Neural Effects of Meditation Following a Randomized Controlled Trial of the Emotion Awareness and Skills Enhancement (EASE).
Busra T. Susam, Nathan T Riek, Richard T Gall, Caitlin M Conner, Susan W White, Carla A. Mazefsky, Murat Akcakaya
IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering 2026 DOI: 10.1109/tnsre.2026.3698744 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled clinical trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 39 |
| Population | Autistic individuals |
| Interventions | Emotion Awareness and Skills Enhancement (EASE) program active control therapy |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Mindfulness training (EASE program) led to distinct changes in EEG theta and beta power during emotional feedback processing, with machine learning classifiers achieving 88-92% accuracy in distinguishing the EASE group from the control group. |
Abstract
Mindfulness has promise for enhancing emotion regulation in autistic individuals. Electroencephalography (EEG) emerges as an ideal, objective measure of neural responses before and after mindfulness practice. In a study with 39 autistic individuals, EEG analysis assessed the impact of mindfulness in the participants in a randomized controlled clinical trial of the Emotion Awareness and Skills Enhancement (EASE) program compared to a control group. Participants completed an affective Posner Task while wearing an EEG headset during two visits. In between visits, each participant either received EASE or active control therapy. Using random forest classifiers over the Post-Visit EEG features baseline corrected by Pre-Visit, the study achieved 88.48% to 91.86% accuracy in distinguishing EASE and Control groups under distress, non-distress, and neutral conditions. Linear mixed-effects models applied across the full EEG feature set revealed significant Visit $\times $ Feedback $\times $ Group interactions in central theta and midline and occipital beta band power, with post-hoc analyses indicating these effects were primarily driven by differential neural responses to rewarding versus unfavorable feedback. The EASE group demonstrated distinct pre-to-post changes in these features relative to the Control group, suggesting intervention-related modulation of neural systems supporting adaptive responses to emotionally meaningful feedback. These findings underscore mindfulness' positive influence on emotion regulation potentially showing its effects as neural oscillations matching the results from existing literature. Subgroup analysis based on Clinical Global Impressions threshold scores identified responders and non-responders with LME analyses confirming greater intervention-related EEG changes in EASE responders compared to Control responders.Our findings provide valuable insights into potential benefits of mindfulness-based interventions for autistic people, highlighting the neurophysiological effects of such programs.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Healthy employees in a work environment | 2003 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2000 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 145 |
| Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Working adults | 2008 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 139 |
| Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Undergraduate Chinese students | 2007 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 40 |
| Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2004 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 73 |