Using EEG to advance mindfulness science: A survey of emerging methods and approaches

Electroencephalography (EEG) remains a valuable but often overlooked tool in contemplative neuroscience, despite being used for decades to study the neural mechanisms of mindfulness. This review argues that EEG offers unique advantages for addressing key research questions, particularly when combined with modern data acquisition and analytic techniques. The authors provide examples from their own work and the literature to show how EEG can advance both basic science and clinical applications of mindfulness. They aim to encourage researchers to fully utilize EEG's potential, emphasizing that older methods are not obsolete and can still drive new insights in the field.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Throughout the brief history of contemplative neuroscience, electroencephalography (EEG) has been a valuable and enduring methodology used to elucidate the neural correlates and mechanisms of mindfulness. Yet despite its longevity and demonstrated utility, EEG has been increasingly overlooked in favor of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other newer neuroscience methods. In this review article, we provide a reminder that old does not equal obsolete, and that EEG continues to offer exceptional promise for addressing key questions and challenges that pervade the field today. Toward this end, we outline the unique advantages of EEG from a research strategy and experimental design perspective, before highlighting an array of new sophisticated data acquisition and analytic approaches. Along the way, we provide illustrative examples from our own work and the broader literature to showcase how these innovations can be leveraged to spark new insights and stimulate progress across both basic science and translational applications of mindfulness. Ultimately, we argue that EEG still has much to contribute to contemplative neuroscience, and hope to solicit the interest of other investigators to make full use of its capabilities in service of maximizing its potential within the field.