Experienced meditators exhibit no differences to demographically-matched controls in theta phase synchronisation, P200, or P300 during an auditory oddball task

Long-term meditation practice may not produce lasting changes in certain brain markers of attention. Experienced mindfulness meditators and non-meditators showed no differences in behavioral performance or in neural markers such as theta phase synchronisation, P200, and P300 during a dichotic oddball listening task when neither group meditated before or during the session. Bayes Factor analysis found evidence against group differences for P200 and P300. The findings suggest that increased activity in these attention-related neural markers does not reflect stable, trait-like changes in a community sample of mindfulness meditators, adding nuance to understanding how much meditation is needed to alter specific brain processes.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Long-term meditation practice affects the brain’s ability to sustain attention. However, how this occurs is not well understood. Electroencephalography (EEG) studies have found that during dichotic oddball listening tasks, experienced meditators displayed altered attention-related neural markers including theta phase synchronisation (TPS) and event-related potentials (ERP; P200 and P300) to target tones while meditating compared to resting, and compared to non-meditators after intensive meditation interventions. Research is yet to establish whether the changes in the aforementioned neural markers are trait changes which may be observable in meditators irrespective of practice setting. Method The present study expanded on previous research by comparing EEG measures from a dichotic oddball task in a sample of community-based mindfulness meditators (n=22) to healthy controls with no meditation experience (n=22). To minimise state effects, neither group practiced meditation during / immediately prior to the EEG session. Results No group differences were observed in behavioural performance or either the global amplitude or distribution of theta phase synchronisation, P200 or P300. Bayes Factor analysis suggested evidence against group differences for the P200 and P300. Conclusions The results suggest that increased P200, P300 and TPS do not reflect trait-related changes in a community sample of mindfulness meditators. The present study used a larger sample size than previous research and power analayses suggested the study was suficiently powered to detect differences. These results add nuance to our understanding of which processes are affected by meditation and the amount of meditation required to generate differences in specific neural processes.