EEG oscillatory correlates of meditation practice: a systematic review and exploratory meta-analysis.
Tingting Yan, Yanping Wei, Fengji Geng, Shulin Chen, Hui Zhou, Yuzheng Hu
Neuroscience July 6, 2026 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2026.07.012 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review and meta-analysis Longitudinal Cross-sectional Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | EEG Oscillations Exploratory meta-analysis Systematic review Theta power |
| Key findings | Significant positive pooled effects were observed for alpha, beta, and gamma oscillations, but not for theta oscillations. |
Abstract
Meditation practice has been associated with changes in EEG oscillatory activity, although findings across studies remain heterogeneous. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined frequency-specific EEG patterns associated with meditation practice. Frequency-specific random-effects meta-analyses and multilevel nested mixed-effects meta-regression models were used to account for the non-independence of multiple effect sizes within studies. Significant positive pooled effects were observed for alpha, beta, and gamma oscillations, whereas no significant pooled effect was observed for theta oscillations. The primary multilevel meta-regression identified measurement state as a significant moderator, with larger effects observed for Meditation relative to Rest. However, a sensitivity analysis excluding Interaction category (Group × State interaction effects) effect sizes indicated that this finding was not robust and should be interpreted cautiously. In contrast, meditation type, practitioner expertise, and EEG frequency band were not significant moderators. Exploratory analyses indicated a modest positive association between practice duration and theta-band effect sizes; however, this finding should be interpreted cautiously given the uneven distribution of practice-duration data and the predominance of cross-sectional evidence. Overall, the findings suggest substantial heterogeneity in meditation-related EEG effects, highlighting the influence of methodological differences across studies and the need for cautious interpretation of apparent measurement-state effects. More standardized longitudinal and experimental studies are needed to clarify the temporal and practice-related dynamics of EEG oscillatory changes.
Comparable studies
Other systematic reviews and meta-analyses on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being Diverse adult clinical populations | 2014 | Meta-analysis | n = 3,515 |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis Healthy subjects | 2009 | Systematic review and meta-analysis | |
| The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Nonclinical groups of adult meditators | 2012 | Meta-analysis | n = 163 |
| Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Prevention of Depressive Relapse Adults with recurrent depression in full or partial remission | 2016 | Meta-analysis of individual patient data from randomized controlled trials | n = 1,258 |
| Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy – a systematic review of randomized controlled trials | 2011 | Systematic review |
Citations in the library
Cites 14
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences June 28, 2007
- A systematic review of the neurophysiology of mindfulness on EEG oscillations Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 2015
- The neuroscience of meditation: classification, phenomenology, correlates, and mechanisms. Progress in Brain Research 2019
- Differential effects of non-dual and focused attention meditations on the formation of automatic perceptual habits in expert practitioners Neuropsychologia July 21, 2018
and 9 more in the library