alpha brain waves during meditation compared to rest, while a control group listening to classical music did not. Theta waves increased over time in both groups. Beta waves remained stable in the meditation group but varied in the control group. No changes were seen in delta or gamma waves. The findings suggest that regular mindfulness practice may sharpen attention by stabilizing certain neural oscillations, though more research is needed to link these changes to health benefits.
A well-powered experiment found no evidence that focused attention or open monitoring meditation alters the auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) amplitude—a brain response linked to automatic change detection—in either expert or novice practitioners, failing to replicate earlier findings. Bayesian analysis provided strong evidence against any interaction between expertise and meditation practice on MMN amplitude, strong evidence against effects of either meditation practice compared to a control condition, and moderate evidence against an effect of expertise during meditation. The study did replicate increased alpha oscillatory power during meditation. The null results are discussed in light of low statistical power, flexible analysis methods, and possible publication bias in prior work.