Short Meditation Trainings Enhance Non-REM Sleep Low-Frequency Oscillations
Daniela Dentico, Fabio Ferrarelli, Brady A. Riedner, Richard Smith, Corinna Zennig, Antoine Lutz, Giulio Tononi, Richard J. Davidson
PLoS One February 22, 2016 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148961 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 48 |
| Population | Long-term meditators and meditation-naive controls |
| Interventions | Mindfulness-based meditation Compassion meditation |
| Duration | Two 8-hour sessions |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Electroencephalography Audiology |
| Citations | 43 |
| Key findings | Two intensive days of meditation practice increased low-frequency EEG activity (1-12 Hz) over prefrontal and left parietal electrodes during NREM sleep in long-term meditators, with the effect depending on meditation experience. |
Abstract
STUDY
Objectives: We have recently shown higher parietal-occipital EEG gamma activity during sleep in long-term meditators compared to meditation-naive individuals. This gamma increase was specific for NREM sleep, was present throughout the entire night and correlated with meditation expertise, thus suggesting underlying long-lasting neuroplastic changes induced through prolonged training. The aim of this study was to explore the neuroplastic changes acutely induced by 2 intensive days of different meditation practices in the same group of practitioners. We also repeated baseline recordings in a meditation-naive cohort to account for time effects on sleep EEG activity.
Design: High-density EEG recordings of human brain activity were acquired over the course of whole sleep nights following intervention.
Setting: Sound-attenuated sleep research room. PATIENTS OR
Participants: Twenty-four long-term meditators and twenty-four meditation-naïve controls.
Interventions: Two 8-h sessions of either a mindfulness-based meditation or a form of meditation designed to cultivate compassion and loving kindness, hereafter referred to as compassion meditation.
Measurements: AND
Results: We found an increase in EEG low-frequency oscillatory activities (1-12 Hz, centered around 7-8 Hz) over prefrontal and left parietal electrodes across whole night NREM cycles. This power increase peaked early in the night and extended during the third cycle to high-frequencies up to the gamma range (25-40 Hz). There was no difference in sleep EEG activity between meditation styles in long-term meditators nor in the meditation naïve group across different time points. Furthermore, the prefrontal-parietal changes were dependent on meditation life experience.
Conclusions: This low-frequency prefrontal-parietal activation likely reflects acute, meditation-related plastic changes occurring during wakefulness, and may underlie a top-down regulation from frontal and anterior parietal areas to the posterior parietal and occipital regions showing chronic, long-lasting plastic changes in long-term meditators.