EEG Signatures and Effects of Mindfulness Approaches in Adolescents With Nonsuicidal Self-Injury.
Yanfen Zhen, Pei Liu, Lin Jiang, Fali Li, Yi Li, Jianbo Liu, Peng Xu, Jianping Lu, Zhijun Zhang
Psychophysiology June 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.70085 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Controlled experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Adolescents with nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and healthy controls |
| Interventions | Deep breath meditation Natural breath meditation |
| Duration | 10-minute meditation session, 1-month follow-up |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | EEG Adolescents Mindfulness meditation Nonsuicidal self‐injury Mindfulness-meditation Adolescent-mental-health Neuroscience-research Self-harm-treatment |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key findings | Adolescents with NSSI show reduced P3 amplitude and theta power during cognitive control tasks, and a brief deep breath meditation intervention restores no-go theta power and predicts remission at one-month follow-up. |
Abstract
Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a recurring behavior most prevalent among adolescents in which one intentionally harms one's tissues and organs without the intent of death, which has a complex pathophysiology and lacks established interventions. As NSSI has been linked to deficits in cognitive control, mindfulness training that enhances this process may be beneficial. In this study, using electroencephalography (EEG), we examined the neural mechanisms underpinning NSSI and the impact of mindfulness interventions by analyzing brain activity before, during, and after a 10-min brief breath-focused meditation session in adolescents with NSSI. We demonstrate that adolescent NSSI patients show a lower correct rejection rate and sensitivity in an emotional go/no-go task that reflects deficits in cognitive control compared to healthy controls, along with reduced P3 amplitude and theta power. A brief deep breath meditation intervention, but not natural breath meditation intervention, restored the decreased no-go theta power in NSSI patients. Analysis of microstates and neural network of resting-state EEG during meditation showed that properties of microstate D reflecting activation of the attention network differed between intervention strategies and predicted NSSI remission at 1-month follow-up. These findings provided evidence for inhibition deficits in adolescents with NSSI, suggest a role of P3 and theta power in identifying NSSI, support the therapeutic benefits of brief meditation, and reveal novel electrophysiological markers of NSSI diagnosis, intervention effects, and outcomes.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cites 10
- Review of the Neural Oscillations Underlying Meditation Frontiers in Neuroscience March 26, 2018
- Comparing impacts of meditation training in focused attention, open monitoring, and mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy on emotion reactivity and regulation: Neural and subjective evidence from a dismantling study Psychophysiology February 19, 2022
- Neuromodulation and meditation: A review and synthesis toward promoting well-being and understanding consciousness and brain. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews August 1, 2024
- A single session of mindfulness meditation may acutely enhance cognitive performance regardless of meditation experience PLoS One March 15, 2023
- Knock yourself out: Brief mindfulness-based meditation eliminates self-prioritization. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review February 2023
and 5 more in the library