Bidirectional alpha power EEG-neurofeedback during a focused attention meditation practice in novices.

Alpha power can be trained up or down using neurofeedback combined with focused-attention meditation, but up-regulation is harder to achieve than down-regulation in a single session. In a within-subject experiment with 31 novice practitioners (25 women, mean age 23.16), participants attempted to increase or decrease global alpha power while focusing attention above the crown of the head and receiving auditory feedback. Alpha power was overall higher during up-regulation than down-regulation trials, but this difference came mainly from successful reduction of alpha during down-regulation; up-regulation did not significantly increase alpha. Training effects did not persist during a post-training resting-state recording, suggesting that more sessions are needed for lasting change.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract Neurofeedback and meditation practices are techniques aimed at enhancing awareness and self-regulation. Training of alpha power has been found to increase mindfulness outcomes, and increases in alpha power seem relatively consistent during focused attention meditation practices. Considering the commonalities between these self-regulation techniques, here we examined the trainability of alpha power in the context of a focused attention meditation, to provide novice practitioners with an integrated training to attain improved self-regulation. In a within-subject design, 31 participants (25 women, aged 23.16, range 18–30) engaged in two runs of six trials each, aimed at up-regulation of global alpha absolute power (average of electroencephalography electrodes). Instructions were to focus the attention on a point above the crown of the head, while perceiving continuous auditory feedback. As an active control, participants took part in two alpha power down-regulation runs. Linear mixed-effect analyses showed that alpha power was overall higher during up- compared to down-regulation training. However, subsequent analyses indicated that the differential training effect was predominantly driven by a successful reduction in alpha power during down-regulation training, while the up-regulation training condition did not significantly yield increases. Differential changes in alpha power induced by both trainings were not significantly sustained during a resting-state recording post training. While these results provide insights into the applicability of alpha neurofeedback combined with meditation, future work is needed to establish the most optimal conditions for facilitating training, with successful up-training of alpha likely requiring more training sessions, consistent with the need of regular practice in meditation trainings.