The EEG spectral properties of meditation and mind wandering differ between experienced meditators and novices
Julio Rodriguez-Larios, Eduardo A. Bracho Montes de Oca, Kaat Alaerts
Neuroimage October 1, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118669 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 58 |
| Population | Adult participants with more than 3 years of meditation experience and adults without any meditation experience |
| Intervention | breath focus meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Meditators reported greater focus and less mind wandering than controls, and EEG spectral modulations during meditation and mind wandering differed significantly between the groups. |
Abstract
Previous literature suggests that individuals with meditation training become less distracted during meditation practice. In this study, we assess whether putative differences in the subjective experience of meditation between meditators and non-meditators are reflected in EEG spectral modulations. For this purpose, we recorded electroencephalography (EEG) during rest and two breath focus meditations (with and without experience sampling) in a group of 29 adult participants with more than 3 years of meditation experience and a control group of 29 participants without any meditation experience. Experience sampling in one of the meditation conditions allowed us to disentangle periods of breath focus from mind wandering (i.e. moments of distraction driven by task-irrelevant thoughts) during meditation practice. Overall, meditators reported a greater level of focus and reduced mind wandering during meditation practice than controls. In line with these reports, EEG spectral modulations associated with meditation and mind wandering also differed significantly between meditators and controls. While meditators (but not controls) showed a significant decrease in individual alpha frequency / amplitude and a steeper 1/f slope during meditation relative to rest, controls (but not meditators) showed a relative increase in individual alpha amplitude during mind wandering relative to breath focus periods. Together, our results show that the subjective experience of meditation and mind wandering differs between meditators and novices and that this is reflected in oscillatory and non-oscillatory properties of EEG.