Comparison of Spatio-Spectral Properties of Zen-Meditation and Resting EEG Based on Unsupervised Learning

During Zen meditation, practitioners focus on three brain regions simultaneously, producing widespread high-frequency brainwave activity above 16 Hz, in contrast to resting EEG which is dominated by lower frequencies around 14.4 Hz. Using an unsupervised machine learning technique called self-organizing maps on EEG data from 30 participants, the study found that Zen meditation EEG shows globally high-frequency oscillations throughout the recording. The authors note that while beta waves are typically associated with active concentration, they are also induced by benzodiazepine medications for anxiety and insomnia. They hypothesize that Zen practitioners achieve a unique state of mindful concentration combined with optimal body-mind relaxation.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This paper reports distinct spatio-spectral properties of Zen-meditation EEG (electroencephalograph), compared with resting EEG, by implementing unsupervised machine learning scheme in clustering the brain mappings of centroid frequency (BMFc). Zen practitioners simultaneously concentrate on the third ventricle, hypothalamus and corpora quadrigemina touniversalize all brain neurons to construct a detached brain and gradually change the normal brain traits, leading to the process of brain-neuroplasticity. During such tri-aperture concentration, EEG exhibits prominent diffuse high-frequency oscillations. Unsupervised self-organizing map (SOM), clusters the dataset of quantitative EEG by matching the input feature vector Fc and the output cluster center through the SOM network weights. Input dataset contains brain mappings of 30 centroid frequencies extracted from CWT (continuous wavelet transform) coefficients. According to SOM clustering results, resting EEG is dominated by global low-frequency (14.4 Hz); whereas Zen-meditation EEG exhibits globally high-frequency (>16 Hz) activities throughout the entire record. Beta waves with a wide range of frequencies are often associated with active concentration. Nonetheless, clinic report discloses that benzodiazepines, medication treatment for anxiety, insomnia and panic attacks to relieve mind/body stress, often induce beta buzz. We may hypothesize that Zen-meditation practitioners attain the unique state of mindfulness concentration under optimal body-mind relaxation.