Cortical Changes Associated with Isha Kriya Meditation Revealed by Encephalography in Novice and Experienced Meditators – a Longitudinal Pilot Study

A bstract Background Isha Kriya (IK) is a widely available meditation practice that incorporates breathing regulation that has shown to improve self-reported symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. An increasing amount of research has been published on the effects of various meditative practices on scalp electroencephalography (EEG). However, the effects of IK on cortical activity have not been reported previously.

Methods: Healthy volunteers aged 18 years or older were invited to participate. Participants were categorized as novice or experienced in meditation. EEG spectral features, computed during the eyes-closed condition before and soon after each IK meditation practice, were evaluated both at the start and after 6 weeks of IK meditation training.

Results: This longitudinal study examined the effects of IK meditation on cortical state and trait patterns in a cohort of eight participants who practiced IK meditation over a period of 6 weeks. Across the two sessions, a simultaneous increase in global periodic alpha power was observed in multiple subjects (N=6) but this was not observed in all subjects/sessions. We observed an increase in periodic theta band power, particularly in the frontal regions, which emerged as a common state effect in all participants. Longitudinally, we observed an increased periodic gamma power in the resting state EEG in all the experienced meditators in the parietal occipital region. The changes in novices on the other hand was in the alpha and beta bands.

Conclusion: Overall, in this pilot study, we report the changes in the quantitative EEG of the practitioners of Isha Kriya meditation over a 6-week cycle and investigated the difference between the start and end of that period at an individual level. We recommend future studies with a larger sample size and over a longer duration. Trial registration This trial is registered with the US National Institutes of Health on ClinicalTrials.gov with the trial identification number NCT03459690 on February 14, 2018.