Improving Prefrontal Oxygenation and Cardiac Autonomic Activity Following Meditation: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Study.
Sushanta Mohanty, Deepeshwar Singh, Amit Singh, Dwivedi Krishna, Subarana Mohanty, Suhas Vinchurkar
Cureus August 1, 2024 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.65978 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 50 |
| Population | College students aged 19–30 |
| Interventions | Mind sound resonance technique supine rest |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Brain imaging Heart rate variability Hemodynamic responses Prefrontal cortex |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key findings | MSRT practice significantly improved oxygenation in the right prefrontal cortex and altered heart rate variability components compared to baseline and supine rest. |
Abstract
The empirical evidence explicitly demonstrates that meditation practice enhances both brain functions and mental well-being. A meditative relaxation approach called the mind sound resonance technique (MSRT) has shown promising effects on children, adolescents, and people with psychological illnesses. This study aimed to investigate the effects of MSRT practice on brain hemodynamics, heart rate variability (HRV), mindfulness, and anxiety levels in college students. Fifty volunteers in all genders (females, n = 30; males, n = 20) aged between 19 and 30 years were chosen from an educational institute and allocated into two groups, i.e., MSRT (n = 25) and supine rest (SR; n = 25). Enrolled participants were measured cerebral hemodynamics and HRV before, during, and after the MSRT or SR practice. The self-reported assessments including state anxiety and mindfulness were assessed before and after the intervention. The results demonstrated that practicing MSRT significantly improved oxygenation (p < 0.05) in the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) and increased low-frequency (LF) (p < 0.05) and decreased high-frequency (HF) (p < 0.05) component of HRV when compared to the baseline. The between-group analysis showed a significant difference between MSRT and SR in the standard deviation of the normal-to-normal (SDNN) (p < 0.05) component of HRV. These crumbs of evidence imply that MSRT sessions may foster the development of anxiety-related coping skills by elevating mindfulness, promoting PFC oxygenation, and modulating HRV in MSRT practitioners.