Effects of meditation practice on spontaneous eyeblink rate
Ayla Kruis, Heleen A. Slagter, David R. W. Bachhuber, Richard J. Davidson, Antoine Lutz
Psychophysiology February 12, 2016 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.12619 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Long-term meditators and meditation-naive participants |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based stress reduction |
| Duration | 8-week intervention |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Cognition Cognitive psychology Developmental psychology |
| Citations | 29 |
| Key findings | Long-term meditators blinked less frequently and showed a different eyeblink pattern than meditation-naive participants, with no effect of short-term meditation practice or meditation type. |
Abstract
A rapidly growing body of research suggests that meditation can change brain and cognitive functioning. Yet little is known about the neurochemical mechanisms underlying meditation-related changes in cognition. Here, we investigated the effects of meditation on spontaneous eyeblink rates (sEBR), a noninvasive peripheral correlate of striatal dopamine activity. Previous studies have shown a relationship between sEBR and cognitive functions such as mind wandering, cognitive flexibility, and attention-functions that are also affected by meditation. We therefore expected that long-term meditation practice would alter eyeblink activity. To test this, we recorded baseline sEBR and intereyeblink intervals (IEBI) in long-term meditators (LTM) and meditation-naive participants (MNP). We found that LTM not only blinked less frequently, but also showed a different eyeblink pattern than MNP. This pattern had good to high degree of consistency over three time points. Moreover, we examined the effects of an 8-week course of mindfulness-based stress reduction on sEBR and IEBI, compared to an active control group and a waitlist control group. No effect of short-term meditation practice was found. Finally, we investigated whether different types of meditation differentially alter eyeblink activity by measuring sEBR and IEBI after a full day of two kinds of meditation practices in the LTM. No effect of meditation type was found. Taken together, these findings may suggest either that individual difference in dopaminergic neurotransmission is a self-selection factor for meditation practice, or that long-term, but not short-term meditation practice induces stable changes in baseline striatal dopaminergic functioning.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cited by 7
- The Effect of Mindfulness Meditation on Impulsivity and its Neurobiological Correlates in Healthy Adults Scientific Reports August 19, 2019
- Meditation experience predicts negative reinforcement learning and is associated with attenuated FRN amplitude Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience November 16, 2018
- Attention and meditative development: A review and synthesis of long-term meditators and outlook for the study of advanced meditation. Neuroimage November 19, 2025
- Cardiac and ocular correlates of mind wandering in meditators and non-meditators during a sustained attention to response task Current Psychology August 1, 2026
- Spontaneous eye movements during focused-attention mindfulness meditation. PLoS One January 24, 2019
and 2 more in the library
Cites 21
- Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences October 11, 2007
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Attending to the present: mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience August 13, 2007
- Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences June 28, 2007
- Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise PLoS One March 25, 2008
and 16 more in the library