Alpha and theta brain oscillations are inversely related to progressive levels of meditation depth
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort |
|---|---|
| Population | Long-term meditators and meditation-naïve controls |
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Theta and alpha oscillations are related to meditation depth in opposite ways, with theta positively correlated with hindrances and negatively with deeper meditation, and alpha negatively correlated with hindrances and positively with deeper meditation. |
Abstract
Meditation training is proposed to enhance mental wellbeing by modulating neural activity, particularly alpha and theta brain oscillations, and autonomic activity. Though such enhancement also depends on the quality of meditation, little is known about how these neural and physiological changes relate to meditation quality. One model characterises meditation quality as five increasing levels of “depth”: hindrances, relaxation, concentration, transpersonal qualities and nonduality. We investigated the neural oscillatory (theta, alpha, beta, gamma) and physiological (respiration-rate, heart-rate, heart-rate variability) correlates of self-reported meditation depth in long-term meditators (LTM) and meditation-naïve controls (CTL). To determine the neural and physiological correlates of meditation depth, we modelled the change in slope of the relationship between self-reported experiential degree at each of the five depth-levels, and the multiple neural and physiological measures.CTLs reported experiencing more hindrances than LTMs, while LTMs reported more transpersonal qualities and nonduality compared to CTLs, confirming the experiential manipulation of meditation depth. We found that in both groups, theta (4–6 Hz) and alpha (7–13 Hz) oscillations were related to meditation depth in a precisely opposite manner. Theta amplitude positively correlated with hindrances, and increasingly negatively correlated with increasing meditation depth levels. Alpha amplitude negatively correlated with hindrances, and increasingly positively with increasing depth levels. The increase in the inverse association between theta and meditation depth occurred over different scalp locations in the two groups—frontal-midline in LTMs and frontal-lateral in CTLs—possibly reflecting downregulation of two different aspects of executive processing—monitoring and attention regulation, respectively—during deep meditation.These results suggest a functional dissociation of the two classical neural signatures of meditation training, namely, alpha and theta oscillations. Moreover, while essential for overcoming hindrances, executive neural processing appears to be downregulated during deeper meditation experiences.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cites 22
- Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects Psychological Inquiry October 19, 2007
- Interoceptive inference, emotion, and the embodied self Trends in Cognitive Sciences October 12, 2013
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Stress Management in Healthy People: A Review and Meta-Analysis The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine May 1, 2009
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Investigating the phenomenological matrix of mindfulness-related practices from a neurocognitive perspective. American Psychologist October 1, 2015
and 17 more in the library